Hill gets Obamacare fix.
The move
could come as soon as Friday, sources said. | AP, Reuters Photos
Lawmakers and staff can breathe easy —
their health care tab is not going to soar next year.
The Office of Personnel Management,
under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill, will issue a ruling that says the
government can continue to make a contribution to the health care premiums of
members of Congress and their aides, according to several Hill sources.
A White House official confirmed the deal
and said the proposed regulations will be issued next week.
(Just Wednesday, POLITICO
reported that President Barack Obama told Democratic senators
that he was personally involved in finding a solution.
The problem was rooted in the original
text of the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) inserted a
provision which said members of Congress and their aides must be covered by
plans “created” by the law or “offered through an exchange.” Until now, OPM had
not said if the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program could contribute
premium payments toward plans on the exchange. If payments stopped, lawmakers
and aides would have faced thousands of dollars in additional premium payments
each year. Under the old system, the government contributed nearly 75 percent
of premium payments.
Obama’s involvement in solving this
impasse was unusual, to say the least. But it came after serious griping from
both sides of the aisle about the potential of a “brain drain.” The fear, as
told by sources in both parties, was that aides would head for more lucrative
jobs, spooked by the potential for spiking health premiums.
There was a certain sense of urgency,
too, since enrollment in the exchanges was set to begin Oct. 1. There were
discussions of a legislative fix — attaching language to a must-pass bill to
fix the problem. But that would’ve been too difficult in today’s paralyzed
Washington.
White House officials acknowledged that
a fix was needed. But they knew that once they dealt with it through a
regulation, some Republicans would use it against them – even though most of
their party was privately obsessing over it.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), in a statement Thursday night, touted the law’s benefits and
Democrats’ efforts to educate consumers.
“Members of Congress and their staffs
must enroll in health marketplaces as the Affordable Care Act requires,” she
wrote. “As we continue our work to ensure the smooth implementation of this law
and look forward to the start of enrollment on October 1st, we will continue
our efforts this August to educate consumers on the law’s provisions and tout
the critical benefits already in place for millions of Americans.”
Anger was already evident as well.
Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) tweeted a link
to POLITICO’s story Thursday night, with the comment: “Outrageous exemption for
Congress.”
