News

Tomi Lahren And Chelsea Handler Couldn't Disagree More On Health Care

by John Haltiwanger
YouTube/Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Tomi Lahren and Chelsea Handler are set to debate on Saturday, July 29. There's been a lot of anticipation surrounding the Lahren-Handler debate, given their views on politics couldn't be more different. One issue they don't see eye-to-eye on in particular happens to be a topic that's consumed the media cycle in recent months: health care.

Lahren and Handler disagree on health care, so their discussion has the potential to get very heated.

If you're not familiar with Lahren, she's a conservative political commentator who frequently goes on rants about how awful liberals are.

Lahren still thinks "socialism" is a dirty word, which should give you a pretty good idea of where she stands on health care. She's vehemently against a single-payer system, or universal health care.

The United States is the only industrialized country that doesn't have universal health care.

According to Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans (60 percent) believe it's the federal government's responsibility to ensure every single American has health care coverage, and 33 percent support a single-payer approach to health care.

But Lahren is still not on board. She despises the notion of government-run health care, which she's referred to as "a nightmare."

Someone should probably inform Lahren that Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor, covers roughly 20 percent of all Americans -- 74 million people. Without it, many of these people's lives would be at risk.

In recent months, Republicans have put forward health care plans that would drastically cut Medicaid funding and leave millions without health insurance.

Lahren has expressed support for such plans, in spite of their unpopularity and the GOP's failure to push them through Congress.

Meanwhile, Handler has made it abundantly clear she's strongly opposed to Republican efforts on health care reform.

Handler, who's a comedian and television host, has been criticized for being so vocal about politics. But she clearly feels that she has an obligation to speak out, especially on health care, given she views herself as very privileged, according to what she told HelloGiggles in an interview published on July 26.

Handler expressed similar sentiments in an Instagram post back in February, in which she said,

I don't need Planned Parenthood — I can pay for my own medical care... But I know this country is based on inclusiveness, on welcoming people, on loving people that are not like you... It's compassion and it's empathy. And I will fight for it.

The health care plans Republicans have pushed for in recent months would defund Planned Parenthood, which Handler is clearly opposed to, and would generally be awful for women's health, especially given the majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are women.

During her interview with HelloGiggles, Handler said her discussion would be more of an interview than a debate.

But, given both Lahren and Handler are known for unapologetically voicing their opinions, and they disagree so strongly on an array of issues, it will be interesting to see what happens.