Replies to post #93228 on Biotech Values

[randychub]

Members of Congress have good health insurance by any standard, but it’s not free and not reserved only for them – and it’s not government insurance. House and Senate members are allowed to purchase private health insurance offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8 million other federal employees, retirees and their families.
It’s not a "single-payer" system where the government acts as the one and only health insurance company. As President Bush’s chief of personnel Kay Coles James said in 2003, while lecturing at the conservative Heritage Foundation, "the FEHB program is not centralized, government-run health care." It has drawn praise both from conservatives and liberals, including President Obama, who held it up as a model for his own health care proposals.

[medchal]

Obama has also bravely opted himself out of his exemption, at least by his own statement.  It really doesn't matter.  What matters is that these altruistic people who are shoving their conception of health care down our throats (for our own good, of course) took the trouble to exempt themselves (and the President) in the legislation.  There's no excuse for that.  Not only were members of Congress is "leadership" positions exempted, but their staffs (who actually drafted the bill) were included in the exemption.

Grassley's amendment to remove this exemption was defeated on a party-line vote.  Just more altruism, I'm sure.