All I want is the same health insurance my Congresspeople have, for the same amount that they pay!

[tblue]

If it's good enough for Dianne Feinstein, it's good enough for me!

[sandnsea]

1. They have an insurance gateway

Where they choose from a variety of insurance plans. I don't think I can afford what they pay, I prefer to stick with the subsidy I've got if we're going to go with the same gateway insurance plan Congress has.

[Undercurrent]

2. Many people could not afford the insurance Congress has.

...members of Congress use the same health care program as every other federal employee, whether that employee works as a Forest Service manager in the Deschutes National Forest, as a meteorologist for NOAA in Hawaii, or as a janitor in the Bureau of Engraving in D.C...


(Senator Ron) Wyden, for example, has selected the more generous of two Blue Cross Blue Shield offerings for himself and his family. The plan costs Wyden $4,279 this year with a $20 co-pay for most doctor visits.

This plan is the most popular among all federal workers in the capital. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. David Wu are on the same plan. It's the plan that most of Wyden's Washington staffers have selected as well.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/08/when_oregon_sen_ron_wyden.html

[elleng]

3. Blue Cross has 3 offerings; I/we use the mid-line one.

Sorry I don't know what we paybi-weekly or annually. $20 copay is correct.

Many people could afford the 'plan' congresscritters have, because there are SO MANY options. Surely many also could not.

[LiberalFighter]

10. Here is the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program site of different plans

When opening the link on this page it will be a pdf file. There are rates for each state and it appears that employees have the option to select standard or high plan as an individual or a family.

[elleng]

12. I see it as BASIC and STANDARD, Used to be basic, standard and high.

and they have a 'HIGH DEDUCTIBLE . . .'

Getting more complicated.

http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/planinfo/2009/brochures/71-005.pdf#page=12

[Bluenorthwest]

7. And that is what percentage of Wyden's income?

2%? Something like that. And what percentage of income are they asking others to pay? That is the real issue. Everyone could afford to pay the same percentage of income Congress members pay, and that is what should be available. Cheap rates, low co-pays, just like Congress.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

8. When you say it cost Wyden $4,279 a year - is that just the portion he pays in

and the rest is paid by his employer - us?

Because that would still be a pretty expensive plan if someone had to pay for it themselves exclusively.

All I keep hearing like a drumbeat in my head is that a family in Canada pays $750 a YEAR for coverage!!! A Canadian DUer posted that and now it's a brain worm I can't get rid of.

All of our hard work is really just an effort to replace the abhorrent with the merely detestable.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Wyden pays less than 3% of his salary

And yet the Senate plan expects others to pay much higher percentages of income.

[Undercurrent]

11. All I know

is what was in the article I linked. (Assuming it is accurate.) I did a quick Google, and this is all I was able to find. A more patient search might have come up with more info.

I wasn't able to find out if the employer (us) pays any portion directly.

I know what you are saying about the Canadian plan! Every time I think about it I am shocked anew by the sheer stupidity of this whole debate.

[and-justice-for-all]

4. We pay for their health care, but are not entitled to it....nt

[flpoljunkie]

5. Congress members share of the basic premium is 25% while Baucus plan family would pay 76% share!

In comparing the proposal to the Blue Cross plans currently available to federal employees, keep in mind that insurers have not developed the plans that might be offered through the new government marketplaces, or exchanges, proposed in the legislation. To attract customers, those plans could well offer substantially lower premiums and lower limits on out-of-pocket costs than the caps set forth in the legislation.

But now math under the Baucus proposal seems to be this: for the basic plan, a family of four earning just over $66,150 in 2009 would theoretically pay $7,938, and government subsidies would cover the balance of $2,453.16. Federal employees today get a much better deal. They now pay about 25 percent of the insurance cost and the government pays 75 percent, while under the Baucus proposal, a similar family would pay $7,398, or roughly 76 percent of the insurance cost, and the government would pay 24 percent.

Federal employees currently pay about 38 percent of the cost of the standard plan for family coverage; while the Senate Finance bill would have our theoretical family earning just over $66,150 pay about 59 percent of the cost of the standard plan.

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/baucus-proposes-new-limits-on-insurance-premiums/?hp

[stray cat]

6. Do you know what their contribution is?

and the number of dollars and what percent of your income that might be?