Congress Keeps Gold-Plated Health Care… For Themselves
Townhall
Personal doctors on call 24/7. Coverage that knows no caps. No exemptions for pre-existing conditions.
Those are the sorts of benefits members of Congress currently enjoy on the taxpayer’s dime, and the kinds of benefits Americans on a government-run public health care plan will never see if Obamacare passes.
“One thing is certain: Congress will exempt itself from whatever lousy health care system it forces on we little people,” said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute. “Congress will get better insurance than you do because politicians always get a better deal under government-run health care.”
While it’s not news that Congressional health insurance plans are posh, CBS News recently uncovered the details of plans – right as the details of the Baucus health care bill are being hashed out.
Members of Congress can choose from five different plans, and have access to both the VIP Bethesda Naval Hospital and a reserved spot Ward 72 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, an elite division usually reserved for military members. Their everyday medical concerns can be taken care of at a doctors office located inside of Congress.
Their premiums are the same as those of insurance plans with half the benefits, and the plans last a lifetime; not until Medicare kicks in do ex-Members or loose their Congressional health benefits. Congress has repeatedly voted down any provision that would switch their insurance plans to the lower-grade public option if Obamacare goes through.
Helen Evans, the director of Nurses for Reform, a campaign for more consumer-led, sustainable healthcare systems in Britain, said that this sort of elite care for the bureaucracy – and low-brow care for the plebes – is the same thing that happens in the government-run British health care system.
“Independent academic research has shown that on average the professional and managerial types obtain 40% more resource per illness episode than lower down the social spectrum” in Britain, she said.
Evans is certain that the exact same thing would happen in the U.S. if Obamacare was installed.
“The National Health Service, is famous for being a highly politicised bureaucracy that whilst it legitimises itself on the basis of equality favours the powerful, articulate and well connected,” she said. Nurses for Reform is unsurprised that American politicians are pushing for government-run health care “while of course attempting to secretly perpetuate their own elitist system funded by ordinary taxpayers.”
At least one U.S. Congressman is speaking out.
“If we pass a law that says a public option will be made available, I think people like myself should get out of this plan and go into the public option,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), told CBS.
Wild Thing’s comment…….
I hate our government, I LOVE our country, but by God I hate our government. Our Founding Fathers did not want kings and queens ( including Barney Freaking Frank) and neither do I !!!!!!
I would love to know TO THE PENNY, how much money was spent to keep the KENNEDY ASSHOLE alive for 2 years. That would be a hell of a HEADLINE right about now.
The average person will hear “I’m sorry this plan does not pay for this treatment or medication given your (fill in the blank with any reason to deny treatment because of the cost factor).”
But they are so much better than us, don’t ya know? They deserve better. No, we pay for it, so we deserve better. They seem to forget that their paychecks, perks and benefits come out of our pockets. Stupid bastards.
Another of limitless reasons we need term limits. Congress is becoming less and less representative of the people and more of a privileged elite.
Crappy care for the little people! Let ’em eat cake!
Obams still hasn’t gotten the doctors on board yet.
The AMA which only represents about 20 % of all Doctors in the country doesn’t even have a majority of Doctors to go along with this.
There big concern is limiting New drugs and treatments that have taken years to develop in order to help people live longer and better lives thanks to these modern miracles. One Doctor said, ” Now we are suppose to let the patient die in order to save a few buck.”
The latest poll of practicing Physicians more than 40% said they would take an early retirement, while others said they would look to new fields to get involved. We can not afford to lose 40% of our Doctors because of this scam. Talk about rationing this will surely do it quickly.
“I would love to know TO THE PENNY, how much money was spent to keep the KENNEDY ASSHOLE alive for 2 years.” I am still wondering if we the taxpayers paid for the hair plugs for Joe Biden and the Botox for John (the French looking) Kerry and Nancy Pelosi . HMMMMMMM??????? With all due disrepect, when I heard of the death of Ted Kennedy, I could not help but recall that old musical treasure by 70’s punk rockers the “DEAD KENNEDYS” . The title of the song was “Too Drunk to F**K” . Was poor dead Ted ever THAT drunk?
This is such a huge thing and I bet most
of the public is not even aware of it.
I think if every citizen knew this that
our Congress is above it all the people
would be furiuos and demand this monster
to stop in it’s tracks.