For the last time: Congress is not exempt from ObamaCare
The GOP's claim refuses to die despite criticism from both left and right
Republicans have yet to dismantle or repeal ObamaCare, but that doesn't mean they haven't given up their efforts. In the latest such case, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) announced this week that he was filing suit to "make Congress live by the letter of the health care law it imposed on the rest of America."
Johnson's gripe is with a provision that supposedly exempts lawmakers and their staffs from ObamaCare. As Republicans have been claiming for some time, the law handed Congress a unique employer contribution to offset the cost of obtaining coverage through the law's insurance exchanges.
"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," he wrote Monday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Johnson is right that Congress is getting treated differently under the law, but he's wrong that Congress is "exempt." And his larger argument is pretty hard to swallow given that the provision he and his GOP colleagues are now railing against stemmed from a Republican idea.
Back in 2010, Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa) proposed an amendment that required lawmakers and their employees to buy insurance on the exchange marketplaces. Democrats, confident ObamaCare would work, gladly accepted the idea.
That meant Congress, unlike any other place of work, was being singled out by the law: In essence, it was forcing lawmakers and their staffs off their existing, employer-subsidized coverage and into ObamaCare's new marketplace. (Yes, many people have been sent cancellation notices because their insurance plans did not meet the law's higher standards for coverage, but their specific policies were not deliberately nixed like those for Capitol Hill employees.)
Still, the amendment itself specifically said the government should continue making employer contributions to health care, since not doing so would effectively result in a pay cut for those federal employees. So the Office of Personnel Management in August proposed a rule that would continue the existing payment scheme. In other words, lawmakers and their staffs would keep getting the same subsidy as before, while having to shop for their own coverage.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Hence, just about everyone who has examined the provision has deemed the "exemption" claim blatantly false. Here's National Review's take:
So yes, lamwkers and their staffs are being treated differently under the law. But only because of a Republican plan that singled them out in the first place.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
Speed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published