Jason Chaffetz: Poor People Should Stop Buying iPhones If They Need Money For HC

[JA]

His fundamental sentiment isn’t wrong, he just said it in the most wildly stupid and irresponsible way possible.

While I generally think there has been an overreaction to his comments, since he isn't entirely wrong in his sentiment that people should prioritize essentials over unnecessary expenditures, it is incredibly flawed how he expressed it. Plus, coming from someone with his amount of wealth and government funded healthcare, it's quite condescending. It's also quite out of touch with the cost of daily necessities and how burdensome health insurance costs can be for families - especially low income families.

[Wiz in Wis]

A new, top of the line, iPhone 7-Plus, with 256 GB storage, costs $969 to buy outright from Apple.

The average blood test for an uninsured person costs $1,500. This comparison is beyond totally obtuse.

https://www.walkinlab.com/blog/cost-blood-work-without-insurance/

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

Chaffetz is right on this one.

BREAKING NEWS!

[Kingpoleon]

Circa 2014:

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But it's okay, he's a Democrat.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Next up, right-wingers say how rich everyone today is because John D. Rockfeller couldn't afford a smartphone.

[DrScholl]

That's not how any of this works. The cost of an iPhone doesn't much cover serious medical costs or even a year's worth of premiums or deductibles. With that said, most people make do with less expensive phones and still have trouble paying for insurance. It's not a matter of prioritization, it's a matter of affordability and accessibility. By this standard, one could afford a great healthcare plan if they opted to get rid of mortgage or rent by being homeless. Or if they stopped eating, they could save a few dollars.

[ApatheticAustrian]

Circa 2014:

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But it's okay, he's a Democrat.

right-wing pundit allahpundit explained the difference:

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http://hotair.com/archives/2017/03/07/jason-chaffetz-on-new-gop-plan-poorer-people-may-need-to-choose-between-that-iphone-and-investing-in-health-care/

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

People need to take responsibility for their healthcare, but using that to justify cutting back the medicaid expansion is certifiably insane.

Denying people preventative care now, just dumps greater costs onto Medicare, the generalized insurance population through higher premiums, and lost productivity when the illness takes them off the job.

We provide emergency room care as a right, but deny people preventative care through misapplied euphemism like "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps", that could keep them out of the emergency room, save a hell of lot more money in the long run and preserve a healthier workforce that will be more productive.

This is the same kind of "textbook philosophy over common sense" approach on the part of movement conservatism that produced Trump in the first place. You cannot just keep boiling people in oil until the theory preserves right. You tried that on trade and now you have am increasingly protectionist GOP, you really want to keep pressing your luck on healthcare. Maybe your will end up with a pro-single payer GOP.

[Reaganfan]

Circa 2014:

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But it's okay, he's a Democrat.

$40-50 thousand a year? Hell, I wish.

[Dr. Arch]

That's funny. I got my iPhone for free with a 2-year contract, and I haven't changed it in the last 2 years and a half. People who actually NEED HC can't afford to buy a new iPhone every time. I strongly suspect that the people who do generally don't have to worry about their HC. This is just another case of insensitivity mixed in with complete ignorance on the part of Chaffetz.

[Reaganfan]

That's funny. I got my iPhone for free with a 2-year contract, and I haven't changed it in the last 2 years and a half. People who actually NEED HC can't afford to buy a new iPhone every time. I strongly suspect that the people who do generally don't have to worry about their HC. This is just another case of insensitivity mixed in with complete ignorance on the part of Chaffetz.

I always lagged behind in technology. I got an N64 in 2001, which was five or six years after it was new. I got a Playstation in 2002, a few years after it's release. We just couldn't afford them. But after a few years and maybe as a birthday or a Christmas gift.

It still amazes me how lots of money and a faster more urban paced lifestyle can lead to being so far ahead in technology. I won a $100 I-Pod mini thing with earbuds from my job. I have zero clue how to use it. I tried searching google for directions, ITunes, and even purchased a song for 80 cents or something. It's sitting dusty in a drawer. I literally had no clue.

[publicunofficial]

Not to mention that owning a smartphone is increasingly necessary in today's world.

[Blue3]

When I decided to buy my own private insurance after turning 26 (since my job in AmeriCorps didn't offer full insurance and their benefits were awful), it cost $360 a month (I got the gold plan because I have Crohn's Disease, so I thought it would protect me more). Simple bloodwork cost about $120, and a routine doctor's visit cost $40. And when my doctor scheduled a colonoscopy, it would have cost about $800-900.

When I got the projected bill for the colonoscopy, that's when I decided that since I qualify for Medicaid, I should get Medicaid, instead of trying to be a good citizen.

In total, that year (if I had stayed on it for a full 12 months) cost me about $5680.

The iPhone 7 (still too new for most people except techies, but let's go for the more expensive example), according to Verizon (https://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/apple-iphone-7/) costs $650 (assuming you don't have a free upgrade), and let's say your monthly bill is about $60  for that single phone (which might be too high, but again that's ok for this example). So even with the newest and most-expensive examples, it's $1370 for that year you buy it.

That's less than a quarter of the cost.

If the Republicans COULD bring healthcare costs for the average consumer down to one-quarter of the original cost, if healthcare was only as expensive as the newest iPhone, that would be a great success story.

Chaffetz is so out-of-touch.

[Dr. Arch]

That's funny. I got my iPhone for free with a 2-year contract, and I haven't changed it in the last 2 years and a half. People who actually NEED HC can't afford to buy a new iPhone every time. I strongly suspect that the people who do generally don't have to worry about their HC. This is just another case of insensitivity mixed in with complete ignorance on the part of Chaffetz.

I always lagged behind in technology. I got an N64 in 2001, which was five or six years after it was new. I got a Playstation in 2002, a few years after it's release. We just couldn't afford them. But after a few years and maybe as a birthday or a Christmas gift.

It still amazes me how lots of money and a faster more urban paced lifestyle can lead to being so far ahead in technology. I won a $100 I-Pod mini thing with earbuds from my job. I have zero clue how to use it. I tried searching google for directions, ITunes, and even purchased a song for 80 cents or something. It's sitting dusty in a drawer. I literally had no clue.

I completely understand the lagging behind sentiment. I only, sometimes (!), have the latest of things when I plan ahead for them for a good amount of time. People around me with iPhone 7XYZOmegaDeltas, and I still have my 5c. Lots of people get in debt just to keep that image going, but I prefer to save for significant life purchases.

I just think Chaffetz's "argument" (idea?) is ridiculous altogether.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Lecturing poor people on what "proper" behavior is like is one of the rich's favorite hobbies since the 18th century at least (and possibly much, much earlier).

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

I trolled this guy on Instagram and he blocked me lololol

[pbrower2a]

How a nation goes into the sewer -- an elite within the nation is able to enforce the norm that the entire economy exists to enrich and indulge that elite.

[dead0man]

As of March 1st, I'm going to be paying almost $1000 a month for health insurance.  And my smart phone (Moto X, 1st gen) was a $200 model purchased used 2 years ago.  If someone else is paying for your health insurance and you have a $600 phone, you're an asshole.  Just like if someone else is buying your food and you have drive a $30k car, you're an asshole.

[pbrower2a]

One does need a phone, and those who must make and receive calls while not at home need a cell phone. It is a necessity for holding certain jobs, including 'gig' assignments. 

But one can get a flip phone for about $20, which is convenient for the size and relatively simple to use.  I keep a digital camera and a reader device separate from them because I don;t need them all the time.

[Figueira]

Not to mention that owning a smartphone is increasingly necessary in today's world.

This. Smartphones are not just a fun distraction anymore.

[I Won - Get Over It]

Not to mention that owning a smartphone is increasingly necessary in today's world.

This. Smartphones are not just a fun distraction anymore.

Yes, but not iPhone. You can buy a Android smartphone for $50 with all you need.

[angus]

iPhones are too expensive for me even in good times. They really are expensive.  

I got my first cell phone when I was about 18 years old in 2006. It was a flip phone. I used it for four years. In 2010, I got a new flip phone that I used another four years. After that, I got a cheap little "smart phone" and for Christmas 2015, my sister gave me her I-Phone 4 after she got a newer one.  

I use an I-Phone 4 and people say it's a "dinosaur". I'm 28 years old and only owned four cell phones in 10 years. It amazes me the way these young people go out and buy a new phone willy-nilly. To me, that's a month of rent.

I got my first mobile phone about ten years ago.  It was a motorola flip phone.  It lasted five years. Then I got my second mobile phone.  It is also a motorola flip phone.  It's nearly five years old and still works fine.  I don't use it much, I'll admit.  I'm not a big phone talker.  People all the time say "didn't you get my text?" or "didn't you get my voicemail?" and I always say, well, let me check, and I check and I see that I got it a week ago.  I use it if I really want to call someone, or if I'm expecting a call, but mostly it lies in my backpack, patiently waiting.  

My wife kept mentioning a "smart" phone more and more so finally, about two years ago, I bought her one for her birthday.  (Now she's like all the other zombies I see in waiting rooms and on trains and elevators or at the gym.  Stares at it and touches it with her thumbs.  Like it's a little sacred icon or a talisman whose loss would cause despair or death.)  Anyway, at the time I read a bunch of reviews in the trade magazines and on line, and the two top rated phones that summer were the apple iphone 6 and the samsung galaxy S6, both retailing for about $699 at the time.  I went to some electronics stores and tried them out and held them and decided that I liked the Samsung better, so I started searching on line and found one, unlocked and with 128 GB, for $529 at newegg.com.  It was the best deal I could find on that particular model, so I bought it.  It arrived via UPS about a week later and I gave it to her for birthday.  Setting it up was easy.  She took her old flip phone to an AT&T kiosk at the mall and they did their magic and set her new Samsung up in a matter of minutes with the same old phone number and more data than she ever uses.  Our phone bill increased only slightly.  I think we were paying about 50 per month for two regular cell phone lines and either unlimited minutes or so many that we just never went over it, because the bill was always the same.  Now it's around 70 per month for my phone and hers.  I forget how many gigabites of data per month she gets but apparently it's enough because she never goes over it even though she appears to be surgically attached to it most of the time.  Mine is still the five-year-old motorola.  So the actual service isn't particularly expensive, but the phone itself is.  Around 700 dollars retail, although you can get them cheaper if you search around on line.  I have no desire to carry a "smart" phone myself, but if you're in the market I recommend newegg.com

Apart from that, it is a well-known sociological phenomenon that instant gratification is more prevalent among the great unwashed masses than among the more economically successful, generally speaking.  Textbook freshman sociology.  While this congressman did not choose a particularly diplomatic way of making the point, the point has been made many times before.

[The Dowager Mod]

[Pericles]

But I thought Republicans loved freedom?

[Blue3]

To quote some of my friends on another site:

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And some oldies: