By JACK HEALYMARCH 11, 2017

By JACK HEALYMARCH 11, 2017
SPRINGVILLE, Utah — As the health care debate thundered away in Washington, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah stirred up a social media squall the other day by suggesting
that uninsured Americans should invest in their own health care “rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love.”
Here in Mr. Chaffetz’s solidly Republican district, one of those uninsured Americans watched the viral CNN interview on — what else?
But the cellphone tethers the couple together when Mr. Hunter leaves for his nearly $13-an-hour job at a call center
and Ms. Hunter stays home with their three children — 9, 4 and 3 years old — here in the Utah Valley.
“If you need to be able to decide between an iPhone and health insurance, you need to look at: Why is that the choice?”
To Mr. Chaffetz’s supporters, his comments sounded like a tough-love defense of individual responsibility
in the midst of a knockdown debate over the government’s role in providing health care to Americans.
The Hunters said they voted for Mr. Chaffetz in November,
but Mr. Hunter said his comment sounded like something a “well-off person” would say — not a parent receiving food stamps, whose children are covered by Medicaid and who usually has $86 left over after paying the month’s mortgage and other bills.
It was a big day: Mr. Hunter had been taking computer classes after work at the call center,
and Friday was the day he would take a test for his A+ certification, the first step toward what the family hoped would be a better-paying job working on computer systems.