re: #10 ausador

Well…it isn’t true, things have changed radically for members of congress and the higher ranking staff positions.

I specifically remembered that because a lot of the Congressional staff bitched that they got fucked by the deal and now had to pay for their own health coverage. Apparently the part that says “…they remain eligible for an employer contribution toward coverage” means that has been at least partially rectified.

There was an effort by the Republicans towards the end of the government shutdown to remove the employer contribution from congressional and executive employees.

WASHINGTON — Congress’ own health insurance could be one of the last obstacles to reaching a deal to reopen the government and avoid default.

House Republicans floated a bill Tuesday that would have ended the 16-day federal government shutdown and raised the debt limit, but it also would have eliminated the employer contribution for health care for all members of Congress, their staffs, the president, the vice president, and all their political appointees.

Republicans say the employer contribution amounts to a “congressional exemption” from the effects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

The truth is that members of Congress are treated differently under Obamacare, but they’re not exempt. In fact, by forcing them to purchase health insurance through publicly run exchanges, members of Congress are even more subjected to the law than than similar employees in private sector — or even in government.

I remember thinking at the time that it was an incredibly ballsy move on their part to try and sell a solution to the problem they’d willfully created by dramatically lowering their own staff’s compensation. These are the people who bring these assholes coffee / food, and interface with constituents on their behalf. It was such an incredible dick move, guaranteed to anger the very people they most depend on and reeking of desperation that I knew then the GOP were very close to caving.