of course they would have been just like everyone else had they just stayed on the federal health employee benefit program
i don't know why they should lose benefits on a stupid political stunt.
Thought I explained that. The Democrats could not claim that Obamacare is the greatest thing since sliced bread without being willing to be on it. They also were not willing to live under the same burden as everyone else on the exchanges. The rules of the game dictate that they reach into our pockets, not their own.
That seems like a mischaracterization of what actually happened. Everyone else in the US falls roughly into these two categories:
1) Employer subsidized insurance = no subsidy on exchange
2) No employer subsidized insurance = potential subsidy on exchange
For the way the law was originally passed, it would have created a third category specifically for Congress and their staffs:
3) Employer subsidized insurance, but now forced to buy on the exchange, thus, no subsidy and no employer chipping in to help with the costs.
-You aren't eligible for a subsidy if your employer provides subsidized insurance. So they would get a real paycut and effectively be treated differently than everyone else in the country.
Um, no. Congress is a third category treated
differently than everyone else in the country now. You're artificially creating a special category of those with employer subsidized insurance forced to buy insurance on the exchanges even while admitting there could be no subsidy, but in reality originally, under the law, Congress and staffers were no different from any employee not furnished with health insurance, for whatever reason. Is an employee mandated to be on the exchanges by the ACA somehow different from an employee forced onto the exchanges by the ACA? Is a Congressional staffer somehow more deserving than a Home Depot employee? With the law as passed, Congress and its staffers faced exactly the same situation as anyone forced onto the exchanges through whatever circumstances. With their special dispensation, Congress and its staffers have a special benefit not available to anyone else. Whatever the reason for not receiving health insurance, whether or not your employer wants to provide a substantial subsidy to defray the cost of health insurance you are unable to take it and still purchase health insurance on the exchanges.
Unless you're a member of Congress or a staffer; then you get a special dispensation. You're just like everyone else, except more privileged. As always, some animals on the farm are just more equal than others.