Criticism by the political right needs more thought and common sense

2013

George Will, like most conservative writers, has taken aim at the Obama Administrations move to continue the 75% subsidy for Congress and staff forced into a health insurance exchange by Obamacare. While he has a point about the questionable legality of the move, he and others can’t resist taking a shot (affluent cohort) at the employer contribution which is no different from what employers in general provide to tens of millions of Americans at every income level.

George Will in the Washington Post, August 15, 2013

Obama should be embarrassed that, by ignoring the legal requirement concerning the employer mandate, he has validated critics who say the ACA cannot be implemented as written. What does not embarrass him is his complicity in effectively rewriting the ACA for the financial advantage of self-dealing members of Congress and their staffs.

The ACA says members of Congress (annual salaries: $174,000) and their staffs (thousands making more than $100,000) must participate in the law’s insurance exchanges. It does not say that when this change goes into effect, the current federal subsidy for this affluent cohort — up to 75 percent of the premium’s cost, perhaps $10,000 for families — should be unchanged.

When Congress awakened to what it enacted, it panicked: This could cause a flight of talent, making Congress less wonderful. So Obama directed the Office of Personnel Management, which has no power to do this, to authorize for the political class special subsidies unavailable for less privileged and less affluent citizens.

Given his status as a syndicated writer working for different organizations, Will may not actually be an employee of the Washington Post, but he has a decades long affiliation so it is not inappropriate to use the benefits from that organization as a reference. Look at the description of benefits for the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post website related to employment with the Post

OUR BENEFITS

The Washington Post ensures all employees have what they need for healthy, balanced lives. Along with standard benefits such as health coverage, leave time and flexible spending accounts, we offer additional programs and benefits to enhance your quality of life.

Stay Healthy and Happy with a comprehensive employee assistance program, domestic partner coverage, tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, ergonomic assessments and more.

Retire in Style with our 401(k) retirement plan, 100% company paid pension plan and retiree medical coverage that meet your unique retirement needs and goals.

Make Everyday Life Easier with commuter expense deductions, on-site dry cleaning services, our own cafeteria, back-up child care, employee discount programs including in-building gym access, home delivery of The Washington Post and free on-site copies of the paper waiting for you every morning.

Make sure to ask your recruiter about your position’s specific benefit options.

The fact is the medical and retirement benefits for Congress and federal employees are not out of line with other large employers. That may not be comforting if you have neither benefit through an employer, but it’s true nevertheless and attempts by commentators to say otherwise for political purposes is irresponsible. There is enough real about an inept, ineffective Congress there is no reason to make points with incomplete, misleading information.

How Congressional pensions work: (from an August 2013 report by the Congressional Research Service – that for some reason is no longer being made available)

Congressional pensions, like those of other federal employees, are financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions. All Members pay Social Security payroll taxes equal to 6.2% of the Social Security taxable wage base ($113,700 in 2013). Members enrolled in FERS and elected prior to 2013 also pay 1.3% of full salary to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF). Members of Congress first elected after 2012 and enrolled in FERS contribute 3.1% of pay to the CSRDF in addition to their Social Security contributions. In 2013, Members covered by CSRS Offset pay 1.8% of the first $113,700 of salary, and 8.0% of salary above this amount, into the CSRDF.