Obama Solves Health Care Problem for Lawmakers, Staff (Updated)
Updated: 10:41 p.m. | 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.
http://www3.blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/reid-says-issue-with-health-care-for-lawmakers-staff-is-resolved/
Will pay 75% of premiums
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.” Until now, OPM had not said
if the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program could contribute
premium payments toward plans on the exchange. If payments stopped,
lawmakers and aides would have faced thousands of dollars in additional
premium payments each year. Under the old system, the government
contributed nearly 75 percent of premium payments.
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.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/capitol-hill-obamacare-crisis-solved-95100.html#ixzz2aoPwCL29
DEAL: ‘Exempt from Obamacare’
The White House has approved a deal that will exempt members of
Congress and their staff from some of the provisions of the Affordable
Care Act, Politico reported late Thursday. Under the law, popularly
referred to as Obamacare, lawmakers and their aides were required to
source health insurance “created” by the law or offered through one of
its exchanges, and without the subsidies they currently enjoy, the
members of Congress would have faced thousands of dollars in additional
premium payments each year, the report said. However, the Office of
Personnel Management now plans to rule that the government can continue
to make a contribution to the health-care premiums of the lawmakers and
their staff, it said, citing unnamed congressional sources and a White
House official.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/congress-to-get-obamacare-exemption-report-2013-08-02?dist=tcountdown
OHIO: Health premiums to soar
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/ohio-premiums-rates-going-up-95067.html?hp=l5
198% hike in GA!
GEORGIANS WHO will be forced to buy health insurance under Obamacare
later this year should be prepared to dig deeply into their wallets —
then hold on for dear life.
That’s because of heart attack-inducing sticker shock.
The premiums for the five health insurers that will be offering
policies in Georgia’s federally run insurance exchange are “massive,”
according to Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens.
“Insurance companies in Georgia have filed rate plans increasing
health insurance rates up to 198 percent for some individuals,” Mr.
Hudgens wrote in a July 29 letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the president’s point
person on Obamacare.
http://savannahnow.com/opinion/2013-08-01/obamacare-georgia-sticker-shock
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