Republicans Could Save $2.4 Million A Year By Forgoing Their Health Care

WASHINGTON -- Some progressive organizations have been making a push in recent days for incoming congressional Republicans to drop their government-sponsored health care on the grounds that keeping the plans would be hypocritical.

The incident started after incoming Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) complained loudly during freshmen orientation that his coverage wouldn't start immediately upon taking office. It took a new turn when Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Penn) and Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) both said they would, in fact, forgo the coverage. It escalated even further when White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called out Harris for the "irony," and the municipal workers union AFSCME applied a similar charge to the whole GOP shortly thereafter.

"These Republicans want to repeal health reform, putting the insurance companies back in charge and putting affordable coverage out of reach of millions of Americans," said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. "If they enroll in the taxpayer-funded health care system provided to members of Congress, they deserve to be denounced as hypocrites."

There is an apparent double standard with respect to lawmakers trying to reduce health care for American workers while taking a subsidy for health care for themselves. And in a Public Policy Poll released on Tuesday, a full 53 percent of respondents (and 58 percent of Republicans) said that if a congressman is opposed to the president's health care reform law, he or she should decline to participate in government-sponsored health care.

But another cudgel sits there on the sidelines waiting to be used by trouble-making Democrats. If the incoming Republican Congress is so concerned about the use of taxpayer funds, it could start by foregoing taxpayer-funded health care. How much money that would save is impossible to pinpoint with great accuracy. But it's possible to make some reliable estimates.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "the plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month." Of that total, "taxpayers kick in $700." So far there are 242 Republicans set to be seated in the incoming House of Representatives (that could only go higher) and 47 Republicans in the Senate. The taxpayer bill for insuring all those members over the course of a single year comes to just over $2.4 million ($700 X 12 months X 289 members).

Chump change? Yes, it is. That said, chump change seems to always at the heart of the most provocative political battles. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made a big issue over the fact that $1 million was being appropriated for a Woodstock museum in upstate New York.

UPDATE: Pete Sepp, the Executive Vice President of National Taxpayers Union -- one of the ultimate penny-pinching organizations in the D.C. area -- calls opting out of health care a "symbolic and not insignificant" gesture for congressional Republicans.

"If lawmakers are looking for ways to say that they feel solidarity with the American people this might be one way to do it," said Sepp. "And, again, if you are looking at dollar amounts that's equivalent or a little more of equivalent to [congressmembers] taking a pay cut of about five percent. And, again, we have heard a lot of pledges to reduce the overall budget of Congress by ten percent. So opting out of health care coverage is one place to start."

Comments

[CTtransplant]

08:59 PM on 11/27/2010

I wonder just how many Republicans - who campaigned on repealing HCR, or who are in office campaiging on repeal - are willing to give up their health care to stand by their words????

[Muzzle Me]

03:01 PM on 11/26/2010

If those newly elected Republican members should get seriously ill, they are afforded some of the very best hospital care in the country and in some incidences in the world,Bethesda, Walter Reed, etc. But, ALSO one floor below the U.S. Capitol, an elaborate Navy medical clinic something akin to a modern community hospital — is on standby, on-call and ready to provide Congress with some of the country’s best and most efficient government-run health care. It provides a wealth of primary care medical services to senators, representatives and Supreme Court justices. It is called the Office of Attending Physicians or OAP. 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. When specialists are needed, they are brought to the Capitol, often at no charge to members of Congress. 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. 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.

[CTtransplant]

08:58 PM on 11/27/2010

We, the taxpayers, pay for all that.

[Muzzle Me]

10:16 AM on 11/28/2010

Exactly. That was my point.

[bmike]

11:28 AM on 11/26/2010

Republicans have decided to forgo Government Health Insurance.

[missmanners]

07:39 AM on 11/26/2010

I wonder if the GOP has taken Harris aside and scolded him on this faux pas?

[lvdragonlady]

05:19 AM on 11/26/2010

Wake up America and ask yourself WHY you put these DAs back in office.
How many of you think you get immediate insurance coverage when you start a new job?
How many of you like the fact that 'these' people get FREE insurance BUT they want to take away everyone else's?
How many of you think you could get away with complaining during a job orientation?

YOU have just put these people into a place of power and they have NOT even started yet and already whining,

[Rich Baska]

01:59 PM on 11/26/2010

The article clearly stated the health insurance premiums are "subsidized". The example given was Blue Cross Blue Shield, of which about 70% is subsidized. It's actually not "free". Just as Medicare and Medicaid (in most cases) are not "free". Don't get me wrong, your point is valid regarding hypocrisy. But your point is diminished by generalizations that are contradicted by readily available facts. In addition, I have done a lot of hiring over the years and it's quite common to have a new-hire request exemption from probationary periods associated with health coverage. I've never considered it "offensive", in fact it shows they have a sense of responsibility. Of course, they weren't hired to repeal the health coverage for the existing employees either. And that is your point regarding the new Republicans, which I agree with.

[Cacey]

02:28 AM on 11/26/2010

Earlier this week the Baggers and their allies were pushing hard for an Opt Out Protest to stall air travel throughout the world and inconvenience travelers.  Perhaps these anarchists should take a dose of their own advise and opt out of any type of governmental health insurance.

[GloriaY]

11:59 PM on 11/25/2010

republicans love to talk the talk but not walk the walk. If they refuse to accept government funded health care for themselves and their families, then and only then can we take them seriously. Failing to do that makes them opportunists. And at the samt time,they must encourage their supporters also to refuse all government funded benefits, social security, medicaid and medicare, medicare part D the prescription drug program, the public school system, and refusing to claim any deductions after filing their income taxes. They should use only private hospitals and not expect medicare to pay any portion of their hospital and medical bills, and pay 100% for their doctors' visits. Unless republicans and their staunch followers take these steps to save the economy, then they all loose credibility, and cannot be taken seriously. They are nothing more than circus clowns.

[glitz]

12:09 PM on 11/26/2010

They should also require the same of their staff. Where in the Constitution does it require taxpayers to pay salaries, healthcare, and retirement for staff?

[kiljoywazeer]

07:35 PM on 11/25/2010

Since so many members of our Legislature are millionaires and the rest are just plain rich, let's insist that the first order of business be that they all pay for their own health insurance, regardless of party affiliation. This would be a step in the right direction if "We, the people," really have any say...

[kaptaintripps]

07:22 PM on 11/25/2010

Yes. Yes. And yes.

[zenaby56]

03:16 PM on 11/25/2010

And we all know Republicans won't give up anything that gives them comfort. They will take it from the poor and middle class. The rich get richer. I would be interesting to know how many Republicans fall in the category of millionaires who taxes the are trying to cut. Hmmmm?

[mazzo]

01:04 PM on 11/25/2010

I would also say that Repubs (and their families) AND their constituents! should forgo ANY and ALL other forms of social services, including:

Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Public School
Unemployment Benefits

I'm pretty sure that if you round up all the Rebubs and Tea-ers in the nation, including members of Congress, local government officials, as well as all of their supporters and constituents and asked them to forgo ALL government funded programs...you'd be saving millions upon millions of dollars.

It's absurd that one could benefit from the very programs they denounce. Put your money where your mouth is and start denying for yourself the very programs you are campaining against!!!

Meanwhile, the Dems and Indies will KEEP their government-funded programs and work to strengthen them and make them work better and more efficiently!

Problem solved!

[CTtransplant]

03:35 PM on 11/25/2010

It's about time they walked the walk instead of just being 'all talk and no action'!  Fan #2, mazzo!!!

[MerryW]

12:47 PM on 11/26/2010

Yep mazzo, problem solved ;-) f/f

[Reiner-von-Sinn]

11:50 AM on 11/25/2010

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), an outspoken critic of healthcare reform, complained during freshmen orientation that his coverage wouldn't start immediately.

Republicans want to repeal health reform for other people thereby putting corporate profit interest ahead of the need for basic and affordable healthcare for millions of American families, but the same callous, two-faced republikaner all chose to enroll in the very liberal, generous by normal standards, fully taxpayer-supported health care system provided to themselves by themselves. They won't, however, extend the same benefits to rest of us.

The GOP are hypocrites.

It is a double standard when the GOP tries to reduce health care for all Americans while accepting taxpayer-subsidized healthcare for themselves.

I say if a congressman is opposed to the president's health care reform law, he or she should decline to participate in government-sponsored health care.

Oh, teabaaaaag­gggerrrrs. Where arrrrrrre you? Why arrrren't you prooootestiiiing?

[zest]

08:41 AM on 11/26/2010

Exactly, GOP is more than willing to punish the middle class for the profit of corporations.

[DavidBlackburn]

06:31 AM on 11/25/2010

Republicans are NOT giving up their welfare programs!!!

[Glenda Sitnek]

12:29 PM on 11/26/2010

The Repubs never had any intention of giving up anything, it is all simply political talk to fool the unwashed masses into thinking they are "one of them". It works too, look at how the vote went on 11/2 and then look at the headline last week "Many Americans had no idea they re-elected a majority in the House". But they HEARD the screaming all through the MSM from the Repubs and voted accordingly. It is pathetic that we, as a nation, have dumbed down to tv clips and headlines for our information. I was so sure that the computer would really open minds and we would see a much better informed America. Not so.

[grf67]

06:24 AM on 11/25/2010

But repubs love themselves and hate the rest of America. They are mostly about self serving entitlements.

[Glenda Sitnek]

12:31 PM on 11/26/2010

It has nothing to do with "love" or "hate", those are words used too frequently now by the tea party and Repubs. It all has to do with power. The power to decide what, when, and where they can improve their own lot in life.

[Turtlenews]

02:59 AM on 11/25/2010

Strip Congress of their Health Care until we all get the same equal Health care they enjoy