To absolutely no one's surprise, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which manages the health insurance coverage in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP), has announced that the government WILL PAY its share of the premiums for members of Congress and Hill staff who are being forced by ObamaCare into the health insurance exchanges.
The question of whether the government would pay its usual portion of the premium had led to projectile sweating among Hill staff for months. Under ObamaCare, Hill staff and members of Congress must go into the exchanges—a requirement proposed by Senator Grassley, Iowa Republican, as a way to demonstrate that Democrats weren’t going to dump the public in the exchanges while doing everything they could to avoid them personally.
Historically, the federal government has paid the lion’s share of the premium for a government worker’s policy, just as most employers who provide health coverage do. But there is no provision in ObamaCare for the federal government to continue making that contribution to stffers forced into the exchanges. The assumption, apparently, is that government workers would have to qualify for the federal subsidies, just like other Americans being forced into the exchanges.
However, those subsidies are paid on a sliding scale, stopping at 400 percent of the federal poverty level. While many of the young staffers get very low pay and would surely qualify for some subsidy, the most knowledgeable and experienced staffers make very good incomes, and many would not be eligible for the federal subsidies. That means they would have to pay the whole cost of Obama’s very expensive coverage themselves, which could easily run $6,000 to $7,000 a year or more just for the individual.
Of course, this is NO DIFFERENT than the upper-middle income self-employed workers. They must buy coverage in the exchanges, and if they make more than 400 percent FPL, they will get zero help. And indeed, since the subsidies diminish with income, even people making, say, 300 percent FPL will not get much federal help.
So, many of the Hill staff were talking about looking for other jobs or shifting to committee assignments, which aren’t required to go into the exchange. Thus there was a bipartisan hope that the administration would just claim by fiat that it could pay the premiums, which is exactly what it has done.
I have no idea if federal law actually allows OPM to make those contributions, but I also know it makes no difference to this administration whether the law allows it or not. Obama has made it very clear that the law is not a restraint on him—unless he wants it to be. And you can bet Republicans won’t put up too much of a fuss because they want the government contribution also.
Now, in a reasonable world, having OPM cover its typical share of the premiums makes sense, whether it’s inside or outside of the exchange. But we have long since left the “reasonable world” scenario in ObamaCare. Obama and liberal Democrats pushed the law through with unprecedented Republican opposition, thinking they would reap huge voter benefits for doing so. Just the opposite has happened.
And because Democrats refused to try to pass workable health care legislation through “regular order,” they are constantly having to hide, adjust, ignore, delay or explain away the problems.
And here’s one more question: Does OPM’s decision cost more federal money? If the Congressional Budget Office’s cost projections assumed that these employees would be getting the federal exchange subsides rather than the FEHBP contribution, then having the federal government pay its usual share could cost taxpayers more money. Not a lot, to be sure, because we aren’t talking about that many people.
But clearly the Hill staff thought they would be spending a lot more out of pocket, hence their concerns.
It’s yet another example, as if we needed any more, of how badly the Democrats screwed up both the legislation and the process. And their monument intended to make them the majority party for decades to come has turned into a millstone on every American’s back.