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Animal Farm?
Wonderful news, comrades. Hard-working Congresscritters and their staffers are spared from paying full freight when they’re ‘sent to the exchanges’:
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. -- more -->
Animal Farm?
I have faith in our fellow americans that they voted for the right person. Obamacare was on the ticket as well. The majority voted to stick with Obama and his vision. God bless
Jackass always sticking Barry with personal responsibility.
the "deal" was approved by the WH, but surely it was written by "members of Congress and their staff"
Boutons approves of this.
Brother, I'm sorry my post upset you. I mean no disrespect. My intention is show my support for this administration and our country. God bless
You Lie
The majority of population are morons which's why they stick with Obama s and enjoy doing so.
They are basically doing the same thing I am planning to do. Congress and aides currently get X salary plus Y benefits. The law is about to take Y benefit away. The employee need to be compensated for the loss of that benefit and having to come up with Z dollar amount for Obamacare instead of the essentially free health plan they had. They are basically just saying they are going to compensate the employees Z amount which is exactly what I intend to do.
While the fix might be the same, it's not the same situation. I read about this a while ago. It was actually an error/loophole in the law. Assistants not working on Congressmen's offices didn't qualify for the government benefits but also did not qualify for the tax credits (unlike your employees, which would if they get their own insurance). There's been comments for a few weeks this was going to have to be addressed, and I guess they finally got around to it.
"essentially free health plan they had"
no, wrong again.
Govt has paid 75% of the their health insurance, like any other big employer, and that was going to be lost in a mistake in ACA. Now the 75% is restored, very simple.
Right-Wing Media Miss On Congressional Health Care In Attack On Obama "Dictatorship"
The right-wing media have hyped and distorted a decision to keep congressional staffers on their existing health care plan to accuse the Obama administration of acting with the "whims of a dictatorship."
After the Obama administration agreed to fix a legislative conflict that would have forced congressional staffers off their current health care coverage and into the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the right-wing media accused President Obama of "exempting" Congress from the law. On Fox News' America's Newsroom, co-host Bill Hemmer claimed Obama "personally intervened to make sure that members of Congress and their staffers will not have to live with Obamacare," later saying the decision "is like the oligarchs." Fox contributor Monica Crowley said the decision "is like the whims of a dictatorship." A Wall Street Journal editorial claimed the decision suggests "illegal dispensations for the ruling class, different rules for the hoi polloi."
But the decision fixed a problem that would have treated congressional employees differently from all other Americans. In the Health Affairs blog, health care expert Timothy Jost explained that "Far from exempting Congress from ACA requirements, as some have reported, the amendment subjects members to a legal requirement that will apply to no other Americans":
the media's use of the word "exemption" made it seem as though Congress was creating a unique legislative situation for themselves, "Obamacare would apply to members of Congress and their staffs in the exact same way it applies to employees of The Washington Post, or Politico, or GE, or any other large employer. They wouldn't be any more exempt from the law than I am."
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/08...ealth-c/195288
Another ACA fix that Repugs will block and/or propagandize about
GOP Expected To Thwart Obamacare Fix For Churches
An effort by Democrats to fix a glitch under Obamacare that harms small churches is widely expected to be blocked by Republicans, in what would be the latest example of GOP efforts to undermine President Obama’s signature legislative achievement by refusing to fix technical problems encountered during implementation.
The problem is that under the law clergy and church employees at smaller churches cannot apply their Obamacare subsidies toward the premiums for church insurance plans because those plans do not qualify. That could force clergy and staff to leave their church insurance plans and use the Obamacare exchanges instead, threatening to rob church insurance plans of the participants they need to remain viable.
“We’re not expecting it to get a vote — at least not anytime soon,” said Coons spokesman Ian Koski. “The climate is such right now that Republicans would rather repeal the law than fix it. They’re more interested in leaving this loophole open as part of their strategy to undermine the Affordable Care Act. They can go out there now and say the Affordable Care Act is bad for churches instead of working with us to fix the problem.”
Koski said it’s “not a far leap” to conclude that Republicans also oppose the bill because one of its lead sponsors is Pryor, a vulnerable in bent and prime GOP target for 2014.
A request for comment to a senior Republican aide was not immediately returned.
“This is one of those situations where if you had a functional Congress, they’d be able to enact a fix,” Jost said. “But we don’t have a functional Congress so that’s not likely to happen.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2...oons-pryor.php
As Krugman says, Repug assholes are the BIGGEST issue facing America today.
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