Health Care Reform --- Say no to separate but unequal treatment for the Political Class

Island Turtle ^ | July 25, 2009 | Corky Boyd

[Corky Boyd]

Congress should first write a Health Care Reform Bill for themselves, and then make it available to the rest of the country. The concept there are two classes of people in the country, a political class and the great unwashed (us) that have separate and distinctly unequal access to health care, is abhorrent. They are the ones who will get treatment at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, and we will have VA hospital quality care. There is a difference!

The Senate bill specifically exempts Congress and Federal employees from provisions of health....

[freespirited]

Congressional staff will have a cow if the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program is dismantled.

I dont think Hoyer will let it happen. Too many federal workers in his district.

[Dilbert San Diego]

I’m glad that this issue has been raised at least. It’s wrong if Obama and the elite class will get to have their own separate and unequal health plan. Isn’t separate but equal inherently unequal? And he deflects it by saying, he’s the president, this isn’t about him, he has a doctor with him all the time.

But dabrannit, it IS about the political class and the wealthy/elitists having their own better plan, while the rest of us get stuck in an inferior plan.

[freespirited]

The federal program has a lot of options. The most popular nonHMO option is the Blue Cross. I wouldnt call it a Cadillac plan but it is very good as long as you go to a participating doctor/hospital. Most doctors and hospitals do take it because so many people are on it.

A lot of people dont want to pay the cost of the Blue Cross plan (figure the employee share is around 4K a year for family coverage) so they choose an HMO or one of the less pricey non HMO plans. Here the coverage might be slightly better than the public plan, about equal, or actually not as good if the option is a catastrophic only plan.

But you still have a legitimate question. Is it fair that some people can get better coverage than others? My guess is that while the debate rages on Congress will be figuring out a way to phase out the Federal plan over time by not allowing new hires into it.

That’s how they got rid of the old Civil Service retirement plan when they decided it was costing too much money.

Of course they will keep something special for themselves. Is that fair. Of course not. But they think they are entitled to it anyway.