The Office of Personnel Management will rule the government can make contributions to health insurance premiums for lawmakers and their aides being pushed into the Obamacare exchanges, Politico reported Thursday.
An anonymous White House official confirmed the deal for Congressional employees to Politico Thursday night.
A provision of the Affordable Care Act, authored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), requires members of Congress and their staffs to obtain their health insurance through the exchanges — an amendment originally intended to corner Democrats. The measure makes Hill staffers the only employees in the country working for large employers specifically required to abandon their existing health benefits and seek new coverage in the exchanges. It also raised the concern that they would have to foot the bill personally for their new insurance under the exchanges, since many Hill staffers earn more than the legal maximum under which individuals will be provided subsidies to purchase coverage.
The decision means the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program will continue to be able to pay premiums for members and staffers — an employment benefit they were in danger of losing, but amounts to a unique subsidy for staffers, who enter the exchanges next year.
This post has been updated.
