Johnson to sue over O-Care contributions

[Geee]

The Hill:

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is planning to sue the Obama administration over the federal contributions that lawmakers and their staffs get for health insurance.

 

A provision in the Affordable Care Act forces lawmakers and aides to buy insurance plans created by the healthcare law or sold on ObamaCare exchanges.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said last year that the federal government would continue to help members of Congress and staffers offset the costs of those plans, as the government does for other federal employees.

But Republicans like Johnson say that policy gives lawmakers and congressional aides special treatment unavailable to others who have to seek insurance on ObamaCare exchanges.

[Valin]

@Geee

 

I'm Suing Over ObamaCare Exemptions for Congress
If the president wants to change the health-care law, he must ask Congress to do it.

Sen Ron Johnson

1/5/13

 

On Monday, Jan. 6, I am filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to make Congress live by the letter of the health-care law it imposed on the rest of America. By arranging for me and other members of Congress and their staffs to receive benefits intentionally ruled out by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the administration has exceeded its legal authority.

 

The president and his congressional supporters have also broken their promise to the American people that ObamaCare was going to be so good that they would participate in it just like everyone else. In truth, many members of Congress feel entitled to an exemption from the harsh realities of the law they helped jam down Americans' throats in 2010. Unlike millions of their countrymen who have lost coverage and must now purchase insurance through an exchange, members and their staffs will receive an employer contribution to help pay for their new plans.

 

It is clear that this special treatment, via a ruling by the president's Office of Personnel Management, was deliberately excluded in the law. During the drafting, debate and passage of ObamaCare, the issue of how the law should affect members of Congress and their staffs was repeatedly addressed. Even a cursory reading of the legislative history clearly shows the intent of Congress was to ensure that members and staff would no longer be eligible for their current coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan.

 

(Snip)