Our best hope would be to adopt the health care that Congress has for them.
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CONGRESS HAS THE BEST HEALTH PLAN
Why can’t Congress, design a program for us, that provide the same benefits they enjoy?
Our best hope would be to adopt the health care that Congress has for them.
Thirty years ago we spent $65 billion on health care, 11% of all spending. Last year, that has grown to $752 billion, 25% of all spending. One out of every four of your dollars is spent for health care. As we have any increased aging population, more people will use Medicare, Medicaid. Our household discretionary income and increased employer paid remains are squeezing our salaries. Our best hope would be to adopt the health care that Congress has for them.
CONGRESS'S HEALTH PLAN
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program now covers everyone in Congress. This plan covers 8 million other federal workers, retirees, and their families. The federal workers buy their own private insurance coverage. The government pays 72% of the premium, similar to that in the private sector, where employers pay 68 to 81% of a worker's premiums.
The federal program offers dozens of health plan policy choices, so the federal employees can tailor their plan to their needs. (The program's website is www.opm.gov.) Private companies can now only offer their employees one or two health plan choices. The federal plan also cannot exclude people who have pre-existing conditions, as many private plans can do it now.
ADDITIONAL PERKS FOR CONGRESS
Congress gets free outpatient care at Walter Reed Army and Bethesda Navy Medical Centers. They also have an attending physician at the Capitol, which cost them a premium of $500 a year. This pays for everything from routine physical examinations to x-rays and even surgery.
Congress should consider a new law: All laws for citizens of the United States should equally apply to the senators and/or congressional representatives.
Our best hope of a deal is getting Congress's Federal employees health benefit program. Several plans are portable as national Blue Cross, are in effect from state to state, and are carried into retirement. Since the plans are all private, the program regulated by the federal agency overseen by Congressional legislation, it gives it an aura of public insurance even though it is not. We would all get the same coverage as members of Congress have now. This would both be appealing and politically potent and would serve us as well as our lawmakers.
A national approach to nonfederal enrollments in the plans could be politically dangerous. The legislation now being written, ask people to pay a higher percentage of premium costs than the government worker, who has the same income level, has to pay for his federal employees plan.
The federal health plan premiums are going to rise 8.8% this next year. This could be the elusive deal that gets every Democrat to vote for the bill.
COMMENTARY
We are told that the government can't control health care spending. We all want the best health care for ourselves and those we love. Our country will be damaged in many ways, making it almost impossible to reverse. It's hard to get Democrats and Republicans to agree on anything in this bill. Not everyone sees health care reform as Congress sees it. We all believe that cost controls are heartless and illegitimate, but want the best care possible for ourselves.
There are no easy choices for our legislators, most of whom are lawyers and lack medical knowledge. But choices must be made. The Federal health plan is the best of both worlds.
No one in Congress is offering amendments that would take all their benefits away. How far will Congress go to level the playing field between us and them?
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