Fox News promised to stay in touch with the cancer patient at the center of one of right-wing activists' favorite Obamacare horror stories. But now that new reports show it is actually an Obamacare success story, as the woman who worried the Affordable Care Act was “unaffordable” will now save approximately $1,000 a year under the new law, will Fox make good on its promise?

Desperate to find Obamacare horror stories, right-wing media have repeatedly hyped the story of Michigan resident Julie Boonstra, who is suffering from leukemia and saw her existing insurance plan canceled after it failed to meet the ACA's new guidelines, which force insurers to provide more comprehensive coverage than in the past. Right-wing media, conservative candidates, and ads by Koch-funded special interest groups held Boonstra up as an exemplar of health care reform victims after she claimed her new plan was too expensive.

The one problem? This right-wing bubble's characterization didn't hold up under scrutiny -- as Washington Post's fact checker Glenn Kessler noted on February 20, Boonstra's monthly premiums were “cut in half” on her new plan, and eventually she would reach the law's new caps and no longer have to pay anything.

But Fox News was undeterred by the holes in the story. From February 20 - March 4, the network hosted Boonstra at least three times, painting her as under attack by the Obama administration for speaking out against the ACA.  

On the March 4 edition of Fox's The Kelly File, host Martha MacCallum praised Boonstra as a “fighter” for pushing back against those questioning whether she was worse off under the ACA, encouraging her to continue her “fight on both fronts.” MacCallum promised to speak with Boonstra again:

MACCALLUM: You're become, sort of, a face for other people who are also getting letters, who are also getting thrown off their plans. Do you feel a responsibility now given the stories that they share with you?

[...]

MACCALLUM: Julie, thank you. You're a fighter. Continue your fight on both fronts. And we look forward to speaking with you again.

MacCallum now has a prime opportunity to follow up with Boonstra. Thanks to the ACA, Boonstra will actually save about $1,000 this year in health care costs, as Detroit News reported on March 10:

Boonstra said Monday her new plan she dislikes is the Blue Cross Premier Gold health care plan, which caps patient responsibility for out-of-pocket costs at $5,100 a year, lower than the federal law's maximum of $6,350 a year. It means the new plan will save her at least $1,200 compared with her former insurance plan she preferred that was ended under Obamacare's coverage requirements.

[...]

Boonstra's old plan cost $1,100 a month in premiums or $13,200 a year, she previously told The News. It didn't include money she spent on co-pays, prescription drugs and other out-of-pocket expenses.

By contrast, the Blues' plan premium costs $571 a month or $6,852 for the year. Since out-of-pocket costs are capped at $5,100, including deductibles, the maximum Boonstra would pay this year for all of her cancer treatment is $11,952.

When advised of the details of her Blues' plan, Boonstra said the idea that it would be cheaper “can't be true.”

“I personally do not believe that,” Boonstra said.

When will MacCallum follow through on her promise to speak with Boonstra and correct her story?