? Congress Gets A Pass ?

[Edgetho]

From the link..

As it turns out, Grassley was wrong. Democrats didn’t reject the amendment. They accepted it, and now it’s part of the law. But that created a very weird situation. The federal government, like most large employers, not only provides the opportunity for its workers to get insurance. It also pays a large portion of the premium. Now that lawmakers and their advisers were going into the exchanges, what would happen to that contribution? Would they just lose the money?

The answer, the administration decided last week, is no. Lawmakers and their staffs could keep their employer contributions, and apply that money towards the cost of whatever insurance they buy in the exchanges.

And that will make them THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY that can do that.

http://nation.foxnews.com/2013/08/08/congress-gets-obamacare-waiver

THAT is the problem.

Nobody else can.

Nobody else can buy insurance through an exchange and have their employer pay for 3/4 of it.

Except Congress.

If that isn't an 'exemption' then what the FUCK is?

 

[Lumpy 1]

From the link..

As it turns out, Grassley was wrong. Democrats didn’t reject the amendment. They accepted it, and now it’s part of the law. But that created a very weird situation. The federal government, like most large employers, not only provides the opportunity for its workers to get insurance. It also pays a large portion of the premium. Now that lawmakers and their advisers were going into the exchanges, what would happen to that contribution? Would they just lose the money?

The answer, the administration decided last week, is no. Lawmakers and their staffs could keep their employer contributions, and apply that money towards the cost of whatever insurance they buy in the exchanges.

And that will make them THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY that can do that.

THAT is the problem.

Nobody else can.

Nobody else can buy insurance through an exchange and have their employer pay for 3/4 of it.

Except Congress.

If that isn't an 'exemption' then what the FUCK is?

Looks like a sweetheart deal to me..

 

[Edgetho]

UPDATE 1-U.S. Congress wins relief on Obamacare health plan subsidies | Reuters

 

[Lumpy 1]

Maybe Congress and government employees hours should be cut to 29.5 hrs a week and receive zero benefits. Obama seems to believe that's a great situation for many Americans, so why not government..

 

[Edgetho]

From the link..

As it turns out, Grassley was wrong. Democrats didn’t reject the amendment. They accepted it, and now it’s part of the law. But that created a very weird situation. The federal government, like most large employers, not only provides the opportunity for its workers to get insurance. It also pays a large portion of the premium. Now that lawmakers and their advisers were going into the exchanges, what would happen to that contribution? Would they just lose the money?

The answer, the administration decided last week, is no. Lawmakers and their staffs could keep their employer contributions, and apply that money towards the cost of whatever insurance they buy in the exchanges.

And that will make them THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY that can do that.

THAT is the problem.

Nobody else can.

Nobody else can buy insurance through an exchange and have their employer pay for 3/4 of it.

Except Congress.

If that isn't an 'exemption' then what the FUCK is?

Looks like a sweetheart deal to me..

Yeah, but it's not an 'exemption'

I hate dimocraps.

None of this would be necessary if they just didn't have a pathological obsession with lying.

So Congress fucked up? I get it. They should have been honest about it, admit it and be up-front about needing to fix the law as written. I don't think anybody would have begrudged them that. I wouldn't have and I even said so in an earlier thread BEFORE the Stuttering Clusterfuck issued his back-alley, shadowy order to the OPM.

They didn't have to do that.

But they're dimocraps. dimocraps lie.

Even when they don't have to lie, they still do. They wake up in the morning lying and they go to bed at night lying.

And now to say it's not exemption from the law is just more of the same..... dimocraps lie

 

[LittleNipper]

They have always had their insurance subsidized as part of their compensation package. They are not exempt from the ACA.

Please......do not repeat a lie once you know it is a lie. It does a disservice.

Thanks.

Yes, and I once only paid one dollar a week for family healthcare in the private sector --- but NO MORE! So why exactly should politicians still have subsidized healthcare? Are they elitists? Are they living at working class wages? Are they in fact better then those they rule over? Why should they get the best of the best on the backs of everyone else who need to struggle? Is it ever good that a "servant" should live better than those they serve? THE TROUBLE IS THAT THOSE THAT ARE IN POWER DO NOT LIVE BY EXAMPLE! They actually believe (today) that they are better and above everyone else.

 

[Edgetho]

They have always had their insurance subsidized as part of their compensation package. They are not exempt from the ACA.

Please......do not repeat a lie once you know it is a lie. It does a disservice.

Thanks.

Yes, and I once only paid one dollar a week for family healthcare in the private sector --- but NO MORE! So why exactly should politicians still have subsidized healthcare? Are they elitists? Are they living at working class wages? Are they in fact better then those they rule over? Why should they get the best of the best on the backs of everyone else who need to struggle? Is it ever good that a "servant" should live better than those they serve?

Welcome to obama's America

 

[Steven_R]

The issue isn't whether or not Congress is exempt from Obamacare. The issue is why there are special laws for Congress in the first place. Insider trading lands normal citizens in Federal Pound-Me-In-The-Ass prison on a regular basis. Congress is exempt from that law. Why?

More importantly, why aren't Congressmen being dragged out of their offices to be tarred and feathered by their constituents?

 

[Jarhead]

Edgetho,

I know this is difficult for you to grasp. But you are wrong. Congress is not exempt from the ACA. They never were. You are horribly uninformed and unable to comprehend the words tht you read.

You are a stupid person. This is a lie that you believe because you desperately want it to be true. But..Congress is not exempt from the ACA and neither are the Congressional staffers.

You are being disingenuous....spinning the reality of the situation...and I have to wonder why you would do that.

True, they are not exempt from the ACA.

However, when it was realized by congress and their staffers that the cost of their insurance was going to go up substantially, they asked for an ADDITIONAL subsidy...of course at the cost of the taxpayer...

In the real world, that additional cost will be absorbed by the individual.

So explain to me...why are you OK with that?

 

[LoneLaugher]

Holy shit.....it is fucknut disgusting. You are all crazy.

These staffers are...unlike any other employee of a large corporation in this nation....REQUIRED TO GO ON THE EXCHANGE. This requirement means that the way their employer compensates them for health insurance could not be maintained. That was rectified.

They are going on the exchange. They are NOT EXEMPT FROM THE LAW.

Stop it.

 

[Care4all]

Read the law, congress and their staffers ARE getting their insurance from the insurance policies on the exchange. PERIOD.

That is the law that Grassley put in there...to make certain that congress had to choose from the same insurance companies on the exchange as those who go on the exchange that do not have company provided group insurance....and that's precisely what they are doing....they no longer have their separate choice of insurance providers like you and I do if we have Insurance through our work...they now have to choose from the insurance providers on the exchange...

Why is that so hard for you intelligent folks out there to understand?

Grassley's amendment DID NOT say that they have to go on the exchange with the Insurance companies available on the exchange for their own insurance option choices AND THEIR EMPLOYER, the government, would NO LONGER compensate them for their insurance as a benefit....

JUST READ THE AMENDMENT.

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).

WHERE OH WHERE in this amendment does it say that these workers and Congressmen's Insurance benefit (their employer's contribution), would be TAKEN AWAY?????????

NO WHERE in that amendment.


so, it appears, and as usual lately, you are all barking up the wrong tree and have not used your God given brains to think things through.

 

[LittleNipper]

President Obama lied to us.

It wasn’t a white lie. It wasn’t a fib. It wasn’t a half truth. It was a bold-faced lie.

“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise,” President Obama told the American Medical Association in 2009. “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.”

That statement turned out to be a lie. Period.

On Thursday I asked my Facebook community if they had faced hardships as a result of ObamaCare.

The response was overwhelming. I received nearly 1,000 replies – from small business owners, nurses, doctors, electricians, stay-at-home moms, and military personnel. Every single person said they had been adversely affected by President Obama’s signature legislation.



President Obama also promised us that we would be able to keep our doctor. Another lie.


So let’s break down the president’s lies.

Thursday he told an audience in Largo, Maryland that the Affordable Care Act had not hurt jobs.

“There's no widespread evidence that the Affordable Care Act is hurting jobs,” he said.

Investor’s Business Daily reports that as a direct result of ObamaCare, more than 300 companies have either eliminated jobs or reduced full time jobs to part time jobs. Hospitals across the country are firing staff and reducing work hours.

Janet Blanck owns Country Blossom Florist, a small shop in Gilbert, Ariz. She tells me that as a result of ObamaCare she’s had to lay off three employees.

At one time, she employed eight people. Those who were not let go now work part-time because of rising insurance costs.

“Obama is killing us,” she told me. “It breaks my heart to have to do this. I have to protect what I have built and this is the only way that I know of to get around this law and still stay in business.”

President Obama also promised us that we would be able to keep our doctor. Another lie.

Several hundred of you, like Joel Keefauver, wrote to tell me that your doctors were either shuttering their practices or shedding patients.

“Under the forthcoming Affordable Care Act and new healthcare regulations, I will no longer be able to provide the quality of healthcare you have come to expect and that I believe is proper,” the doctor wrote in a letter to Keefauver. “The increased cost imposed by complying with these new laws, along with decreasing reimbursements, creates a financial burden that is unsustainable for my solo practice.”

DiDi Henry’s elderly mother recently moved from Alabama to Louisiana. She has been unable to find a doctor willing to take Medicare patients.

“Several doctors told her that they just aren’t taking Medicare patients because of ObamaCare,” she told me.

The president also told us ObamaCare would make health insurance affordable? Another whopper.

Business owner Sheila Frey tells me her insurance rates have increased by 46 percent. Her small family-run company is paying $2,000 a month for coverage.

And remember how President Obama promised rebate checks to defray the cost of buying insurance coverage? Well, Shelia tells me her rebate check was a meager $127. You do the math.

Tammy Boisvert told me she had to find a new pediatrician.

“My family doctor of 20 years couldn’t take my newborn due to this insurance mess,” she wrote. “With a family of six all seen by this one doctor, I suddenly had to search for a new pediatrician.”

President Obama promised we could keep our current health care plan. Another lie.

Michelle Cox, of Asheville, N.C. wrote to me about a letter she received Thursday from her insurance company.

“ACA requires is to make significant changes to our health benefits plan designs,” the letter read. “We cannot renew your existing plan in 2014.”

Alissa Delamar is in the same boat -- searching for insurance after her company canceled its group plan.

“I’m stressed so much financially now I can’t fathom any more debt,” she wrote. “It leaves you hopeless.”

Catherine Schneider and her husband own Blue Sky Trucking in Montgomery, Minn. They were just informed that their insurance policy would be canceled in December.

“It’s too expensive,” she said. “The Affordable Care Act is disrupting our business and it has the potential to destroy our family.”

Allison deNijis’s family policy was also canceled.

“I thought Obama said we could keep our insurance?” she asked. “I thought he said our cost would decline? Not true! Epic fail!”

Her family was offered a new policy that now includes a nearly $1,000 monthly premium and $5,000 in individual deductibles.

“I am seriously considering just paying the fine and putting the differential amount in a personal savings account,” she told me. “Why should I pay over $13,000 in premiums?”

By the time ObamaCare is fully implemented, I suspect most Americans will be begging for death panels – to put us out of our misery.



Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary heard on hundreds of radio stations and in his weekly podcast. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter and be sure to join his Facebook page.




Todd Starnes

 

[LoneLaugher]

Edgetho,

I know this is difficult for you to grasp. But you are wrong. Congress is not exempt from the ACA. They never were. You are horribly uninformed and unable to comprehend the words tht you read.

You are a stupid person. This is a lie that you believe because you desperately want it to be true. But..Congress is not exempt from the ACA and neither are the Congressional staffers.

You are being disingenuous....spinning the reality of the situation...and I have to wonder why you would do that.

True, they are not exempt from the ACA.

However, when it was realized by congress and their staffers that the cost of their insurance was going to go up substantially, they asked for an ADDITIONAL subsidy...of course at the cost of the taxpayer...

In the real world, that additional cost will be absorbed by the individual.

So explain to me...why are you OK with that?

No. You are wrong.

 

[Jarhead]

Edgetho,

I know this is difficult for you to grasp. But you are wrong. Congress is not exempt from the ACA. They never were. You are horribly uninformed and unable to comprehend the words tht you read.

You are a stupid person. This is a lie that you believe because you desperately want it to be true. But..Congress is not exempt from the ACA and neither are the Congressional staffers.

You are being disingenuous....spinning the reality of the situation...and I have to wonder why you would do that.

True, they are not exempt from the ACA.

However, when it was realized by congress and their staffers that the cost of their insurance was going to go up substantially, they asked for an ADDITIONAL subsidy...of course at the cost of the taxpayer...

In the real world, that additional cost will be absorbed by the individual.

So explain to me...why are you OK with that?

No. You are wrong.

Cool.

So there was nothing changed to accommodate the congress and their staffers.

You go ahead and believe that all you want.

 

[LoneLaugher]

The Day - Myth of Congress' Obamacare exemption | News from southeastern Connecticut

 

[LoneLaugher]

You are being disingenuous....spinning the reality of the situation...and I have to wonder why you would do that.

True, they are not exempt from the ACA.

However, when it was realized by congress and their staffers that the cost of their insurance was going to go up substantially, they asked for an ADDITIONAL subsidy...of course at the cost of the taxpayer...

In the real world, that additional cost will be absorbed by the individual.

So explain to me...why are you OK with that?

No. You are wrong.

Cool.

So there was nothing changed to accommodate the congress and their staffers.

You go ahead and believe that all you want.

This has been explained in this thread....by me and by Care4All....and in a half dozen links. Why should Congressional staffers be required to take a pay cut? That is what was going to happen. They simply fixed that. They are not getting special treatment....they escaped getting WORSE treatment.

Fucking duh!

 

[Jarhead]

No. You are wrong.

Cool.

So there was nothing changed to accommodate the congress and their staffers.

You go ahead and believe that all you want.

This has been explained in this thread....by me and by Care4All....and in a half dozen links. Why should Congressional staffers be required to take a pay cut? That is what was going to happen. They simply fixed that. They are not getting special treatment....they escaped getting WORSE treatment.

Fucking duh!

I will ask you again.

You are OK with that?

Most if not all employers are going to have their employees absorb that cost.....giving their employees a "pay cut" as you put it.

But congress decided they would not go to their employers (us).

Instead, they decided to ensure they don't get the "pay cut" like the rest of us.

and you are OK with that?

 

[Lumpy 1]

Cool.

So there was nothing changed to accommodate the congress and their staffers.

You go ahead and believe that all you want.

This has been explained in this thread....by me and by Care4All....and in a half dozen links. Why should Congressional staffers be required to take a pay cut? That is what was going to happen. They simply fixed that. They are not getting special treatment....they escaped getting WORSE treatment.

Fucking duh!

I will ask you again.

You are OK with that?

Most if not all employers are going to have their employees absorb that cost.....giving their employees a "pay cut" as you put it.

But congress decided they would not go to their employers (us).

Instead, they decided to ensure they don't get the "pay cut" like the rest of us.

and you are OK with that?

You are here >>>

 

[LoneLaugher]

Cool.

So there was nothing changed to accommodate the congress and their staffers.

You go ahead and believe that all you want.

This has been explained in this thread....by me and by Care4All....and in a half dozen links. Why should Congressional staffers be required to take a pay cut? That is what was going to happen. They simply fixed that. They are not getting special treatment....they escaped getting WORSE treatment.

Fucking duh!

I will ask you again.

You are OK with that?

Most if not all employers are going to have their employees absorb that cost.....giving their employees a "pay cut" as you put it.

But congress decided they would not go to their employers (us).

Instead, they decided to ensure they don't get the "pay cut" like the rest of us.

and you are OK with that?

Last time.

The ACA mandates that any employer who employs 50 or more people will be required to provide health insurance coverage for their full time employees ( not spouses or families ) that costs the employee no more than 9.25% of their income.

If they do not, it will cost them 2000 per employee. A mandate which has already been delayed.

Now...of all the companies in America which employ more than 50 people...ONLY ONE PERCENT do not already offer insurance to their full time employees.

Do you understand what that means? It means that the law is only going to force a small percentage of LARGE employers to do something that they are not already doing.

Now...the US Government is considered a large employer and already offered health insurance to its employees. Due to a stupid amendment designed to cause trouble.......UNLIKE ALL OTHER LARGE EMPLOYERS, the US Government was mandated to drop their existing coverage and use the exchange plans. That stupid law did not include a provision for transferring the way it was paid for. That is what was fixed. No added benefit was proffered to the staffers.

No other company is going to be forced to use the exchange plans. They can, as Obama said, keep the insurance that they have. No impact at all.

Understand? Not only are these employees not exempt.....they are absolutely going on the exchange.

That is it.

This lie must die.

 

[Sallow]

Should Congress and their "special interests" be exempt from the legislation they pass...ie Obamacare?

I vote.. NO.. (with outrage)...if we're getting screwed, they should as well....

You don't have any idea what you are talking about.

They aren't "exempt".

If they lose their healthcare..they can get it from an exchange.

Gosh..