YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Mike Kaszuba, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Brad Schrade and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger. Contributor in D.C.: Kevin Diaz.
resize text 
subscribe via RSS
Bachmann’s claim that Congress has no health insurance was "a misspeak”
Posted by: under 6th District Updated: March 30, 2010 - 4:23 PM
In a recent speech, it sounded like Rep. Michele Bachmann was saying members of Congress and their staffs weren’t sure if they currently had health insurance.
“We found out that the day after the bill was signed that all members of Congress and our staffs, we lost our health insurance in this bill,” Bachmann told a Duluth crowd this weekend. “So we have to go into the government exchange to get our insurance. The only problem is the exchange won’t be created for another three years. So this is how messed up this is. We don’t even know if our own staff and our own offices today even have health insurance. We can’t even get an answer.”
As Hot Dish has previously reported, federal employees will be able to purchase insurance through exchanges in 2014. But Bachmann’s comments made it sound like there was a coverage problem right now. So are members of Congress and their staffs currently covered?
Yes, they are.
“I think that was maybe just a misspeak,” said Rachel Horn, Bachmann’s deputy press secretary. “Her point was that, as of today, we’re not sure that these plans are valid with this bill being signed. We don’t know what’s going to change and it’s just a really uncertain future for us as staff members. If we have insurance that we like, we might not be able to keep it.” She added that the congresswoman’s office is now puzzling out whether or not all staffers’ current health care plans will qualify for the exchange, as some may have chosen to opt out of the federal plan.
The Stillwater Republican has repeatedly used this example to illustrate her claim that the Obama administration broke its promise that anyone who likes their current health care plan can keep it, something she said apparently doesn’t apply to Congress. Bachmann’s spokester Dave Dziok said that while the exchange would offer a federal plan it won't be the “exact same one she has right now.”
Just to double-check that Congress members and their staffs do currently have health insurance, Hot Dish put in a call to the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM spokesman Edmund Byrnes confirmed that all federal employees are currently eligible for coverage under the Federal Health Employee Benefits Plan.
Hayley Tsukayama is an intern in the Star Tribune's Washington bureau.
ADVERTISEMENT
recent posts
- Auditor: More transparency needed on state cost estimates
- Sen. Reinert wants to move Vikings to Duluth
- Protesters rally at the capitol against voter ID
- Kline opposed to No Child Left Behind waiver
- Kline saves Fort Snelling rifles
- Bachmann, Walker to speak at Conservative Political Action Conference
- Cravaack denounces birth control benefit
- Group opposed to photo ID for voters links business donations to the issue
- And the winner is...
- Paul urges Maple Grove GOP to join his fight
- Arden Hills caucuses: Republicans and DFLers agree on no Vikings stadium
- In Arden Hills, an early -- and lonely -- Romney supporter
- Here are your predictions for Minnesota's Republican Party caucus vote
- Dueling pigs, cheering crowds and a glitterbomb at Santorum rally
- Franken introduces legislation to combat courthouse violence
- Close race at caucuses? No provisions for a GOP recount.
- Hot Dish: Santorum, Paul doubling down in Minnesota
- At Minnesota rally, Paul calls for 'renewal of the spirit'
- Gingrich makes first pre-caucus appearance in Bloomington
Post By Category
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2012 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters