Can we start a national petition to make Congress buy their own healthcare? Why do they get away

[OregonBlue]

voting to maintain the cushy deal for themselves but make the rest of us pay the outrageous premiums for horrible coverage (and the salaries of the healthcare executives)? If they had to buy their own insurance, they would quickly realize just how necessary a public option is to control costs!!

[Oregone]

1. Itd be easier to have the people vote to amend the constitution to allow them to make legislature

Then vote to strip the healthcare away.


Or....maybe you could convince the politicians through a petition to vote against their healthcare. :)

[magellan]

2. They'd just ignore it

And besides, if they had to, most of them make more than enough money to be able to afford the best insurance out of their own pockets anyway.

[OregonBlue]

4. From what I read, they hate to spend it though. They want the taxpayer to foot the bill. Make them

buy their own and see how quickly they become concerned about the "outrageous" costs of health care in America!!

[magellan]

6. I'm sure they do, which is another reason a petition won't work

Like I said, they'd just ignore it. They don't care much what we think once we've cast our ballots.

I'm 100% on board with your anger, though. My husband and I can't afford health insurance. I said the other day that I don't begrudge anyone their coverage but that's not completely true; I've LONG begrudged our elected officials having health coverage that's subsidized by our tax dollars while we go without.

[LiberalFighter]

3. If they want employer provided health care to be taxed theirs should be taxed too.

[napi21]

5. Their HC is not free. Here's a link to the plans they have available.

The cover page is an explaination. Go to the "Premiums" link on the left side and there is a PDF file of each plan, the cost, how much the gov't pays & what the employee pays. All Congressmen have been under this program since 1984.

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

[lib2DaBone]

10. Good Post. Still.. that is about 1/4 what I have to pay in the open market..

Federal Employees have the best benefits in the world... solid gold.

[napi21]

11. I agree with you. All this babbling about "I want the same kind of

HC as Congress" is foolish though. Eliminate the preexisting eondition clauses and we could GET the same coverage as Congress. The BIG problem is we couldn't afford it! Very few employers pay as big a % of the premiums as the gov't does, but it's not resonable nor realistic to demand all employers pay a higher %!

[Libertyfirst]

7. Most of them are so wealthy they could care less. n/t

[Orangepeel]

8. They get insurance through their employer like other federal employees

it is a very good deal compared to lots -- probably most -- people. But "lets all have what congress has" is NOT a good argument for a public plan because that's not what they have. For example, I know that both Senator Kerry and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz both have Blue Cross because I've heard them say so.

[lefthandedlefty]

9. I will support that

Plus how about a 50 percent pay cut and take away their retirement also give them at least a 10 prison sentence if caught taking so much as a stick of gum from lobbiest`s afterall a bribe is a bribe.