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They are not exempt.
Please. Be as good as you cn be.
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.
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.
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..
The law didnt account for the continued employer contribution for these federal workers who would now be buying their insurance on the exchanges. The exchanges were designed to help people without health insurance and people with overly expensive health insurance. It became clear that without their employer contribution, members and their staffers would essentially be getting a cut in pay and benefits equal to thousands of dollars.
We contacted the Office of Personnel Management and received this statement from an administration official: Members of Congress will not receive anything that is not available to the public. The law doesnt allow them to get insurance from FEHB, they are going to get insurance on the market place, just like uninsured individuals and small businesses.
We cant say what did or didnt happen in any secret meetings. But we can say that no bill has been introduced to exempt members of Congress from the Affordable Care Act and they were never exempt in the first place. Even if, hypothetically, Congress were to nullify the provision requiring members and their staffs to get insurance on the exchanges, it still wouldnt amount to an exemption from the law. Lawmakers and staffers would be subject to the mandate to have health insurance or pay a fine, just as everyone else is.
The law provides a few exemptions from the requirement to have insurance, but only for those who earn too little to file taxes, those with financial hardships, those who cant find affordable coverage, and some religious groups that qualify for Social Security exemptions, mainly Mennonite or Amish.
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who proposed an early version of the idea, said he wanted to make sure that members of Congress and Congressional staff get their employer-based health insurance through the same exchanges as our constituents.
It has been a headache for many in Congress ever since.
Democrats and some Republicans wish the issue would simply disappear.
The 2010 law generally requires lawmakers and aides who work in their personal offices to get coverage through the exchanges. That implies that they would no longer receive coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
The law is silent on the question. It does not clearly authorize the government to pay premiums for federal employees who obtain insurance through the exchanges. Nor does it authorize the government to reimburse federal employees who buy health insurance on their own.
David M. Ermer, a lawyer who has represented insurers in the federal employee program for 30 years, said, I do not think members of Congress and their staff can get funds for coverage in the exchanges under existing law.
From the link..
As it turns out, Grassley was wrong. Democrats didnt reject the amendment. They accepted it, and now its 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.
Congress Gets ObamaCare Waiver - Fox Nation
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?
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.
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?????????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).
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 want to prove that you are right, find the part that allows employers to contribute to the cost of insurance in the exchange. Once you realize it doesn't exist, and that the only people in the entire country that get this benefit are congresscritters and their staff, come back and admit you are wrong.
Funny how LL says he hates congress, but loves defending them. What hoot and a holler!
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 want to prove that you are right, find the part that allows employers to contribute to the cost of insurance in the exchange. Once you realize it doesn't exist, and that the only people in the entire country that get this benefit are congresscritters and their staff, come back and admit you are wrong.
Too stupid. You are too stupid.
No other employers MUST use the exchange. You are just too stupid.
You want to prove that you are right, find the part that allows employers to contribute to the cost of insurance in the exchange. Once you realize it doesn't exist, and that the only people in the entire country that get this benefit are congresscritters and their staff, come back and admit you are wrong.
Too stupid. You are too stupid.
No other employers MUST use the exchange. You are just too stupid.
You're big on name calling but low on common sense..
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.
Prove it.
Too stupid. You are too stupid.
No other employers MUST use the exchange. You are just too stupid.
You're big on name calling but low on common sense..
Lumpy....
I know you are intelligent. Why are you pretending not to be intelligent in this thread? I don't know what else I can do. I have provided the facts.
It is a shame that ideology prevents even intelligent "conservatives" from dealing with facts.
Peace.
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 want to prove that you are right, find the part that allows employers to contribute to the cost of insurance in the exchange. Once you realize it doesn't exist, and that the only people in the entire country that get this benefit are congresscritters and their staff, come back and admit you are wrong.
Too stupid. You are too stupid.
No other employers MUST use the exchange. You are just too stupid.
Too stupid. You are too stupid.
No other employers MUST use the exchange. You are just too stupid.
You're big on name calling but low on common sense..
Lumpy....
I know you are intelligent. Why are you pretending not to be intelligent in this thread? I don't know what else I can do. I have provided the facts.
It is a shame that ideology prevents even intelligent "conservatives" from dealing with facts.
Peace.
..You actually haven't absorbed all the facts but if you can, try again...
