Things got a little heated between Federalist Senior Writer Mary Katharine Ham and Chris Cuomo during a Thursday morning health care discussion on CNN.
“Well, you can be nasty about it or you can listen to me,” Ham replied after Cuomo rebuked what he called a “cheap” answer about Obamacare’s “essential health benefits.”
"You can be nasty about it or you can listen to me" @mkhammer jabs at @ChrisCuomo in morning health care discussion https://t.co/2tKItvwzTJ
— New Day (@NewDay) March 23, 2017
Ham shared her own experience with Obamacare, explaining how heaping mandates onto health insurance plans make them too expensive for many to use.
Ham said she’s lost several health care plans since Obamacare passed, and has seen large increases in premiums and deductibles during that time. When Obama and Democrats pitched and passed the Affordable Care Act, they promised people could keep plans they liked and that premiums would go down for everyone—despite ample evidence to the contrary.
Obama’s “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it” earned the dubious distinction of being Politifact’s “Lie of the Year” in 2013.
Ham’s experience is echoed by many Americans, who have consistently said in polling since 2009 that Obamacare has hurt more people than it’s helped.
The New York Times has reported on the post-Obamacare phenomenon of sky-high deductibles that, even when subsidized, have made health insurance plans an expensive and little-used product.
After the show, Cuomo and Ham made clear on Twitter that the feisty exchange was business as usual.
Chris can handle me getting salty in the morning! See y'all soon, @ChrisCuomo! https://t.co/spu4cf5rVR
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) March 23, 2017
“Were you salty? Yes. Ham always is,” Cuomo quipped.
