For Congress, Obamacare Finally Hits Home
Chris Jacobs /
Andrew Shurtleff/ZUMA Press/Newscom
The quotes are certainly ominous:
- Employees are so worried “thanks to Obamacare that they are thinking about retiring early or just quitting.”
- Workers fear being pushed “on to the government health exchanges, which could make their benefits exorbitantly expensive.”
- “The chatter about retiring now, to remain on the current health care plan, is constant.”
- Employees “young and old [are] worried about skyrocketing health care premiums cutting deeply into their already small paychecks.”
- “The focus right now is…trying to figure out how to offset potential increases in premiums.”
Those quotes could refer to any number of employers and firms dealing with the effects of Obamacare. But, as this morning’s Politico reports, the quotes taken above come from Capitol Hill, where aides are terrified of a provision in Obamacare that dumps them onto the exchanges come January 1.
Federal employees, including those on Capitol Hill, currently receive generous “corporate level” health insurance benefits and a broad range of personal plan choice—from high-cost, comprehensive plans to low-cost, high-deductible plans—that is denied the vast majority of Americans.
Like all enrollees in employer-based coverage, Capitol Hill employees (and all federal workers) get employer subsidies for the cost of their coverage. It’s a flat, fixed-dollar amount and, like all employer-based contributions, is also tax-free.
When Members and staff are forced out of their existing coverage into Obamacare’s exchanges, they will lose both the generous subsidy and the tax break. Many on Capitol Hill will not qualify for subsidies in the exchanges—just like many private-sector employees who will lose their existing coverage.
Members and staff have another big problem. Obamacare was drafted so clumsily that it’s unclear precisely how placing Members of Congress and their staff in exchanges will work. Politico notes that “there has been no guidance” from the Office of Personnel Management on the issue, and fear levels have been rising as a result.
This is what happens when we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.
The Politico story really just shows the broader themes that have been playing out around the country: Regulators causing uncertainty for businesses and their workers? Check. Skyrocketing premiums in the exchanges? Check. Firms dumping their workers onto exchanges? Check. In other words, all of Obamacare’s chickens have finally come home to roost on Capitol Hill.