title:  WATCH: Republican Rep Tells Poor Americans To Use Emergency Room As Their Healthcare ‘Coverage’
text: Can somebody tell this piece of shit congressman that the emergency room is is NOT healthcare coverage?On Tuesday, GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz told low-income Americans that if they want healthcare they should stop buying iPhones, even though an iPhone is ten times cheaper per year than the average health insurance premium. You know what, Americans have choices, and they ve got to make a choice,  Chaffetz 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. A monthly payment plan for an iPhone is under $30 while health insurance costs over $200 a month. Far more than millions of Americans can afford, even if they didn t buy an iPhone. In fact, it would take approximately ten months to save up for just one month of health insurance coverage.And now another Republican lawmaker has an idea that is just as asinine and just as heartless, and it s one of the reasons why the Affordable Care Act was passed in the first place.Emergency room care has bankrupted many Americans over the years. That s because many people can t afford health insurance to pay for check-ups and annual physicals or get preventive care. So minor health issues become emergency health crises. The average price of a single emergency room visit is $2,168. And that means such visits can cost more than that, even if all you have is indigestion that causes chest pains.These costs can cripple people financially, and that s why the Affordable Care Act was passed, so that low income Americans would finally have access to affordable health insurance they can use to visit their doctors regularly.Republicans like North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, however, think emergency room care is perfect coverage.First, Meadows told CNN host Alisyn Camerota that he agrees with Chaffetz s remark about iPhones. Well, they re already making choices now for those kind of things,  Meadows said.  I ve talked to a number of people having to make choices between, you know, do they put food on the table or pay for the health care? Right, so repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean millions of Americans would have to once again choose between feeding themselves and their families or paying for healthcare.Then Meadows spewed a bunch of bullshit about how Republicans are going to cover more people at less cost. We re all in to help to make sure we get more people covered at less cost. And so that s a choice that I don t want any American to make. I certainly don t want my family to make. As we look at that health care coverage, and certainly health care in general, it s something we need to make sure it s something everybody has access to. Again, by repealing the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are stripping 30 million Americans of their healthcare and will actually make healthcare costs skyrocket after the law slowed down the rising costs by reducing the number of emergency room bills that hospitals usually have to eat because patients can t afford to pay.Furthermore, Meadows went on to claim that emergency room care is the same as having health insurance. Well, we ve got 318 million people. The goal is to allow access to all. There s a federal law right now that if you show up at a hospital, you get coverage, Alisyn. And so, it s a false narrative to suggest we have people who can t go in and get coverage. It s a federal law. Here s the video via YouTube:That law is there to guarantee that anyone who needs emergency care will not be turned away. It s not meant as an umbrella insurance coverage program and could never actually be one.If Republicans seriously believe the emergency room is a suitable substitute for universal healthcare then it is clear they don t care about the health of the American people at all.It should also be pointed out that Meadows and his family do not have to worry about choosing between food and healthcare because his healthcare is covered by the government and paid for by taxpayers.Basically, Republicans think it s okay for them to have government-provided healthcare, but everyone else should be forced to rely on overcrowded emergency rooms. It s time to change that, and we can start by taking healthcare away from Republicans like Meadows. Because if America can t have universal healthcare paid for by the government, our elected officials shouldn t get it either.Featured image via sreenshot