President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle attended the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner at the Washington Convention Center Saturday night. While extolling the benefits of Obamacare less than 10 days before the opening of the new health insurance marketplaces, the president said that “you can offer your family the security of health care … for less than your cell phone bill.”
The president was referring to a tweeted claim made earlier this week by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that said, “Nearly 6 in 10 uninsured Americans will #GetCovered for less than $100/month starting Jan 1.” As noted at the time, Sebelius’s claim was based on a press release from HHS that said that six in ten uninsured “may be able to get coverage” for less than $100 per month, a claim that looked even more dubious under closer examination.
The president repeated Sebelius’s comment that “6 in 10 will be able to get coverage for less than 100 bucks a month;” and said [emphasis added]:
So just think about that. Knowing you can offer your family the security of health care –- that’s priceless. And now you can do it for less than your cell phone bill. That’s what change looks like. (Applause.)
Remarkably, this is not the first time the president has made the claim. At the end of August, President Obama was interviewed by Tom Joyner and Sybil Wilkes of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and said:
According to a JD Power report in 2012, the average individual’s cellphone bill is $71 per month.
