Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Do They or Don't They: Congress Screws Up (Again)?

Looks like John Edwards' prediction may have been spot on:

"When I'm president I'm going to say to members of Congress and members of my administration ... I'm going to use my power as president to take your health care away from you."

Ha! The joke's on Mr E:

"In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says [ObamaCare©] may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.

For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available
."

In short, it looks like, at the very least, new CongressCritters and staff won't be able to sign onto the prized health insurance benefits package currently enjoyed by the Political Class. It may even be worse:

"It is unclear whether members of Congress and Congressional staff who are currently participating in F.E.H.B.P. may be able to retain this coverage."

Ooops!

How did this "sad" state of affairs come about? Simple: they didn't read what they wrote (gee, where have we heard that before?), and simply rammed it through, no matter what the consequences. And because karma apparently has a wicked sense of humor, these folks may actually be left with fewer choices than us common folks:

"The new exchanges do not have to be in operation until 2014. But because of a possible “drafting error,” the report says, Congress did not specify an effective date for the section excluding lawmakers from the existing program."

This seems to mean that they'll be booted off their current plan immediately, but since there's no "Exchange" or federal risk pool, they're going to have to turn to the tender mercies of the current health insurance system. While I haven't yet fielded any such calls, it's probably just a matter of time before I'm inundated with quote requests from hapless CongressCritters.

I'll let you know how that goes.
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