What is the cost of heatlhcare for the US Congresspeople for One Year?

[Blaze Diem]

What have the taxpayers doled out to these elected ones & their families?
Is there a way to find out? Is there a grand tally?
Can we go person by person?

What is their healthcare costing us for one year's care?
I would like to see a figure as well as any increase in added coverage expenses they may have acquired recently. Maybe its time we start looking at where our money is going and are we getting a fair return for it. Can't trust them to give back equally so where do I find these figures?

Here's my question about this insanity:
------------------------
Bet they all have great health care.

Taxpayers cannot afford healthcare for their children but must pay for healthcare for the Fed Govt, who just refused to cover the kids of the people who give THEM and THEIR families coverage...???????????!!!!!!!!

Show me the fairness in this picture..Why anarchy has not officially been declared.

[hobbit709]

1. Good question

[KT2000]

2. They will spend days

in the hospital for observation! That is unheard of in this day of cookbook medicine.
The little people will go to the emergency room, get stabilized, then go home to possibly die.
Congress has not a clue.

You ask good questions.

[bullimiami]

3. this is the healthcare plan the congress has available

http://www.opm.gov/insure/

the rates are there.

[Blaze Diem]

4. Wow, we pay vision & dental for them & families also!!

Gee How lucky for them..How sad that we must sacrifice our own children's basic health care so there's may have healthy teeth & eyes.

Boy they must all be really important people ..even more important than us or our children!!

THanks for posting the gov't health coverage site..
I'll bookmark it cuz I think I'll need to refer to it in the future..Llike when I send out emails.

[bullimiami]

11. thats about as good as health insurance gets.

the coverage is excellent and the employer (thats us!) contribution is about as generous as youll find.

and the question is if its good for them why not everyone?

[Yael]

6. Interesting. Multi-payer and for-profit

[Telly Savalas]

12. Those rates aren't the full cost.

That's only what comes out of their paycheck. There's also an "employer's contribution" which pays the carrier that offers the health insurance plan. Of course the taxpayer is the one who foots the bill for both parts of this.

[halobeam]

5. kicking

[SoCalDem]

7. Someone posted a link a while back about how one congressperson's share was $30 a month

not bad eh?

and I bet their co-pays are small too.. and I might go so far as to say that their pals at pharma probably hook them up with freebie drugs too..

[Hamlette]

8. the copays are not that small, but then again, you pay the copay with your taxes too n/t

[Blaze Diem]

9. They get quality coverage, for minimal fees. For Families.

Schip is asking only for kids benefit. Not entire families..You'd think the Fed employees would glady give back for what the taxpayersw have supplied them since they took the oath.

I want an explanation..maybe I should present this to Barton in the Dallas News.
assh**e

[lateo]

10. They have kick ass health care.

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. Here's some info.....this is going to PISS YOU OFF ROYALLY!

What are the retirement benefits, pensions, and health care benefits of Members of Congress?
Written by Anonymous on January 28, 2007 - 11:56pm.
Read more: Find Out About Members of Congress (see all terms)
Your Name
Paul Blumenthal
Your Email
Answer

We've gotten a number of questions about Member's pension plans, retirement benefits, and health benefits so this question will have suffice for all the other ones that have been asked. According to Answers.com, there are two retirement benefit systems for Members of Congress. The first, the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), is only used by Members who were elected prior to 1984. The other system is the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS), which is used by all other Members of Congress. Members of Congress covered under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary to the retirement plan and also pay 6.2 percent in Social Security taxes.

Members may receive a pension starting at the age of 50, but only if they have served for more than 20 years. Members are eligible for a pension if they are 62 years of age or older and have served at least 5 years in Congress or have served for 25 years or more. The starting amount of a Member's annual retirement pay cannot be more than 80% of their final salary. In 2003, the average retirement payment was $3,909 a month.

In regards to health benefits Members are covered by the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). The best explanation of FEHBP is offered in this CRS report on the subject. The program allows for the Member to pick from a wide variety of plans and the federal government pays around 72% of the premium payment. Another good resource for information on FEHBP is Government Executive's list of articles and links on the subject.:grr:

http://www.govexec.com/health/



Federal health premiums to rise only slightly
By Karen Rutzick [email protected] September 19, 2006

In January, federal employees will see their health insurance premiums rise an average of 2.3 percent -- a much smaller increase than in years past.

Individual enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will pay an extra $1.45 every two weeks for a total of $58.45. Those with family plans will pay $3.13 more for a total of $131.64, on average.

And in the biggest plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield, premiums won't go up at all. They will even decrease under certain options. More than 50 percent of the 8 million FEHBP participants belong to Blue Cross Blue Shield. Local plans, such as those operated by health maintenance organizations, will get more expensive.

Officials at the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the FEHBP, said the primary reason for a lower premium hike this year is a more liberal use of reserve funds. Those are taken from participants' premiums each year and hoarded to cover unexpected medical costs.

OPM Director Linda Springer said at a press briefing Tuesday that the insurance companies themselves first floated the idea of dipping into reserves this year, and her financial team found the circumstances were right. OPM will use $500 million from an $11 billion pot of reserves -- less than 5 percent.

"Performance was good enough, and didn't have to build" the reserve, Springer said.

But Jacqueline Simon, public policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the reserves are being used improperly.

"What we know is true is that enrollees' premiums will go up by more than the government's premiums," Simon said. "And the reason for that is that OPM manipulated the allocation of the so-called excess reserves to give themselves a greater subsidy."

The government's contributions will go up 1.6 percent next year. That's smaller than the enrollee increase because of a technical matter involving timing differences in calculating the two portions, according to Nancy Kichak, OPM's associate director for strategic human resources policy.

Last year, enrollees had a 10 percent average premium increase, while the government's hike was 5.2 percent. Premium increases peaked in fiscal 2002, when they reached 12.7 percent between employees and the government. The last time they were this low was in 1997, when there was a 1.6 percent hike divided between enrollees and the government.

Federal employees and retirees will be able to pick their insurance plan for 2007 during open season, which starts Nov. 13. About a week before that, OPM will post brochures on its Web site detailing costs and coverage in each plan.

For the first time, current and retired federal employees will be able to choose supplemental vision and dental insurance during the open season. Biweekly premiums for family dental plans range from around $20 to $55 and feature 100 percent coverage for preventative dental work and varying coverage for other procedures. Family vision insurance will range from about $8 to $16 every two weeks. There is no government subsidy for the dental and vision insurance.

Also for the first time, OPM is publicizing specific insurance plans that meet its standards for cost transparency. The 18 companies will let enrollees get cost information for certain procedures including cataract repair, caesarean birth and knee replacement to allow participants to shop for the best deal. OPM will feature the companies during open season.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35053&dcn=health
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