UPDATED - GOP lawmaker: Poor people would have health coverage if they didn't spend money on...

[DonViejo]

Last edited Tue Mar 7, 2017, 12:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: RawStory



GOP lawmaker: Poor people would have health coverage if they didn't spend money on 'that new iPhone'

BRAD REED
07 MAR 2017 AT 08:22 ET

The Republican Partys proposed Obamacare replacement plan is [link:http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/healthcare-sold-separately-internet-ruthlessly-mocks-trumpcare-vs-obamacare/already facing a storm of criticism], and Republican lawmakers are scrambling to defend it on cable news networks.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) appeared on CNN Tuesday morning to explain why obtaining health care is a matter of personal responsibility for millions of Americans, and not an area that requires government intervention.

In particular, Chaffetz said that, under the new GOP plan, poor Americans would be forced to make wise financial decisions if they really wanted to have access to health care.

You know what, Americans have choices, and theyve got to make a choice, he said. And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own health care.

-snip-

Link to tweet

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/gop-lawmaker-poor-people-would-have-health-coverage-if-they-didnt-spend-money-on-that-new-iphone/

---

UPDATE:

‘I Didn’t Say it as Smoothly as I Could’: Chaffetz Responds to iPhone/Healthcare Comments

by Justin Baragona | 11:23 am, March 7th, 2017

Hours after he made a bit of a firestorm for stating that Americans may need to make a choice between buying an iPhone and healthcare coverage while defending the GOP’s Obamacare replacement plan, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) appeared on Fox News and attempted to clarify them.

Towards the end of an interview with host Shannon Bream, the Utah lawmaker was asked to respond if he was suggesting people on the lower-income spectrum would need to give up things to make sure they have healt coverage.

“What we’re trying to say and maybe I didn’t say it as smoothly as I could but people need to make a conscious choice and I believe in self-reliance,” Chaffetz stated. “And they’re gonna have to make those decisions.”

He would further add that he wants to make sure people have access to affordable healthcare and they are covered if they have pre-existing conditions, but that he doesn’t like the individual mandate.

###

http://www.mediaite.com/online/i-didnt-say-it-as-smoothly-as-i-could-chaffetz-responds-to-iphonehealthcare-comments/

[dancePop]

1. He dumb. nt

[ColemanMaskell]

56. Yup. Else just lying BS to fool any voters that dumb.

[Moostache]

2. Biggest asshat in Congress....and its not close.

Fuck you Jason, you slimy coward. Go tell your daughters about why its OK for the president to grab their pussies...

[ColemanMaskell]

57. Gotta disagree about close. You notice Paul Ryan? McConnell? The List is long but distinguished.

[Orrex]

3. Sure, a $500 phone will cover a year's worth of healthcare.

Unless you ever get, you know, sick. An ER visit with a blood tests and X-Rays can easily cost you thousands of dollars, so the cost of your iPhone wouldn't really be a big factor in your ability to repay that amount.


Sadly, this "wasteful peasants" attitude shows up even here on DU now and then, and you can bet that Trump's supporters--many of whom need extensive governmental support--will be among the first to support Chaffetz in this current iteration of the war on the poor.

[dalton99a]

6. $500 is a joke in the healthcare world.

[Orrex]

17. Truly.

I have routine quarterly bloodwork done, and even with my (honestly not terrible) employer-provided healthcare, it's about $225 each time. Without insurance, I'd be spending well in excess of $500 for each of these tests, and god forbid they find something that needs to be treated!

[OnDoutside]

9. Typical Rethug in conflating two different things.

[Orrex]

16. Absolutely

They set an artificial and arbitrary standard and then condemn anyone who fails to live up to it.

[NewJeffCT]

21. A lot of carriers

also offer pretty big discounts if you switch from Verizon to Sprint or T-Mobile or AT&T, so you typically end up paying less than list price for the phone.

[Orrex]

22. That's another great point.

Hadn't even considered that, and it makes Chaffetz all the more slimy.

[Yavin4]

33. My healthcare provider charges $500 just to sit in the waiting room. n/t

[Orrex]

38. My healthcare provider charged me $500 because I read your reply (n/t)

[ColemanMaskell]

60. Definitely exactly. It's a play to fool the naive segment who don't understand the numbers.

There are a lot of naive people who have grown up in a soup of right wing culture and never stopped to give it much thought. Not necessarily bad people, just simple people who were raised in that culture, the way a person is born into and raised in a religion. When a naive person like that hears talk about poor kids being denied health care, it might prick their natural conscience. So people like the Republican representative make up, or at least propagate, lies like the cell phone fantasy, hoping to deflect the perception of blame onto the parents for wasting money. Repetition of that sort of lie makes it more difficult for an ordinary naive person to starting thinking for themselves. Add to that the fact that they lack self-confidence and the gentleman representing Utah projects an air of confidence and authority; on top of that, a lot of people raised in the USA have difficulty with math. It's an unfortunate fact. So rather than try to find out the numbers and do the math themselves, and risk ridicule within their circle by suggesting a contradiction of a seeming authority figure, many such people will just say to themselves, Oh, I guess what he's saying must be right. So this type of lie is a ploy not just to continue to oppress people rendered vulnerable because of poverty and illness, it is also a ploy to continue to subjugate the subdued naive within the Republican subculture.

It's the same with the right-wingers trying to suppress birth control under guise of suppressing abortion -- do these guys really care if the poor use birth control? Not so much; they want to use denial of access to birth control as a method to continue subjugating young women within their own subculture.

So, yeah, absolutely you've got it right. Health care costs way more than cell phones. Most of the poor know it, the ones who think for themselves at all. The Dems know it. Who is the lie aimed at, then? The argument is aimed at weak-minded weak-willed people currently nestled within the Republican camp, but who might bolt if they ever woke up and looked around.

And, as you say, a lot of these naive victims falling for the lies are themselves victims of the evil policies also, they just don't realize that in time to save themselves.

What's that Il Trompe often twitters as his punch line? Oh: SAD. Yeah. So True.

[dalton99a]

4. Try getting a job - or keeping a job - without a cellphone

[SCVDem]

5. I suppose internet is also a luxury?

Is this the new version of the Cadillac welfare queens?

[llmart]

45. They'd love it if you didn't have the internet...

because they could control more of the news you're getting. And you couldn't post things on social media that aren't in line with the gestapo.

[DetlefK]

7. A hundred dollars get you nowhere in healthcare.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Chaffetz never been poor. Both parents were business owners and well connected. He has no clue. . nt

[jpak]

10. What an asshole

yup

[muntrv]

11. Jason thinks water and oxygen are luxuries.

[HockeyMom]

12. Drop a dime in the corner pay phone

when they need to make a call?

[DinahMoeHum]

13. Hey, Jason C., even with YOUR health insurance. . .

[LakeArenal]

39. He's not stupid..

Calculating, dishonest, merciless, soulless, manipulative, uncaring, superior, condescending, crooked, patronizing, heartless,
sickening, part of the death panel... But not stupid, the repukes know exactly what they are doing and why....

Keep people in hock to healthcare and insurance companies and they will work for any dismal pay to stay alive....

[AllaN01Bear]

14. i was in the icu last december for a week,then a skilled nursing home for a week.

1: icu visit week 1 i bet ya was at least $2000 dollars a day.
2: i bet ya the ambulance was $1000 for the ride for one mile with everything itemized.
3: the skilled nursing home was a pretty penny too.
plus all the drs visits and so fourth.
how will that $500 dollars pay for all that you jerk.
im sick of this let them eat cake routine. good thing i had medical (medicade to most of you )and my supplimant . i havnt even seen any bill for that whole excursion.

[HughBeaumont]

15. This is unfuckingbelievable.

We're MILES behind the industrialized world on Health Care.

MILES.

The whole world is laughing in our FACE right now.

[Jonny Appleseed]

18. Another rich asshole that doesn't know the price of healthcare

If anything a 500 dollar phone buys you more healthcare via the free medical apps than the monetary equivalent would be at a hospital.

[NewJeffCT]

19. and, if they don't get a phone

and miss phone calls for potential employment opportunities, you'll fault them for not having a phone when they're unemployed, or under employed.

[WinkyDink]

20. There is nothing so vile as a Republican politician.

[ColemanMaskell]

61. Sure there is: a GROUP of Republican politicans :-)

[WinkyDink]

62. Oh, now you've got me thinking! What would a group be called? "A greed of Republicans"?

[Sunlei]

23. DU should have topics where people POST MEDICAL BILLS & Insurance costs-to shut those *Rs up.

*wealthy entitled republicans who think 'they know' why people aren't 'wealthy'

[Kber]

27. Post them on his website / Facebook page.

[Sunlei]

30. thanks I don't use facebook, it's not an official record for politicans or our government.

They always edit out what they don't like on 'their' face book.

[IronLionZion]

48. Posting medical bills is a good idea for other reasons too

since there are huge price variations between providers for the same procedure. Promoting transparency helps level the playing field.

[UpInArms]

24. take this fucktard's taxpayer funded paycheck away from him

it's shit like this that shows how out of touch these people are

my family's health insurance (am self employed) - there are three of us - one a full-time college student -

annual cost?

$18,750 -

no, I don't have an iPhone ...

sheesh

[PsychoBabble]

25. Maybe Chaffetz should use some of HIS $ to buy a fricken' HEART ...

I hope some interviewer rips his face off about that iPhone crap. We've heard this playbook before.

[Kber]

26. How out of touch!

Unless he is saying that the new GOP plan will provide insurance for $500 for 2 years plus $79 / month.

Otherwise, hold onto the iPhone so you can look up WebMD and know call an ambulance.

[Sunlei]

28. Expensive cell phone & yr plan2k a year. 'decent' blue cross insurance about $16,000 a year PLUS

co pays and what's not covered by 'decent' insurance.

[bekkilyn]

29. $500 wouldn't even cover one single insurance premium for many people

But Republicans believe it's everyone's personal responsibility to suffer poverty, sickness, and death if the Prosperity Cult God doesn't bless you with millions of dollars, so no surprise here. They make this world worse and worse for most people every single day.

[louis-t]

31. Yeah, my iphone costs me $600 a month, too.

[yurbud]

64. yeah, isn't it about one-fourth of one months premium for a family of three?

[Paladin]

32. The stupid, arrogant bastards aren't even TRYING, anymore.

Think of the sort of snotty, dismissive excuse for a personality Chaffetz must have, to come out with a statement like that.

I want these guys to pay for this sort of thing.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

34. Everything is a luxury to them

If the poor had nothing but a cardboard box to live in, the Repubs would still call it a luxury because it keeps the wind and rain out.

[dhill926]

35. fuck this asshole...

[MBS]

36. Clueless and monstrous comment. n/t

[bucolic_frolic]

37. Peasant life in exchange for health care

not a bargain most would make

Chastity, poverty, humility ... so so so so Republican, don'cha think?

[NurseJackie]

40. I hear echoes of the old "Welfare Queen with a Cadillac" tune...

... it's going to get uglier.

[turbinetree]

41. Lets bring out Chaffetz one quotes from there hero just to get a taste of what assh*** he really is

Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders.

We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing.

by
Ronnie Ray Gun


The last one was the last I could put down on this thread.

That last quote from Ronnie Ray Gun says everything about republican and them being fascists.
And just like the Chafftez's and there world view. We the taxpayers, the people who make up the "government" in this republic are asking people like Chafftez, to make my "rights" better, and he does want to make it better, he wants to hurt people, human beings that's how he looks at his job decription.

He can go F*** himself. And, if his ilk cannot give me or anyone that right then he should be voted out of office, he is a freeloader, he worked last year making $223,000 a year(2016) and was making $18,583 a month working only 110 days out of 365 and doing what with the other 265?

He was on a "pre-paid vacation like a freeloader".



I have a "right" to have good health care MEDICARE for ALL

[Bengus81]

42. Along the same lines of RW BS about people going BK....

Yup,it happens ONLY because they blow all their cash on big screen TV,smart phones,Xbox etc,large home. FACTS are,most BK years ago were MEDICAL bankruptcy.

That probably has lessened when the ACA was rolled out but before it was the MAJOR reason for filing BK.

[Cryptoad]

43. Wheeeww,,,, at least the ,,,

HeathCare CEO's are going to get big bonus out of this....!

[hollowdweller]

44. Republicans are stuck in the late 70's early 80's

At that time wages were fairly high.

Consumer goods were also fairly expensive.

Now the ratio of stuff like consumer electronics to stuff like health care or the price of a house or car is way different.

That's because of free trade mostly.

I'm for clamping down on outsourcing but if they do it w/o raising wages then we'll be back in the 70's far as inflation to salary.

I hear republicans bitch about poor people having big screen tv's and stuff I know they are totally out of touch with how much stuff costs and how much people make.

[harun]

59. Exactly, they are not dealing with the current reality

[J_William_Ryan]

46. Such is the reprehensible right.

[SunSeeker]

47. Obviously said by someone who has no idea how much healthcare costs.

He gets his for free as a member of Congress.

[Judi Lynn]

49. Replacement healthcare plan would cost poor and older people the most GOP Obamacare replacement bill

Replacement healthcare plan would cost poor and older people the most

GOP Obamacare replacement bill’s key provisions include cuts to Medicaid and leeway for insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more

House Republicans reveal bill to repeal and replace Obama’s healthcare law

Jessica Glenza in New York
@JessicaGlenza
Tuesday 7 March 2017 12.14 EST


House Republicans unveiled their long-promised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, on Monday. And though Donald Trump promised Americans increased access and lower costs, many would in fact get the opposite.

Some of the bill’s key provisions include cuts to one of America’s largest social safety nets, Medicaid; less generous tax credits for individuals who buy insurance on the open market; and the undoing of incentives for younger Americans to buy health insurance.

To those proposals, add leeway for insurance companies to charge older Americans more, the end of taxes on pharmaceuticals and tanning beds and a 30% penalty for anyone who has a gap in insurance coverage. Many Republicans argue these proposals would help get the federal government out of the way of the market, and drive down prices by increasing competition.

What it would all mean for Americans’ pocketbooks is still coming into focus, but if the bill is passed into law, some effects are clear.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/07/trump-replacement-healthcare-plan-cost-older-poor

[ck4829]

50. Let them have phones

[ymetca]

51. He tipped the GOP's secret plan

which is to muzzle dissent with abject poverty.

[Guilded Lilly]

52. Republican description of the day, week, year: ignorant, Soulless B*stard.

[MissMillie]

53. Mr. Chaffettz, I have a flip phone

so shove it.

[Blue_Tires]

54. I wonder how that quote went down with the working class white folks?

[Rex]

55. Yeah he said it on the same channel the millionaire news bots tell people that

own refrigerators and AC that they are lucky and should just stfu about said millionaire not working a real day in their life.

[Metsie Casey]

58. What a POS

[Marthe48]

63. Not content with destroying medical sector of economy

Chaffetz goes after the cell phone industry.

What a steaming pile of bird turds.