Fla. rep rips ‘illegal Obamacare subsidy’ ahead of HHS visits

Congressman Ron DeSantis
Congressman Ron DeSantis

When it comes to Obamacare, what’s good enough for the public apparently isn’t quite good enough for public officials.

And that’s just plain wrong, says U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.

Last week, DeSantis introduced legislation to block what he calls “illegal Obamacare subsidies” for members of Congress and their staffs.

The bill filing came only days before U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius began the first of her three visits to Florida.

Sebelius was in Orlando on Friday, Jacksonville on Monday and will be in Miami on Tuesday. She’s in Florida to hype the health-care law and the government subsidies offered through the state’s insurance exchange, opening Oct 1.

But don’t expect her to highlight the better deal given to Congress.

The Affordable Care Act initially required most Capitol Hill employees to give up their federal health insurance by the end of this year and participate in the Obamacare state health exchanges – a central aspect of the health care overhaul.

But a recent administrative rule issued by the Office of Personnel and Management – Congress’s Human Resources Department – gives all members of Congress and their staffs a 75 percent across-the-board health exchange subsidy.

That’s much more than what’s offered to everyone else.

Government subsidies for the general public apply on a sliding scale and top out at 400 percent of the federal poverty line, that’s $46,000 for an individual or $94,000 for a family of four.

“We can’t treat ourselves as a separate governing class, we’re supposed to serve the American people,” DeSantis said in a Fox News interview.

“What the (administration) needed to do if they really wanted to create this special subsidy was pass a law, but they knew they wouldn’t be able to get away with that,” DeSantis said.

The Congressman spoke to Greta last month and had this to say:

Published with permission from Watchdog.org

Contact author William Patrick at [email protected]

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