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President Obama declared that the new health care law "is going to be affecting every American family." Except his own, of course.
The new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. Leadership and committee staffers in the House and Senate who wrote the bill are exempted as well. Because they were more familiar with the contents of the law than anyone in the country, it says a lot that they carved out their own special loophole.
How can this be explained? If the bill is so good for the people, why isn't it good for congress and their staff?
One such surprise is found on page 158 of the legislation, which appears to create a carve out for senior staff members in the leadership offices and on congressional committees, essentially exempting those senior Democrat staffers who wrote the bill from being forced to purchase health care plans in the same way as other Americans.
Quote:
According to the Congressional Research Service, this definition of staff will only apply to those staffers employed within a member’s “personal office” - meaning that it will absolutely not apply to committee staff members, and may not apply to leadership staff.
Staffers and members on both sides of the aisle call it an “inequity” and an “outrage” – a loophole that exempts the staffers most involved in writing and passing the bill from one of its key requirements.
The bill requires “congressional staff” to buy insurance from the exchanges – with a stipend from the Office of Personnel Management But page 158 of the bill defines “congressional staff” narrowly, as “employees employed by the official office of a member of congress, whether in the district office or in Washington.”
I don't get how people can't see the truth in this whole thing...i mean when you have republicans and democrats switching sides to make backdoor deals when most of the people don''t want this bill how is this a good thing...and these exemptions u wrote about means that it's actually not a good thing for "everyone" because the family of the guy who was pushing for the bill is exempt to it....it is an outrage how people see "nothing" wrong with it....little do they know that the "care" we get here will be worse now because u will end up on waiting lists to get treated for serious health issues like the system in the UK
The bill requires all members of Congress and the immediate staff to purchase their Ins thru the Exchange. It is writen to specify who will be so required. It does not specify other ancillary staffers, for the same reason that you are not required to buy your Ins thru the Exchange. If fact, the only people required to go thru the Exchange, are those specified. Anybody else can choose to buy Ins wherever. The Exchange provides a marketplace that people can select Ins coverage. I do believe that those, who are getting a subsidy to help pay for Ins, will have to go thru the Exchange. Other than that, anybody is free to get their insurance from wherever, they are not, however, free to not get insurance. Is there a devastating issue here, IMO not in any reasonable mind.
The rest of us will be able to keep our employer-provided insurance as long as we can, but once forced into the "exchange," you'll be stuck there forever. More and more private insurers will go out of business. Then the government steps in. After a few decades, what do we have??? Single payer!
They are adamant in getting at that single-payer system. They waited this long, and are willing to wait as long as it takes.
(i) REQUIREMENT- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are--
(I) created under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act); or
(II) offered through an Exchange established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act).
(ii) DEFINITIONS- In this section:
(I) MEMBER OF CONGRESS- The term ‘Member of Congress’ means any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate.
(II) CONGRESSIONAL STAFF- The term ‘congressional staff’ means all full-time and part-time employees employed by the official office of a Member of Congress, whether in Washington, DC or outside of Washington, DC.
This covers all members of Congress, and all full-time and part-time employees working in the official office of each Senator and Representative. Other Congressional staffers -- as federal employees -- will continue to be able to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (and most if not all of those plans already meet the requirements in the health care reform bill ... no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, no dropping of coverage because someone actually uses their policy, etc.).
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