WASHINGTON — In the Republican response to the State of the Union address, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington lamented the travails of “Bette in Spokane,” whose insurance policy had been canceled because of the health care law and who faced huge premium increases to replace it.

The reality for Bette Grenier of Chattaroy, Wash., was more complicated.

She did dash off an angry letter to Ms. McMorris Rodgers, her congresswoman, in September, but on further exploration Ms. Grenier’s options were wider than she had thought. She qualified for a subsidized insurance plan through the health care law, an option she opposed philosophically. Instead, she bought insurance through a Christian ministry that is cheaper and better than her canceled policy. Since her star turn, she has been harassed and mocked by “some pretty mean people,” she said.

The “real people” political prop is a durable ingredient in politics, first popularized at the State of the Union address when Ronald Reagan invited Lenny Skutnik, who had dived into the icy Potomac River to rescue victims of a plane crash, to serve as an example of Everyman heroism. It is a trope that every president since has used. But with the continuing fight over the Affordable Care Act, it has become a blood sport for both parties. Every real face is fact-checked, every perceived distortion attacked. And real people have been caught in the crossfire.

“I did not know they were going to use me, and I’d just assume they hadn’t,” Ms. Grenier said.

Democrats say constituent service has yielded to something like constituent exploitation.