Bob CollinsSay what you will about Obamacare — and you will — but it was a fine declaration in it that put members of Congress and the federal government under its provisions. If we had to live with it, they had to live with it.
Vox reports today that a new plan to repeal and replace Obamacare will protect members of Congress, their families, and their staffs from being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. The rest of America? You’re on your own.
Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), who authored an amendment with the congressional guarantee, confirmed that his legislation allows states to opt out of the health law’s provisions like protections like that and the requirement to cover things like maternity care and mental health services.
But Congress will be taken care of, Vox reports.
The Health Affairs Blog says the waiver would also not apply to “multi-state plans or to the Basic Health program, 1332 state innovation waivers,[or] the section of the ACA that allows sale of insurance across state lines through interstate compacts.”
The blog says moderate Republicans are likely to be against the amendment, and it’s unlikely a bill containing it would pass the Senate, should it reach it.
Meanwhile, a Washington Post/ABC poll finds “about 8 in 10 Democrats, 7 in 10 independents and even a slight majority of Republicans say that should continue to be a national mandate, rather than an option for states to retain or drop.”
