How much do members of Congress pay for health insurance?
Posted By John Henrikson on September 25, 2009 at 3:52 pm
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After hearing various claims (congressmen get free, gold plated health care), our D.C. correspondent Les Blumenthal decided to find out exactly what members of Congress pay for health insurance and what kind of coverage they enjoy. You can read the full story in Sunday's newspaper, but here's the upshot:
- They do pay toward premiums and deductibles.
- They have access to the same policies that other federal employees do (and federal employees get many choices).
- For extra money they can have access to care from the Office of the Attending Physician located in the Capitol and get treatment at military hospitals.
Below is a roundup of what members of Washington's delegation pay monthly for health insurance.
Sen. Patty Murray, Democrat: $356, including her husband.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat: $140 for just herself.
Rep. Dave Reichert, Republican: $469 including his wife, for health, dental and vision.
Rep. Rick Larsen, Democrat: $365 including his wife and two children.
Rep. Doc Hastings, Republican: $356 including his wife.
Rep. Adam Smith, Democrat: $356 including his wife and two children.
Rep. Norm Dicks, Democrat: $356 including his wife.
plan specifics would be nice. We can then compare to other plans outside the government.
Hmmmm......is that too expensive for health care? That seems just about right! Now if you take a look at Cantwell (she is the only one single) she pays $140 bucks a month......that's pretty damn close to what a lot of single people pay for health care. Now why does government want to screw with it?
I'll be looking forward to Les Blumenthal's article.
What the heck is "extra money?" Do you mean "additional premium", or just pitch in some more dollars when they go to get that care?
Also, get some specifics in there. Co-pays, limits, co-insurance, lifetime total payment limits, limits on which doctors they can use, etc.
In October 2004, I paid $300 for Medicare supplemental for me and full coverage for my wife. Last January, rates went up to $518 for less coverage and will probably exceed $600 for even less coverage next Jan. I'll trade insurances with any of these politicians. Bring on some reforms that not only keep insurance costs in line but add some sort of controls on what hospitals can charge.
The plan specifics can be found by going to the Office of Personnel Management's website, opm.gov. Click the Health Insurance icon and then look for plan brochures and premium icons. You can see every health plan avialable to every federal employee. I know, I am one of them.
What is not mentioned in the above articel is that our elected officials and all federal employees, such as myself, are paying 28% of the total premium. Uncle Sam pays the other 72%. Very few private sector companies pay that much of a premium. Get your calculator out and do the math. You'll see what the actual monthly premium is for this insurance.
Federal employees get an open season to sign up, with no pre-existing conditions acting as a bar. Same for Dental, Vision and Long Term Care. Feds pay the full premium for ental, Vision and Long Term Care. The LTC premiums that were supposedly gauranteed for life just got re-set upward because of the bad economy. Guess insurance companies don't have to abide by thier own contracts, only us.
Where do I sign up. That would save me over 600 dollars a month.