Let Congress, #BHO and family and the rest of government receive the exact same healthcare options they are giving to the rest of us chumps
Washington is at a stalemate. The Dems refuse to pass a government funding bill without the crown jewel of #Obamacare included. The Reps will pass spending bills government program by program, but are trying to kill Obamacare. This is politics at its best. It is also the reason that the Congressional Job Approval rating is at an historic low of 14%. The easy answer is to “throw the bums out.” But, this will not happen.
I am a staunch Libertarian (and proud of it), so I say, “let government stay shut down for an entire year, we will all be better off.” Yet, I know this is not the real answer either.
I also know first-hand that the healthcare delivery system in the U.S. is a complete mess. I know this because I have been a major consumer of healthcare ever since my severe accident in 1984. The Republicans are foolishly wrong when they claim the U.S. has the best healthcare system in the world. Get real, Republicans. See my blog post from March 2012 titled, “U.S. health care: Highest in the world in cost, 37th in performance.”
There is an easy solution to both Obamacare and the government shut down. Here it is:
- All U.S. citizens — members of Congress and their families, union members, everyone — will be subject to Obamacare.
No special deals for Congress — they already have enough self-given perks. No carve outs for unions. We all get the same thing. That members of Congress and the government ruling class have some insurance options not available to the rest of us at gigantic taxpayer subsidies is obscene and should not be tolerated by the public.
This solution would solve a number of issues.
- First, fairness would be the rule of the day. Right now, Congress has given itself and government employees a sweet deal — the taxpayers pick up 72% of the cost of healthcare for the ruling elite. Good deal if you can get it! This is on top of a lifetime pension for members of Congress that is three to four times greater than the social security benefits received by the rest of us scum. This is also in addition to the fact (based on many studies) that federal and state public employees make more than their counter parts in the private sector in almost every specialty (see Pew study here for starters).
- Think about it — members of Congress are gridlocked over how badly ma and pa Kettle on main street will get stiffed on healthcare expenses and service. Even the Republicans (who so arrogantly state they are acting for the best interest of the public) are not stepping forward to give up their sweet health care deal.
- The healthcare we currently have is broken. Yet, #OBAMADOESNOTCARE is not the answer. Let Obamacare be imposed upon members of Congress and I guarantee you that #OBAMACARE will not last long. Let Congress eat the same diet as the rest of us “trash” and real changes to healthcare will occur within a very short period of time.
Presently healthcare in the U.S. is driven by many conflicting agendas. In the drivers seat now is big pharma and the for-profit-insurance giants. Healthcare policy must be driven by the taxpayer and the medical profession. It is possible to achieve a far superior healthcare system in the U.S. at far less expense — but not when politicians, litigation lawyers, big pharma and the greedy insurance giants are setting the agenda.
So, the solution is simple. Members of Congress must all be subject to Obamacare. Then both parties should pass the funding bill and get government back to work. I will tell you this — the first thing Congress would do under this scenario when it returns to work is to really reform the broken healthcare system.
That is my two cents worth.
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