Obama Care Crisis Solved for Congress and Staffers!

[Trajan]

'let them eat cake'.....yea I think that can work


so, the IRS chief ( and his Treas. Union) say they'd rather stick with their Federal plan and not go thru 'the/a change'...well hello? Who wouldn't? But then again even the loyal foot soldiers of the admin. understand, and if they can avoid getting on 'the train', they will ...

The deal or carve out for the Unions is coming too, bet on it.

The only issue being when and whom; if Obama wasn't pathological about needing everyone less fortunate than him to love him, he'd set up Hillary as the go to on this, boosting her 2016 cache amongst the Unions, keeping them fully engaged, in line and loyal to her for the campaign.

Hill gets Obamacare fix

Lawmakers and staff can breathe easy — their health care tab is not going to soar next year.

The Office of Personnel Management, under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill, will issue a ruling that says the government can continue to make a contribution to the health care premiums of members of Congress and their aides, according to several Hill sources. …

Just Wednesday, POLITICO reported that President Barack Obama told Democratic senators that he was personally involved in finding a solution. …

Obama’s involvement in solving this impasse was unusual, to say the least. But it came after serious griping from both sides of the aisle about the potential of a “brain drain.” The fear, as told by sources in both parties, was that aides would head for more lucrative jobs, spooked by the potential for spiking health premiums.

snip-

The problem was rooted in the original text of the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) inserted a provision which said members of Congress and their aides must be covered by plans “created” by the law or “offered through an exchange.”

Read more: Hill gets Obamacare fix - John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com




Politico naturally does its best to cover for Obama ,example-; " the problem was rooted in text " that Grassley inserted...., no, thats a grasping, vapid and dishonest counter factual, the problem IS the Plan......

 

[MeBelle]

"the potential of a “brain drain" is an excuse used for so many issues, it makes me want to puke!

What power does the OPM have to change the law?

oh, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[peach174]

Yes,
Staffers and maybe IRS and certain unions will get out of it one way or another.

My husband and I have already lost our General Practitioner. She closed her office and went to work at a Hospital because she could not afford to keep her practice.
We found a new Doctor and because of the New Health Care law, we had to have unneeded blood tests. An extra expense we did not need.

The New Health Care Law, almost killed my 87 year old Mother last month.
Her insurance pushed her to take a generic drug, rather the Brand name, for her high blood pressure.
The first one made her dizzy, then two weeks later the 2nd one made her very sick. She was allergic to the 2 different types of generic drugs the Doctor put her on. They also did not work. Her blood pressure shot up to over 200 and they had to take her in to the hospital.
Now she is back on the brand name drug, but she has to pay 80.00 for it, rather than the 9.00 for generic.
The New Health Care Law does not pay much of anything for Brand name drugs.
I don't see any savings here, when you have to pay more for a brand name drug and you have to go to the hospital.

This new health care bill caused my mom to almost have a stroke, she has to pay more for a drug on a fixed income, plus what the insurance will not pay for the hospital stay.
Then the insurance company had to pay for the two drugs she was allergic to and the hospital stay.

This new bill is going to cause many problems at the expense of millions in this nation.
While Federal workers get special treatment.

This Health Care Bill is a nightmare.

 

[boedicca]

I'm sure this will be a HUGE relief for America At Large. Obama is going to use his executive power and the Whim of the Bureaucrats to (illegally) exempt members of Congress and their staffs from ObamaCare.

The law actually requires Congress and staff to be subject to ObamaCare..but we don't need no stinkin' laws, not when we have Obama & His Army of Faceless Unaccountable Bureaucrats to make deals to exempt their cronies.

Just a day after President Barack Obama told Senate Democrats he had personally engaged in the issue of his signature health care law’s effect on lawmakers and their staff, it appears there’s a solution.

Word began circulating around Capitol Hill that the Office of Personnel Management would soon issue guidance to address the way the health care law’s exchanges affect members of Congress and those employed in their offices. Senate aides initially declined to discuss the matter, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed the existence of a deal to CQ Roll Call leaving the Capitol late Thursday — and a White House official confirmed details of the plan later Thursday evening.

Basically, OPM needed to determine that the federal government could help pay the cost of premiums on the exchanges for congressional employees.

“I’m glad it’s done,” the Nevada Democrat said, directing a request for details to the White House.

A White House official confirmed to CQ Roll Call that OPM will issue the new regulation next week, and in turn lawmakers and aides will not be eligible for the law’s tax credits and subsidies to buy insurance. Members of both parties had asked the administration to step in and clarify that staff was still eligible for employer contributions, fearing an exodus of talent. And enacting a legislative fix would have been messy to say the least given the partisan divide over the law itself....

Obama Solves Health Care Problem for Lawmakers, Staff (Updated) | The World's Greatest Deliberative Body

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Some animals are more equal than others

 

[boedicca]

Indeed. But I do enjoy the oxymoron of a "brain drain" exodus of talent.

If a bunch of them quit, it would be more like draining a swamp.

 

[JakeStarkey]

What exemption? The OPM determined that OPM that the federal government could help pay the cost of premiums on the exchanges for congressional employees. They are part of ACA, gang.

 

[daveman]

What exemption? The OPM determined that OPM that the federal government could help pay the cost of premiums on the exchanges for congressional employees. They are part of ACA, gang.

Yes, because Congressional employees are such a poverty-stricken lot.

 

[g5000]

Federal employees receive their health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. They have been for a long time.

The FEHBP premiums are employer-subsidized, just like any other employer-sponsored health insurance is. If you have employer-sponsored health insurance, you are receiving, on average, about a $12,000 tax free subsidy from your employer. It just so happens the employer of Congressional staffers is the American taxpayer. Their wages come from tax dollars, as does their employer's share of their health insurance premiums.

Understand? Tax dollars have been going to them for decades as part of their wages and benefits.

The problem is that there is no provision in ObamaCare for someone who switches from FEHBP to an insurance exchange to receive the same premium subsidy they have been receiving for decades. They only get a subsidy if their income is less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). And for a lot of them, that is not the case.

So they are not attempting to add some new cost to taxpayers. They are trying to maintain the same thing they have always gotten.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/us/politics/wrinkle-in-health-law-vexes-lawmakers-aides.html

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the nation’s largest employer-sponsored health insurance program, covers more than eight million people, including government employees and their family members. It offers dozens of competing plans and has been cited as a model by members of both parties.

In battles over the health care law in 2009-10, Republicans proposed a requirement for lawmakers and aides to join the exchanges, and Democrats accepted it.

So Congress is getting booted out of the FEHBP and must buy their insurance through the exchanges.

Bye-bye employer-sponsored (and thus subsidized) health insurance. Hello insurance exchange. That is a substantial jump in cost to each of them.

It would be like your own employer booting you off your company's health insurance and making you buy it from the exchange. If you earn more than 400 FPL, that would be a giant cost increase to you.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What exemption? The OPM determined that OPM that the federal government could help pay the cost of premiums on the exchanges for congressional employees. They are part of ACA, gang.

Jake <3 ObamaCare

 

[JakeStarkey]

Frank the crypto-fascist posts a youtube that means nothing.

 

[daveman]

Frank the crypto-fascist posts a youtube that means nothing.

You sure do take it personally when someone criticizes Democrats, Comrade.

 

[JakeStarkey]

No, daveman, I take it personally when you falsely criticize me, a mainstream GOP member who is tired of your far reactonary right fucking up my party.

 

[Papageorgio]

So these federal employees will be subject to the same type of insurance as the poor?

 

[boedicca]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

 

[JakeStarkey]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

You still don't get, boedicca. Their employer will pay the employer contribution, just as my company did for our employees health care and will continue to do so. Those who do not have employer insurance will purchase theirs through the cooperatives. Many independent contractors outside of the employer health care system will do the same.

 

[Papageorgio]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

You still don't get, boedicca. Their employer will pay the employer contribution, just as my company did for our employees health care and will continue to do so.

But why can't the government opt to move their employees on the cheaper Obamacare plan?

 

[boedicca]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

You still don't get, boedicca. Their employer will pay the employer contribution, just as my company did for our employees health care and will continue to do so. Those who do not have employer insurance will purchase theirs through the cooperatives. Many independent contractors outside of the employer health care system will do the same.

That's not what the ObamaCare law actually says. They are supposed to go on the exchanges - there is nothing about the government footing the bill as the employer.

 

[JakeStarkey]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

You still don't get, boedicca. Their employer will pay the employer contribution, just as my company did for our employees health care and will continue to do so.

But why can't the government opt to move their employees on the cheaper Obamacare plan?

The same argument private companies use: our talented employees will leave if they have to pick up a bigger share.

 

[boedicca]

No. The government will be a huge chunk of the costs of their care instead of them having to use the exchanges the way the poor will have to.

You still don't get, boedicca. Their employer will pay the employer contribution, just as my company did for our employees health care and will continue to do so.

But why can't the government opt to move their employees on the cheaper Obamacare plan?

Apparently, there is some concern about a BRAIN DRAIN in DC if the political class and their hench thugs are forced onto the same plans that they are forcing on the rest of the country.