Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Demythtifying The Exemption

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Congressional Obamacare Exemption

I recently had a couple of liberals whine to me about Republican members of congress being exempt from Obamacare.  “You shouldn’t be allowed to oppose it,” they argued “and then be exempt from it.”  Rather than point out the absurdity of their reasoning I laughed at them for (apparently) getting separated from the herd and having no idea what the rest of their sheeple are bleating.

Try Googling "congress exempt Obamacare" and you'll find out that every OTHER liberal in the country insists that it's a myth/lie that Congress is in any way exempt.  Quite the opposite.  And technically, they’re correct.  You will never find a piece of paper signed by any politician that states Congress is exempt.  What they do have is a de facto “paperless” exemption.  Here’s how it went down:

Currently, members of Congress and their staff receive health care coverage through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP). The FEHBP allows individuals to choose from a set of options to pick the health plan that is right for them. As with any employer-based health plan, the federal government (their employer) can contribute to the health care premium of the employee and the contributions are not included in taxes.

However, Section 1312 of the ACA requires that all members of Congress and congressional staff must either get a health plan created by the ACA or through an Obamacare exchange- which does not allow tax-exempt employer contributions to health care premiums.

This put people like Nancy Pelosi who didn't read the bill before passing it in a bind- they don't want to have to pay for their health insurance or even pay the taxes on their insurance but they knew they couldn't get a legislative exemption past the American people.




That's OK, Barry saved the day. He pressured the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to simply allow the FEHBP to pay the healthcare premiums of the members of Congress and voila, problem solved. This solution is, of course, in clear violation of the very legislation he championed and signed into law but does anyone think Attorney General Eric Holder will prosecute or even look into it? Neither do I.  Laws? We don' need no stinkin' laws!

As long as we’re on the subject of deception, some indoctrinated idiot flipped the TV in the breakroom at my place of work to MSNBC. Even worse, Blowhard with Chris Matthews was on at the time.  Chris Matthews (I realize you have no idea who that is- he’s Obama’s nuttiest cheerleader) played a video clip of former President Clinton stating his opinion that “Obama should honor his commitment to allow people to keep their health insurance.”

The MSNBC hack indignantly retorted that “…when Obama said people could keep their insurance it was a passing comment, not a commitment!”  He went on to say it was certainly nothing Obama could be held accountable for.



Sadly, Matthews is yet another example of a liberal being ignorant of what is the current lie to bleat.  Because in a televised speech on November 4th, President Obama told us with a straight face that he never said you could keep your insurance. Nuh-uh. Didn’t happen.

Bizarrely, he then went on to explain what he really meant by the thing he never said: That you could keep your health insurance if it was Obama-approved!


 But that’s nothing compared to the President’s next twist of logic:  Thank goodness 3.5 million Americans have lost their health insurance.  It’s the best thing for them!

“If we had allowed these old plans [to continue]… then we would have broken an even more important promise — making sure that Americans gain access to health care that doesn’t leave them one illness away from financial ruin.”

So… having your health insurance cancelled somehow gives you access to health care?! And it makes sure that an illness cannot cause financial ruin?!  That’s 180 degrees opposite of what I’ve always believed- that having health insurance is what does those things.  Perhaps I should show up at my doctor and announce “my health insurance has been cancelled so gimme free healthcare and pay my bills!”

But the President’s concluding remarks are just pure chutzpah: "...Under that better progressive-managed system, some people’s health-care costs are going to jump, but it will be good for them."  Ah, we’re right back to his “eat your peas!” rhetoric.  It’s good for you ignorant peasants to be even poorer!  Thy Lord hath spoken!

No comments:

Post a Comment