--- title: Jason Chaffetz: Americans Should Buy Insurance Over iPhone description: Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz said low-income Americans should give up iPhones "that they just love" in order to afford health insurance canonical: https://time.com/4693313/jason-chaffetz-health-care-coverage-iphones/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-07T15:29:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:42:16.654Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republican Lawmaker: Buy Health Insurance Instead of a New iPhone og:description: "Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice." og:url: https://time.com/4693313/jason-chaffetz-health-care-coverage-iphones/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637efef66bf6ddfe/6988bd51cf40a89472c46bbc/jason-chaffetz-healthcare-iphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Testifies To House Committee On Dept. Misconduct And Articles Of Impeachment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republican Lawmaker: Buy Health Insurance Instead of a New iPhone twitter:description: "Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637efef66bf6ddfe/6988bd51cf40a89472c46bbc/jason-chaffetz-healthcare-iphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Lawmaker: Buy Health Insurance Instead of a New iPhone > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 3:29 PM UTC  House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) questions Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 21, 2016 in Washington, D.C. House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) questions Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 21, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 3:29 PM UTC Rep. [Jason Chaffetz](http://time.com/3678069/the-republicans-white-house-watchdog/) on Tuesday said low-income Americans should give up iPhones “that they just love” in order to afford health insurance. The Utah Republican made the comments in a [CNN interview](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/07/politics/jason-chaffetz-health-care-iphones/) about the [new health care bill](http://time.com/4693176/republicans-health-care-bill-unlikely-to-quell-national-debate/) introduced Monday by Republicans, when pressed on whether the bill would improve health care access without actually increasing health care coverage. “Well, we’re getting rid of the individual mandate. We’re getting rid of those things that people said that they don’t want,” Chaffetz said. “And you know what, Americans have choices, and they’ve got to make a choice. So maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love, and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. They’ve got to make those decisions themselves.” The price of an [iPhone](http://time.com/4544260/ios-10-1-release-iphone-security/) ranges from $399 to $969, depending on the model and storage size. By comparison, the annual health insurance premium for an average family was $18,142 in 2016, according to the [National Conference of State Legislatures](http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/health-insurance-premiums.aspx). “We do think that with more choice, that you will get a better product at a lower price, and that’ll be good for everybody on the entire spectrum of income,” Chaffetz said on CNN, when asked if the new bill will require low-income Americans to make certain sacrifices. > [](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/839119862169497600) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4693313/jason-chaffetz-health-care-coverage-iphones/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4693313/jason-chaffetz-health-care-coverage-iphones/"},"headline":"Republican Lawmaker: Buy Health Insurance Instead of a New iPhone","datePublished":"2017-03-07T15:29:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:42:16.654Z","description":"\"Rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love\"","url":"https://time.com/4693313/jason-chaffetz-health-care-coverage-iphones/","keywords":["Congress","Health Care","Apple","iPhone","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637efef66bf6ddfe/6988bd51cf40a89472c46bbc/jason-chaffetz-healthcare-iphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt637efef66bf6ddfe/6988bd51cf40a89472c46bbc/jason-chaffetz-healthcare-iphone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"IRS Commissioner John Koskinen Testifies To House Committee On Dept. 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