Members of Congress like to boast that they will have the
same health care enrollment experience as constituents struggling with the
balky federal website, because the law they wrote [supposedly] "forced
lawmakers to get coverage from the new insurance exchanges."
That is true...
* AND THE ABOVE "THAT IS TRUE" WAS SARCASM...
(READ ON!)
...as long as their constituents have access to
“in-person support sessions” like the ones being conducted at the Capitol and
congressional office buildings by the local exchange and four major insurers; or
can log on to a special Blue Cross and Blue Shield website for members of
Congress and use a special toll-free telephone number — a “dedicated
congressional health insurance plan assistance line.”
(*SMIRK*)
And then there is the fact that lawmakers have a larger
menu of “gold plan” insurance choices than most of their constituents have back
home.
* WHOEVER SAYS "VIOLENCE ISN'T THE ANSWER" APPARENTLY
DOESN'T TRULY APPRECIATE THE LIMITED CHOICES!
While millions of Americans have been left to fend for
themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the
federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides..
* AND... THEIR... AIDES...
...have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through
their options and enroll.
Lawmakers and the employees who work in their “official
offices” will receive coverage next year through the small-business marketplace
of the local insurance exchange, known as D.C. Health Link, which has staff
members close at hand for guidance. “D.C. Health Link set up shop right here in
Congress,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the delegate to the House from the
nation’s capital.
Insurers routinely offer “member services” to enrollees.
But on Capitol Hill, the phrase has special meaning, indicating concierge-type
services for members of Congress. If lawmakers have questions about Aetna plan
benefits and provider networks, they can call a special phone number that
provides “member services for members of Congress and staff.”
* AND... STAFF...
On the website run by the Obama administration for 36
states, it is notoriously difficult to see the prices, deductibles and other
details of health plans. It is much easier for members of Congress and their
aides to see and compare their options on websites run by the Senate, the House
and the local exchange.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
Lawmakers can select from 112 options offered in the
“gold tier” of the District of Columbia exchange, far more than are available
to most of their constituents.
* THE "GOLD" TIER... NICE...
* 112 OPTIONS...
Aetna is offering eight plan options to members of
Congress, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield is offering 16. Eight are available
from Kaiser Permanente, and 80 are on sale from the UnitedHealth Group.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
Lawmakers and their aides are not eligible for tax credit
subsidies, but the government pays up to 75% of their premiums, contributing a
maximum of $5,114 a year for individual coverage and $11,378 for family
coverage. The government contribution is based on the same formula used for
most other federal employees.
* BUT THEY'RE NOT "MOST OTHER FEDERAL
EMPLOYEES."
* BY THE WAY... ALL THE LAWMAKERS AND MID-LEVEL TO SENIOR
STAFF ARE HIGHLY PAID. WHY MUST TAXPAYERS SUBSIDIZE THEM AT ALL - LET ALONE TO
THE TUNE OF 75% OF THEIR PREMIUMS?! LOGIC CALLS FOR WEENING PEOPLE OFF OF
EMPLOYER-BASED COVERAGE! WHO BETTER TO START WITH THAN LAWMAKERS AND THEIR
AIDES?!
In debates leading up to passage of the Affordable Care
Act, members of both parties suggested that all Americans should have coverage
as good as what Congress had. President Obama said in 2009 that people should
be able to buy insurance in a marketplace, or exchange, “the same way that federal
employees do, same way that members of Congress do.”
* YEAH. PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS A LOT OF THINGS...
For decades, members of Congress have received coverage
through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. They generally like
their coverage, but — like millions of Americans facing the loss of their
policies next year — they cannot keep it.
In the past, if lawmakers did nothing in the open
enrollment period, their coverage would automatically continue. This year, by
contrast, they must affirmatively pick a plan. Their coverage under the federal
employee program will end on Dec. 31. If they do not choose a plan via D.C.
Health Link by Dec. 9, they will lose the government contribution to their
premiums and could lose their right to retiree health benefits as well.
* WHY DO THEY GET RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS IN THE FIRST
PLACE...?!?! WHY ISN'T THE SAME SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM THEY DESIGNED FOR
"THE MASSES" GOOD ENOUGH FOR THEM..?!?!
In addition, lawmakers who go without insurance next year
may, like other Americans, be subject to tax penalties.
Jacqueline A. Thomas, a 26-year-old legislative
correspondent for Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida,
said she was able to reduce her monthly premium to $60, from $120, by switching
to a Kaiser plan from a Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan. “I’ll be paying half
as much for comparable coverage,” she said.
* BUT WHAT'S THE PLAN ACTUALLY COST...?!?! WHAT'S IT COST
TAXPAYERS...?!?!
* ONE... MORE... TIME: "...the government pays up to
75% of their premiums, contributing a maximum of $5,114 a year for individual
coverage and $11,378 for family coverage."
The congressional work force is full of young, healthy
people like Ms. Thomas, precisely the type of customer insurers want to
attract.
* I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHOM INSURERS WANT TO ATTRACT! WHAT
I CARE ABOUT IS HOW MUCH I HAVE TO PAY TO SUBSIDIZE THESE PEOPLE WHILE STILL
PAYING FOR MY OWN HEALTH INSURANCE AT MARKET RATES!
Congressional aides naturally have a few complaints. Some
are confused by the large number of options. When they sign up for a plan
online, they get no confirmation, so they are apprehensive. In addition, the
website for the local exchange does not display the government contribution for
members of Congress and their aides.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
It shows, for example, that a couple with one child may
pay $1,300 a month for a plan, when, in fact, their share of the premium is
only $352; the government pays $948.
* THE... GOVERNMENT... IS... BROKE...!!! THE GOVERNMENT
BORROWS WHAT... IS IT STILL FORTY-SOMETHING-PERCENT OF GENERAL OPERATING EXPENSE
FUNDING... ADDING DEFICITS UPON DEFICITS, DEBT UPON DEBT?
Local exchange officials said their website had not been
set up to calculate premium contributions using the formula required for
lawmakers and other federal employees.
(*HEADACHE*)
One part of the new insurance program is veiled in
secrecy. Lawmakers may allow some or all of their employees to keep their
current insurance by declaring that they do not work in the “official office”
of a member of Congress. Members do not have to disclose such decisions, though
some have voluntarily done so.
* WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE, FOLKS...??? HOW MUCH WILL YOU
STOMACH...???
Thus, for example, a spokesman for Representative Darrell
Issa, Republican of California, said the congressman had decided that all of
his staff members, including those who work in his personal office, could stay
in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and would not have to go into
an exchange.
* THAT SON OF A BITCH...
By making it easier to compare the costs and benefits of
different health plans, the exchange could make it easier for insurers to
compete with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which has long dominated the market on
Capitol Hill.
For its part, Blue Cross and Blue Shield says it can best
meet the needs of lawmakers and their aides because its national plans have a
large network of providers, including nearly 90% of all doctors in the United
States.
One perk is not in danger. Lawmakers can receive care
from the attending physician to Congress, conveniently located in the Capitol,
for an annual fee of $576. And they can get care at military hospitals.
* FOLKS... OVER THE YEARS I'VE SHARED WITH YOU
THE REALITY OF "THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN." YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND -
THIS IS CONCIERGE MEDICINE. THIS IS A SCAM. YOU ARE BEING USED AND ABUSED BY
THESE BASTARDS AND IF YOU'RE PREPARED TO ACCEPT THAT THIS IS HOW IT MUST BE...
THEN YOU DESERVE EVERY BIT OF ILL TREATMENT YOU RECEIVE.
