It’s good enough for YOU

The  Affordable Health Choices Act, recently voted out of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee along party lines will force millions of “Americans into stingy insurance plans with tight, HMO-style controls,” the Wall Street Journal reports. However, it may come as no surprise that on page 114, line 22, the Act specifically exempts members of Congress from their own “reform”.  That’s right; ObamaCare for Thee, but NOT for me.

Currently members of Congress enjoy among the widest selection of health plans in the country according to the U.S Office of Personnel Management.  Included in these options are Health Savings/Reimbursable accounts with much lower premiums than would be available to the general public under the Senate or House bills.  In addition, Members may receive care at military hospitals, the same medical care provided to Presidents and visiting dignitaries.

Asked to explain during the June 24th ABC News healthcare forum, President Obama would not pledge to eschew outside care stating instead that “You’re absolutely right that if it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.”

Calling the Bluff

Rep. John Fleming, a physician, had the temerity to ask, “If public health care is so good, why won’t members of Congress who vote for it actually sign up their own families”?  In this spirit he introduced H.R 615 which simply states that “Members who vote in favor of establishment of a public, federal government run health insurance option are urged to forgo their right to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and agree to enroll under that public option”.  The results: “We’ve reached out to every Democrat in the House and we have yet to have a taker.”  “They want it for every American, except for members of Congress”.  So far there has been no action on the amendment.

On July 16, Rep Dean Heller of Nevada offered a similar amendment to HR 3200 during mark-up in the House Ways and Means Committee.  Democrats defeated this amendment by a 21 to 18 vote.

Sense of the Congress

The take home message could not be more clear.  Congress has no hesitation in passing laws which will limit the choice of average Americans to freely select the coverage they desire for themselves and their families, just so long as these limitations do NOT apply to them.  In the end though I see a chance for the public to exact a sort of well deserved revenge.  Perhaps the solution should these bills succeed is for the American Public to make sure that each and every one of them returns to the Private Sector where they can enjoy the fruits of their labor along with the rest of us.