Under a wrinkle that dates back to enactment of the law, members of Congress and thousands of their aides are required to get their coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.
But the law does not provide any obvious way for the federal government to continue paying its share of the premiums for the comprehensive coverage.
If the government cannot do so, it could mean an additional expense of $5,000 a year for individuals and $11,000 for families under some of the most popular plans.
Not surprisingly, that idea is unpopular on Capitol Hill.
“It’s a very serious concern,” said Representative Billy Long, a Missouri Republican who said staff members were “freaked out” at the prospect of paying the full cost of insurance out of their own pockets.
It’s difficult not to feel a little sorry for Long and his staffers. Obviously, he and they had nothing to do with ObamaCare’s passage. Still, you go to Washington and you should be taking your chances. But why is the NYT quoting a weeping Republican and not some Democrat who actually did vote for this epic clusterfudge?
But then there is this bit further down:
With the exchanges scheduled to open in just nine weeks, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with a creative interpretation of the health care law that would allow the federal government to kick in for insurance as private employers do, but so far an answer has proved elusive.
Why not just make shit up, like Obama did with delaying the employer mandate? It’s not like the MSM will call him on it.
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