Want to see what your congressman pays for healthcare?

[trof]

Well, it averages about $300/mo. for 'High Family Care'.
You can see the tables here:
http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/08rates/2008non_postal_ffs.pdf

How many of you are paying quite a bit more than that?
IF you can get/afford health insurance.

So congress is telling us "Well, we can do it for us, but sorry...we can't do it for you."

[Clear Blue Sky]

1. Two tiers of health care.

One for Congress, another for the rest of us....

[saracat]

2. Wow. The bastards

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Wasn't Edwards going to suspend their health care insurance until they did something for the rest

of us? I seem to remember something about that. :shrug:

[saracat]

11. Exactly. But now it is possible we will get a nominee who won't care.

[ThomWV]

3. Every Federal Government Employee has exactly the same coverage.

Its not like they have something special.

[trof]

7. Yep. Interesting story:

In the past I've tried google searches on 'congressional healthcare costs', 'cost of healthcare plans for congressmen', every way I could think of to word it. And you never get the answer to that question. Just all the stuff they're doing (and not doing) about OUR healthcare costs.

This time it dawned on me that they are federal employees, and 'viola' as they say. ;-)

No, it's not special among gov't. employees, but it sure is 'special' compared to what we pay.

[ThomWV]

12. Its not as good as the company insurance I had before coming to the Government

In the three jobs I had before I came to the Government (just another GS employee among the hundreds of thousands) had insurance with better coverage and it cost me less.

That is how the Government plan goes, it is comparable to, but certainly no better than that which was being offered by virtually all large employers in the nation at the time it was put in place. In fact its still comparable to most such plans, its just that now days many companies in private industry have dropped the ball and not provided coverage to their employees. I personally place the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of employees who abandoned Unions to their own detriment. At any rate, its not that the Government has some sort of Golden program, its just that all the other programs have turned to shit.

[sweetpotato]

8. If every federal employee has it

then why can't everyone?

And yes, John Edwards said he wanted to either give the people the same healthcare as Congress, OR he would eliminate it for Congress, but not all federal employees.

No one heard this on teevee, did they?

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Of course we didn't hear it on teevee. Wouldn't want the public too see who the best candidate

for the average American was. :argh:

[sweetpotato]

13. Broke my heart for him to be so overlooked by the media

He is still my favorite and I hope he has some role in our coming administration.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Mine too.

:-(

[leftchick]

17. except most congress people are millionaires

or close to it. When I was a Federal employee 20 years ago I made about 15,000 a year. Apples and fucking watermelons.

:eyes:

[leftchick]

4. they irony is WE are paying for the healthcare of millionaire congress people

and it sucks.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Forced too pay, even. And the rat bastards won't give us all what they make us pay for , for them.

[Warpy]

9. The rich and powerful can handle socialism

but it would make you and me weak.

That's the mindset.

We need to eliminate that mindset from government, which means we need to eliminate THEM, meaning conservatives in both parties.

Vote them out.

[OwnedByFerrets]

15. As Thom Hartmann so eloquently states,

health care in amerika is a right, not a privilege. It should be treated as such.

[question everything]

16. Thanks for including the IF

For many it is not just paying for health care, it is securing one, what with "pre-existing" conditions - real or imagined.

A few days ago someone on CNN commented that McCain's plan is the best, because it is market driven, but even that person added that it does not have room for "pre-existing" conditions.