MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Tuesday demanded that House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R., Wis.) former chief of staff, Dave Hoppe, apologize on air for saying that "Obamacare was in a death spiral."
"Are you prepared to admit right now on live television on MSNBC that you're sorry for saying that Obamacare was in a death spiral because it's not?" Velshi asked at the start of the segment.
Hoppe did not take the bait and instead said that he hoped Velshi and health care company Kaiser Permanente would join him in saying they should not be getting subsidies anymore if they are "making so much money." He added that insurance companies should be providing the subsidies to the people that need them, not taxpayers.
"Dave Hoppe, what happened? Are you a communist all of a sudden? Velshi asked. "You want to take money from a private corporation and give it to regular people who don't make enough money?"
Hoppe pushed back by saying that Velshi's definition of communism is not what he is proposing.
"In Obamacare, the premiums have gone up $3,000 in four years," Hoppe said. "That's a lot for some people. Now, we have subsidized to help some of those people who need the help, but that's a lot and it was much more than the government thought. The history of all government programs is they always cost more than you think they are going to cost. The prices keep going up and the costs on the taxpayer keep going up."
Hoppe went on to say that there will be a need for risk pools because people will run into health problems that are beyond their ability to fight. He added that these need to be implemented for those people who need help, but he said this does not mean the system should be government-controlled, restricting Americans' ability to make decisions for their families.
"Dave, I'm very disappointed because my producer said you were going to come on and apologize for saying that Obamacare was in a death spiral and you were going to agree with me and that we would never speak again, so at least this way we get to speak again because you still haven't apologized," Velshi joked at the end of interview.
"I think he really does believe what I'm saying, but he just won't admit it on TV," Velshi added.