Confusion Reigns as Obamacare Applies to Capitol Hill
No, the rules are no clearer for them
Capitol Hill is about to get up close and personal with Obamacare.
As in being covered by Obamacare next year.
During debate over the law in 2009, Republicans insisted that if members of Congress were going to put their fellow Americans into health care exchanges, they and their staffs should be in there, too.
"It's necessary and only fair for Congress to live under the rules we pass for everyone else," said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, one of several Republicans who pushed for that requirement.
But vague language in this part of the law — which was passed three years ago this Saturday — has led to a slew of quirks and questions.
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.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?