Obama may enroll under ObamaCare
“The president will participate in the exchange,” an administration spokesman told USA Today at the time, rejecting Republican efforts to compel the president to do so by law.
It would be a purely symbolic gesture — much like his decision to cast the first early ballot by a sitting president last year — in part because he’ll still have access to the White House Medical Unit and the official physician to the president, an office that has served every executive since the Revolution. According to a White House description of the medical unit, the office “provides worldwide emergency action response and comprehensive medical care to the president, the vice president and their families.”…
But the exchanges aren’t intended for people like the president. They’re designed for people who don’t get health coverage on the job. Most people in the exchanges will be there for that reason — and they can’t tap into the subsidies if they have another option.
Blowback
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He`ll get a waiver.
ThePrez on March 21, 2013 at 7:43 PM
Will Michelle and the girls get insurance through the exchange?
That’s the real test of how much faith Obama has in his signature program, isn’t it? Not whether he will (pretend to) take part in it, but if he’ll put his family through it.
malclave on March 21, 2013 at 7:54 PM
Heh if this guy had to get a private sector job he wouldn’t find one with benefits.
CW on March 21, 2013 at 7:54 PM
Will he go before a certain kind of panel?
rbj on March 21, 2013 at 8:05 PM
How about we out all out representatives in Washington on Obamacare too?
celt on March 21, 2013 at 8:06 PM
our..dammit
celt on March 21, 2013 at 8:06 PM
Even for Politico this bizzaro-world claim is a bit much to print.
INC on March 21, 2013 at 8:06 PM
out=put too…Droid!
celt on March 21, 2013 at 8:07 PM
Oh, yes, Congress was exempted. I also believe some of the top aides may have exempted themselves, but I’m not sure about that.
INC on March 21, 2013 at 8:07 PM
Make it right:
How about we put all our representatives in Washington on Obamacare too?
celt on March 21, 2013 at 8:09 PM
Way to dodge that one.
I tip my tripla to you sir.
Lanceman on March 21, 2013 at 8:10 PM
INC, I’d love to see that brought up for a Roll Call vote to see who is for or against it for the record.
celt on March 21, 2013 at 8:12 PM
There’s no way this isn’t completely sincere.
Chuck Schick on March 21, 2013 at 8:19 PM
Another of those horrible rich people taking advantage of tax breaks and the little guy again that he so enjoys blaming…. Oops never mind
wubu on March 21, 2013 at 9:01 PM
May all the lawmakers who force you to live under laws they exempt themselves from spontaneously combust, with zero exceptions.
Too bad the founders didn’t put this in the constitution.
May you split in a million pieces, from shame, you charlatans.
Schadenfreude on March 21, 2013 at 9:01 PM
He exempted himself, his family, the congress and their families, the union bosses, many unions, McDonalds workers, thousands and thousands on an individual basis, all his cronies.
May the devil strike them all, the charlatans.
If it’s that good, let them lead by living under it.
Schadenfreude on March 21, 2013 at 9:07 PM
I did not know illegal aliens could enroll.
News2Use on March 21, 2013 at 9:31 PM
Congress is not exempted from Obamacare. They are required to be on it. Here is the relevant provision, § 1312(d)(3)(D) of the PPACA:
See:
http://healthlawandlitigation.com/PDF/crs-on-health-care-fines.pdf
cam2 on March 21, 2013 at 9:57 PM
re: congress and Obamacare
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_congress_exempt_from_ObamaCare
So no, they are NOT required to be on it.
Xavier on March 21, 2013 at 10:18 PM
I don’t think you understand the waiver/exemption issue. The PPACA precludes insurance plans from imposing annual or lifetime limits in coverage. Temporary exemptions were granted to a number of companies, unions and other groups whose plans fell below the limits so they would keep at least the limited plans in place until Obamacare kicked in in 2014 rather then dropping coverage and leaving workers completely uninsured. All of these waivers expire in 2014. You can find a list of organizations that received waivers here:
http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/files/approved_applications_for_waiver.html
cam2 on March 21, 2013 at 10:30 PM
Dude, I gave you the language of the statute. If you’d rather believe some random guy on “wiki answers” be my guest.
cam2 on March 21, 2013 at 10:37 PM
I used that response for the clarity of the answer. I’d like to point out that we’re both swimming against the tide by showing that the Congressional Exemption currently being bandied about is fiction.
The analysis you quoted is interpretation by attorneys; their language and conclusions make it clear they can’t nail down the truth either. One line that immediately stands out is “Assuming that Members of Congress and congressional staff are ineligible for FEHBP once §1312(d)(3)(D) becomes effective.”
The “make available” phrase in the quote you used is expanded on here: “Examining this language, it does not seem clear what it means for the federal government to “make available” specific health plans to Members of Congress and congressional staff.”
The items in bold show that 1) these attorneys aren’t certain that the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) won’t be available after Obamacare is implemented, and 2) the ambiguous language about “making available” specific health plans leaves it open to interpretation.
It’s fairly simple to envision these vague areas being exploited, leaving FEHBP operational and Congress neither exempt from Obamacare nor required to use it, with FEHBP as their premium health care option.
I’m sure you remember the circumstances of when Obamacare was passed; apply that knowledge of how Congress operates to just these two gray areas and you can see they aren’t bound as tightly as by the wording of Obamacare as you may have thought.
Additionally, I’d caution you against drawing hard conclusions from the single paragraph of the law quoted in this article. We can probably count on the Congressional aspect of Obamacare being interpreted in court until Congress gets the finding it desires.
I’m not claiming this is absolutely what will happen. My point is that things aren’t finalized – and a Congress that would pass Obamacare in the first place, against the will of the people, will pass laws to take personal advantage of it.
Xavier on March 22, 2013 at 3:02 AM
I appreciate your willingness to engage in a respectful dialogue, but I must respectfully disagree with your conclusions.
As stated by the authors, one of the first principles of statutory interpretation is the “plain meaning rule.” If the language of a staute is clear, its words are given their plain meaning. That is why the authors assume that Congress will be covered only under the PPACA rather than their current plan — because the the statute says so!
The “make available” dicussion pertains to whether the U.S. government will contribute to the cost of Congress members’ plans. Indeed, the specific question asked by Rep. Tom Price was whether Sec. 1312(d)(3)(D) of PPACA requires the federal government to make a contribution to Members of Congress’ or congressional staff’s health insurance coverage, as it does with the FEHBP. The question was not whether the plan will be FEHBP or PPACA. If you read p.2-4 of the memo, answering that question, it is pretty clear (at least for a legal memo!).
Cheers!
cam2 on March 22, 2013 at 11:39 AM