Posted on 10/14/2009 5:34:49 AM PDT by IbJensen
A healthcare reform expert says Democratic leaders in Congress who are seeking to pass healthcare legislation before Thanksgiving are "deceiving themselves into thinking they know what's best for the American people."
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote today on a healthcare reform bill authored by Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) that would create new taxes and regulations to pay for a massive expansion of the Medicaid entitlement program. Although the Baucus proposal has been billed as the most "moderate and reasonable" of five committee healthcare bills, a new study prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers estimates that by 2019 the plan will raise the cost of healthcare for an American family of four by $4,000 each year. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the measure will insure only 94 percent of Americans -- leaving 25 million people uninsured.
Politico reports that in an effort to pass healthcare reform before Thanksgiving and avoid conference committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and other Democratic leaders are considering attaching the entire healthcare bill to a shell of a House tax bill that passed earlier this year.
Grace-Marie Turner (Galen Institute)Grace Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, says if Democrats use such a parliamentary maneuver, they risk an enormous political backlash from American taxpayers.
(Excerpt) Read more at onenewsnow.com ...
Since these weasels have had nothing but contempt for America and Americans they must be thrown out of office. Further, their generous pensions and medical care that follow them throughout their lives regardless of the fact that they served but one term must be terminated!
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Can anyone tell me where I can find what these clowns get in terms of health care, life insurance and pensions for “serving” the people? I've Googled and can't come up with anything.
In a Country where all are created equal, I'd like what they have or they get what I'm looking forward to in Health Care.
BTW, I am happy with my physicians. It is the first time I thought about it this morning. God Bless them for bringing comfort in the lives of my family and me. We are all going to be badly affected by the people we put in office.
Pray that this doesn't happen and pray that God Blesses our Country and it's dedicated doctors and nurses.
As far as them voting for taxes and “fines and fees” which are in compete disregard to what the public actually believes is correct, I think we have reached the point of what was one of the bases for the American Revolution: Taxation without representation.
Now my question is this. I see they want to TAX health care plans according to how good they are. That means every one in congress will get hit with a severe tax.
Right?
I honestly believe Dems have no fear of "backlash" because they know the fix is in, election-wise. I don't care if that sounds conspiratorial, tin-foil hattish or whatever. I truly believe we have seen the last of any semblence of accurate, fair or free elections. There's no way politicians could be so obstinately working in opposition to public opinion, unless they knew there would be no consequences to them personally. JMHO
I don't understand why. I'd much rather have nothing than a bad bill.
2010’s gonna be a bloodbath.
State of New York Medicaid requirements:
What health services are covered by Medicaid?
In general, the following services are paid for by Medicaid, but some may not be covered for you because of your age, financial circumstances, family situation, transfer of resource requirements, or living arrangements. Some services have small co-payments. These services may be provided using your Medicaid card or through your managed care plan if you are enrolled in managed care. You will not have a co-pay if you are in a managed care plan.
smoking cessation agents
treatment and preventive health and dental care (doctors and dentists)
hospital inpatient and outpatient services
laboratory and X-ray services
care in a nursing home
care through home health agencies and personal care
treatment in psychiatric hospitals (for persons under 21 or those 65 and older), mental health facilities, and facilities for the mentally retarded or the developmentally disabled
family planning services
early periodic screening, diagnosis, and treatment for children under 21 years of age under the Child/Teen Health Program
medicine, supplies, medical equipment, and appliances (wheelchairs, etc.)
clinic services
transportation to medical appointments, including public transportation and car mileage
emergency ambulance transportation to a hospital prenatal care
some insurance and Medicare premiums other health services
If you are eligible for Medicaid, you will receive a Benefit Identification Card which must be used when you need medical services. There may be limitations on certain services.
sw
By far the single most personally valuable perk to a Member of Congress is his or her pension plan. Lawmakers began coverage under the government’s pension system in 1942, but suspended their participation until after World War II. The rules can be complex, but extremely rewarding.2
Basically, Congressional pensions are determined by tenure in office, other federal service, age at retirement, and the average salary upon leaving Congress. The “accrual rate,” the amount by which lawmakers build their pension benefit, is the most generous in the federal government short of the President of the United States.
For lawmakers who were elected before 1984, the pension formula upon retirement is the average of the three highest years’ salaries, multiplied by years of Congressional, federal, and active duty military service, multiplied by 2.5 percent. The first year’s benefit may not exceed 80 percent of final salary (but subsequent Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) can boost the figure well past 80 percent). The retirement age can be as early as age 50, depending upon years of service. This plan is part of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) that covers many other rank-and-file federal civilian workers.
For lawmakers elected in 1984 and thereafter, the formula is generally the same as above, except that the accrual rate is 1.7 percent instead of 2.5 percent, and after the first 20 years of service, the rate falls to 1.0 percent. Also, there is no “80 percent of final salary rule” for these Members (lawmakers under the old CSRS also had the option of converting to this plan). This plan is part of the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS), and along with CSRS, enrolls millions of government employees and their dependents (there is an optional spousal annuity).
Nonetheless, there are key differences in the way lawmakers’ benefits are calculated versus other government personnel. Members of Congress under CSRS have a generous accrual rate of 2.5 percent for all years served, while most workers in the Executive Branch get a sliding rate of between 1.5 and 2.0 percent. For FERS, Members get a 1.7 percent initial rate, versus 1.1 percent or 1.0 percent for most rank-and-file federal employees. Also, lawmakers with longer careers in Congress can generally collect pension benefits at a far earlier age than their counterparts with similar service elsewhere in the government.
In both cases, Members of Congress do contribute to their pension plans, although the rates are somewhat complicated by the fact that since 1984, all lawmakers have been required to pay into Social Security. Members elected before 1984 have usually paid 8 percent of their salaries into the pension plan, but some may have elected a “Social Security offset” provision that allows them to split part of the pay-in (6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.8 percent for the pension.) The result is that upon retirement, Members receive a pension that is reduced by the amount of Social Security that is attributable to Congressional service.
Members elected in 1984 and thereafter have generally paid 1.3 percent towards the pension and 6.2 percent to Social Security. For Congress overall, these contributions only cover roughly 20 percent of the actual average lifetime pension payout.
All Members of Congress are eligible to participate in a “Thrift Savings Plan,” a supplemental retirement contribution plan that works much like a private sector 401 (k) arrangement. However, only those first elected in 1984 and thereafter are entitled to receive a very generous government match — up to 5 percent of salary, if the Member contributes a like amount.
The end results of these formulas — huge pension windfalls for lucky lawmakers — have been the subject of thousands of print, radio, and television media features since National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) began publicizing them. In 1988, NTUF announced that for the first time, the Congressional pension system had delivered a million dollars each to three retired Members — Ben Reifel (R-SD), Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), and Al Gore, Sr. (D-TN).3
Today, a sitting lawmaker who retires at age 60 with 15 or 20 years of service will likely collect at least a million dollars in inflation-compensated lifetime pension benefits. Some will collect four or even five times that amount. In 1997 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported that 400 lawmakers were receiving pensions, at an average benefit of just under $47,000.4 Based on a subsidy rate of 80 percent, this would amount to an annual taxpayer cost of approximately $15 million.
But how do these benefits compare with those of the public and private sectors?
It would be tempting to simply measure a Member’s pension against the average individual Social Security benefit of just under $10,000 annually, or the national defined benefit average of slightly above $17,000 for “private-sector employees earning $50,000 or more.”5 But much more precise (and alarming) comparisons are possible.
According to CRS, a lawmaker with 20 years of service under FERS could expect to receive a pension equivalent to 34.0 percent of his or her highest three years’ salary average. For other federal employees in the Executive Branch, the “replacement rate” would be just 20.0 percent. For CSRS participants, the gap between a Member of Congress and an Executive Branch employee is 50.0 percent versus 36.5 percent.6
Thanks for taking the time to explain the perks we pay for to our elected and government employees.
It is truly upsetting that we can’t ever get these laws changed! Yet these same folks want to take away or limit what most of us have all worked hard to achieve in our lives.
This implies a monolithic society which is a false premise. I cannot think of any issue on which there is universal agreement in our society.
Wait till the unwashed masses see what this turkey will cost!
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