Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanAt indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Peterson faces fight of his career in deep-red Minnesota district MORE (R-Wis.) faced some tough questions from audience members at a CNN town hall Thursday night, starting with a cancer patient who said ObamaCare saved his life.

Jeff Jeans said he was a lifelong Republican and small-business owner who had worked on the Reagan and Bush campaigns and was originally opposed to the Affordable Care Act.

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But he said that at 49 he was diagnosed with cancer and given six weeks to live.

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’m standing here today alive," he said. "I rely on the Affordable Care Act to be able to purchase my own insurance. Why would you repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement?"

Ryan responded: "Oh, we wouldn’t do that. We want to replace it with something better. First of all, I'm glad you're standing here."

Jeans then took to the mic again to thank President Obama.

"I want to thank President Obama from the bottom of my heart, because I would be dead if it weren’t for him," he said.

Ryan and Republicans are working to "as fast as possible" to repeal and replace Obama's signature healthcare law. Ryan said at the town hall that the system is collapsing under rising premiums.

Early Thursday morning, the Senate passed a budget resolution that lays the groundwork for repealing ObamaCare. The House is expected to vote on the resolution Friday.

Ryan says Obamacare is leading to a "death spiral" in the insurance market https://t.co/Tz6Ezd734Q #RyanTownHall https://t.co/Vm9rsoSW5c — CNN (@CNN) January 13, 2017