Unions And Congress Choke On Obamacare

If you haven’t gotten the idea that ObamaCare is a disaster for just about everyone involved,you haven’t been paying attention. A late wake-up call was just delivered to Congress,where the ruling class,and its mighty imperial retinue,is just beginning to realize how difficult it will be to implement the monstrosity they voted into law without reading.

A story at Politico notes that Republicans managed to force “Congress to live under the rules we pass for everybody else,” as Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa put it. (Of course the Democrats tried to completely exempt themselves from the horror they inflicted upon the rest of us. Please don’t tell me that surprises you in the least.) But like much of ObamaCare,the rules about imposing it upon representatives and their staffs were “vague” and full of “quirks,” and as the third anniversary of President Obama’s health care takeover approaches this Saturday,hilarity has ensued:

Staffers who work in lawmakers’ personal offices go into exchanges — but those who work for committees don’t. And the lawmakers themselves get Obamacare — unless they are among the roughly 40 senators and 115 House members on Medicare.

And there’s a big thorny unresolved question about money:whether members and staffers in exchanges will still get a significant part of their health insurance premiums subsidized by their employer,just like other government workers. If they lose that subsidy,it’s like getting a pay cut of several thousand dollars.

[...] Ambiguities in the wording of the law also raise questions about whether long-promised retirement health plans could disappear for Hill staff. Those valuable benefits available after 20 years of service had been tied to participation in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program,but the exchanges aren’t part of FEHB.

Read More at Human Events . By John Hayward.