Special Health Care for Congress: Lawmakers' Health Care Perks

[question everything]

Special Health Care for Congress: Lawmakers' Health Care Perks
Little Known Office on Capitol Hill Provides Quality Medical Care for Low Price
By JAY SHAYLOR and MARK ABDELMALEK

Sept. 30, 2009—

This fall while members of Congress toil in the U.S. Capitol, working to decide how or even whether to reform the country's health care system, one floor below them an elaborate Navy medical clinic -- described by those who have seen it as something akin to a modern community hospital -- will be standing by, on-call and ready to provide Congress with some of the country's best and most efficient government-run health care.

Formally called the Office of the Attending Physician, the clinic -- and at least six satellite offices -- bills its mission as one of emergency preparedness and public health. Each day, it stands ready to handle medical emergencies, biological attacks and the occasional fainting tourist visiting Capitol Hill. Officially, the office acknowledges these types of services, including providing physicals to Capitol police officers and offering flu shots to congressional staffers. But what is rarely discussed outside the halls of Congress is the office's other role -- providing a wealth of primary care medical services to senators, representatives and Supreme Court justices.

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Services offered by the Office of the Attending Physician include physicals and routine examinations, on-site X-rays and lab work, physical therapy and referrals to medical specialists from military hospitals and private medical practices. According to congressional budget records, the office is staffed by at least four Navy doctors as well as at least a dozen medical and X-ray technicians, nurses and a pharmacist. Sources said when specialists are needed, they are brought to the Capitol, often at no charge to members of Congress.

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Members of Congress do not pay for the individual services they receive at the OAP, nor do they submit claims through their federal employee health insurance policies. Instead, members pay a flat, annual fee of $503 for all the care they receive. The rest of the cost of their care, sources said, is subsidized by taxpayers. Last year, Congress appropriated more than $3 million to reimburse the Navy for staff salaries at the office. Sources said additional money to operate the office is included in the Navy's annual budget. In 2008, 240 members paid the annual fee, though some sources say congressmen who didn't pay the fee were rarely prevented from using OAP services.

The OAP refused to comment in detail for this story, and Rear Adm. Brian Monahan, the attending physician to Congress, did not return phone calls requesting an interview. When ABC News chief medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson visited the office in person in September to speak with Monahan, he was asked to leave. After Johnson's visit, Kyle Anderson, a spokesman for the House Committee on Administration, which partially oversees the OAP, called ABC News and agreed to answer some general questions via e-mail. He refused to discuss the number of staff members who work at the OAP or the type of facilities the OAP makes available to members of Congress. Anderson said members of Congress are treated by specialists from military hospitals who visit the OAP at no charge. Congressmen are also eligible for free out-patient care at military facilities in the Washington, D.C., area, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center. However, Anderson said, "individual health insurance is required for members to see local health professionals."

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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/congress-health-care-clinic/story?id=8706655

[Skidmore]

1. These people have no idea what the private sector experiences

in health insurance and care, do they? Particularly the ones who have been in office for 3 or 4 decades.

[question everything]

2. They do, somewhat, this is why they give themselves a raise

every year, and increase their budgets.

We don't get any raise, and our premiums rise by 20% a year, or we have to choose some obscene "deductible."

[liberal N proud]

3. I saw this piece on ABC Nightly News

One Republican congressman said it should be offered to all Americans, but he opposes health care reform.

[question everything]

4. Yes, this is where I saw it

was very impressive

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Glad to provide the 5th "R". n/t