This was over at Hotair this morning. It’s Obama being confronted with a question about Obamacare being too expensive. After explaining some options out there, he then drops this bomb:
I guess what I would say is, if you looked at that person’s budget, and you looked at their cable bill, their telephone– their cell phone bill– other things that they’re spending on, it may turn out that it’s just they haven’t prioritized healthcare because right now everybody’s healthy.
Nobody actually wants to spend money on health insurance until they get sick. And then once they’re sick, the costs of not having health insurance are a lot worse than the costs of having health insurance. I guarantee you if that gentleman who just wrote you that letter– and I don’t know his particular circumstance and whether he actually has gotten all the information about the subsidies that might be available.
But I guarantee you that even at $300 a month, if, heaven forbid, something happened to him, or a family member where they got sick, and really needed, let’s say, a week’s worth of hospitalization, he will wish that he had paid that $300 a month.
Here that? If you can’t afford Obama’s steal-of-a-deal rock-bottom healthcare prices, you’re not doing it right! This from the man who has added to our debt $7 TRILLION DOLLARS in less than 4 years!
Watch:
Full transcript below:
TRANSLATOR:
Very well then. Let’s move onto the cost now. We have been receiving a great number of questions from the many social media platforms. We have been getting many questions, I say, about costs. This question here comes from a gentleman who says that he has– he wanted Obamacare for a family of three.
And he says, “I make about $36,000 per year, and the minimum amount here is $315 thou– dollars per month. I think that’s too much for me.” That’s a question from this gentleman here. As I was saying, a lot has been– said about the cost. And for families that live from paycheck to paycheck, $316 might be a lot.
Well yes, for example– Mr. President, the study from the California Endowment shows that our people want medical insurance, they need insurance. They try to register. But when they go to register, they can’t cover it. So the question is, is the Affordable Care Act really affordable?
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Well, the– I think it’s very important to understand a couple of things. Number one, that many people, when they go on the website, or they make a call, or they go to the clinic, they may be eligible for Medicaid, they just don’t know it. In which case– they may be able to get health insurance coverage for free or very low costs.
The child who was in the video previously may qualify for the children’s health insurance program. That’s a no-cost program. He should be signed up. When it comes to somebody who’s not qualified for Medicaid, we already have w– in place what’s called a hardship exemption, so that you are not required to get health insurance if you– genuinely cannot afford it.
And frankly, there are a few states, like Texas or Florida, that have not expanded Medicaid the way the law allows. Those people should qualify for Medicaid under the federal rules. But the states have refused to expand it for political reasons. And so they may find themselves– in a situation where they really can’t afford to pay more, they should be able to get health insurance, that’s why we’ve gotta put pressure on those governors to expand Medicaid.
But for the majority of people, when you sign up on this website, you will discover that, because of the tax credits and subsidies that are available, that the vast majority of people– will find a good option that is affordable for them. And as I said before, a large portion of people will be able to find health insurance for $100 or less.
Now there may be some circumstances where somebody is making $40,000, $50,000 a year, they’ve got a health insurance option that– you know, costs $300 a month for their family. And they may say, “You know, with all the bills that I’ve got, that’s too tight.”
I guess what I would say is, if you looked at that person’s budget, and you looked at their cable bill, their telephone– their cell phone bill– other things that they’re spending on, it may turn out that it’s just they haven’t prioritized healthcare because right now everybody’s healthy.
Nobody actually wants to spend money on health insurance until they get sick. And then once they’re sick, the costs of not having health insurance are a lot worse than the costs of having health insurance. I guarantee you if that gentleman who just wrote you that letter– and I don’t know his particular circumstance and whether he actually has gotten all the information about the subsidies that might be available.
But I guarantee you that even at $300 a month, if, heaven forbid, something happened to him, or a family member where they got sick, and really needed, let’s say, a week’s worth of hospitalization, he will wish that he had paid that $300 a month.
Because he stands potentially to get bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment and you cannot pay that without health insurance. You know– I get a pretty good salary of President of the United States. But if I didn’t have health insurance, and something happened to me– I’m not sure I could pay out of pocket for the kinds of costs of care that are necessary.