A $10,000 Wrinkle

Updates

August 8, 2013: "the fix is in" -- Matt Drudge

Original Post

 
The New York Times calls it a wrinkle:

As President Obama barnstorms the country promoting his health care law, one audience very close to home is growing increasingly anxious about the financial implications of the new coverage: members of Congress and their personal staffs.

Under a wrinkle that dates back to enactment of the law, members of Congress and thousands of their aides are required to get their coverage through new state-based markets known as insurance exchanges.

But the law does not provide any obvious way for the federal government to continue paying its share of the premiums for the comprehensive coverage.

If the government cannot do so, it could mean an additional expense of $5,000 a year for individuals and $11,000 for families under some of the most popular plans.

Not surprisingly, that idea is unpopular on Capitol Hill. 

Conspiracy theory: this was not an oversight. Capital Hill lawyers are not dummies. They put this in the bill as such to get the bill passed: they could honestly say that Congress did not get the usual Congressional break. They were subject to the same law that everyone else was subject to.

Had Congress exempted themselves in the original bill, it never would have passed. In fact, it's very possible President Obama would not have allowed it. No doubt President Obama is very, very sincere that his health bill is the best thing since ... well, FDR's social security program.

You can bet that this will be corrected with a simple amendment attached to an unrelated bill that must be passed, such as a defense appropriations bill, or a "continuing resolution bill" to continue funding the government. Congress will take care of themselves and their secretaries (and interns). Not to worry. Nothing will change for Congress.