--- title: Ted Cruz Congratulated Woman With MS. Here's Her Response description: A Maryland woman who has multiple sclerosis said it was “unnerving” that Sen. Ted Cruz congratulated her for dealing with the disease. canonical: https://time.com/4664382/ted-cruz-multiple-sclerosis-carol-hardaway/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-08T20:30:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:16:15.916Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman With MS. Her Reaction: ‘What Did He Just Say?’ og:description: Cruz told the woman: "Congratulations on dealing with M.S." og:url: https://time.com/4664382/ted-cruz-multiple-sclerosis-carol-hardaway/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4903925d20885d00/6988b955196cf42fd903ec95/cruz.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2670 og:image:height: 1502 og:image:alt: cruz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman With MS. Her Reaction: ‘What Did He Just Say?’ twitter:description: Cruz told the woman: "Congratulations on dealing with M.S." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4903925d20885d00/6988b955196cf42fd903ec95/cruz.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman With MS. Her Reaction: ‘What Did He Just Say?’ > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8fc011c5-3df9-470b-aec7-24fb7e4fa47a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman for ‘Dealing’ with Multiple Sclerosis [Watch (HLS stream): Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman for ‘Dealing’ with Multiple Sclerosis](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eI89G9zI.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2017-02-08. A Maryland woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis said it was “unnerving” that Sen. Ted Cruz congratulated her for “dealing” with the disabling disease during Tuesday night’s Obamacare debate._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 8, 2017 8:30 PM UTC  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 8, 2017 8:30 PM UTC A Maryland woman who suffers from [multiple sclerosis](http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS) said it was “unnerving” that Sen. Ted Cruz congratulated her for “dealing” with the disabling disease during Tuesday night’s [Obamacare debate](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/07/politics/obamacare-cruz-sanders-highlights/). Carol Hardaway was among the participants who posed health care questions to Cruz and Sen. Bernie Sanders at a Washington, D.C. town hall forum hosted by CNN. The 63-year-old substitute teacher directly asked Cruz whether she would keep her Medicaid coverage after President Donald Trump’s threatened repeal of the Affordable Care Act—a law she said helps her pay for treatment and medications for M.S. Before calling Medicaid a “profoundly troubled program,” [Cruz said](https://twitter.com/omarghabra/status/829168330435022848): “Carol, thank you for sharing your story, and congratulations on dealing with M.S. It’s a terrible disease, and congratulations on your struggles dealing with it.” Hardaway told TIME on Wednesday that the odd wording didn’t “sink in” until she left the venue. “When I got home, I was like, ‘What? He’s congratulating me? What did he just say?’ And I replayed it again, and I said, ‘No, he didn’t,’” she said. “It was a little bit unnerving to be honest.” “I didn’t wake up one morning and say, ‘Oh, I think I would like to have M.S.,” she added. Hardaway was diagnosed with M.S. nearly 30 years ago and said the incurable disease that disrupts the nerves has affected her ability to walk, talk and see. “You feel as though you just can’t move anymore,” she said. Hardaway fell into the high-risk pool among health insurance seekers, which meant she had to pay exorbitant costs for medication and deductibles until she enrolled in Obamacare. “If they repeal Obamacare, I’m done,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do because the medications that I’ve been able to access have literally given me back a quality of life.” Hardaway said a producer for the show reached out to her to participate in the debate. She agreed to show how the health care law has changed her life. “I feel like somebody has to put a face to what I’ve been going through,” she said. “For me, it’s personal because the system is working for me.” A Cruz spokesperson released a statement on the exchange on Wednesday. “As he did with every questioner last evening, Sen. Cruz’s goal was to identify with their battles, and to express his concern for and understanding of the immense difficulties they have had to overcome and in many cases may still be overcoming,” the statement said. Hardaway said she was more upset that Cruz did not give her a direct answer on her Medicaid question than that he congratulated her. But she still found his words surprising. “Support is different than a ‘congratulations.’ ‘Oh, you’re doing so well. I’m proud of you.’ That’s different than ‘congratulations.’ Congratulations is something you get when you graduate from college,” she said. “And ‘you’re doing so well’ means for me that I’m managing it.” “I’m not letting it take over my life,” she added. “I have M.S., M.S. doesn’t have me. I live by that.” ## Transcript I have Multiple Sclerosis but could not afford insurance. Without the treatment or medications I need, I had problems with walking, with my speech and my vision. When the Affordable Care Act was passed, I moved from our home state of Texas, because they refused to expand Medicaid. To Maryland, and within two weeks, I started receiving treatments through Medicaid. And I'm now well enough to work as a substitute teacher. Senator Cruz, can you promise me that you and the Republican leaders in Congress will actually have a replacement plan in place for people like me. Who depend on their Medicaid. In other words I like my coverage. Can I keep it ? >> Well Carol thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on dealing with MS. It's a terrible disease. And congratulations on your struggles dealing with it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4664382/ted-cruz-multiple-sclerosis-carol-hardaway/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4664382/ted-cruz-multiple-sclerosis-carol-hardaway/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Congratulated a Woman With MS. 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