Congress' Cadillac Health Plan

Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) has offered House Resolution 615 because he objects to the fact that members of Congress aren't willing to sign up for the government-run health care plan that they are forcing on Americans.

Fleming writes:

Over the past few weeks, members of Congress and the American people have come to know the details of the Administration's proposed health care plan. Call it whatever you like, I believe this proposal is nothing more than government-run health care. As a physician, I am amazed at the number of bureaucrats in this House who are quick to claim a government-run health care plan is the reform this country needs. In response to this, I have offered a resolution that will offer members of Congress an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, and urge their colleagues who vote for legislation creating a government-run health care plan to lead by example and enroll themselves in the same public plan.

Under the current draft of the Democrat healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating.

Together we will work to ensure that any plan that is good enough for American families is good enough for every member of Congress.

It's easy to see why members of Congress are exempting themselves from the government-run health care option.

Meghan Clyne, the New York Post, provides some of the details of the coverage that members of Congress and other members of the political class receive, paid for with taxpayer funds.

Clyne writes:

[O]ur nation's entire political class lives in an alternative health-care universe -- and will do so even after the rest of us are stuck with the disaster of ObamaCare.

Start with the top White House staffers, assistants to the president. These are Obama's closest advisers, the people who have his ear.

Like most on the federal payroll, they have access to government-subsidized private insurance. But they can also get treatment above and beyond what is available anywhere else -- courtesy of outstanding military medical staff on-site at the White House and at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda.

Bethesda is one of the world's top hospitals, with a staff of more than 4,500. There, according to people familiar with the situation, Obama's senior advisers have access to a health-care Shangri-La.

Prescriptions for any condition under the sun are written and the drugs swiftly dispensed; virtually unlimited tests and blood work are conducted; and any medical procedure, including in-patient surgery, is performed at no cost to the patient. (Any expenses above what private insurance covers are generally waived.)

As one former senior White House official put it: "If you were an assistant to the president and you needed open-heart surgery, you could have it done at Bethesda for free."

There's more. Someone who has received care at the naval hospital explains that once you arrive, "You are then met by an escort from the Executive Health Office, who takes you from specialist to specialist, with no waiting in lines anywhere.

"They just bring you in as soon as you arrive, and you generally see the chief of the department for whatever specialty you need if he's available."

Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin responded: "The president has repeatedly said that he'd like every American to have access to the same high-quality care that's available to him, his family and his staff."

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Congress has a really sweet deal: "Prescriptions for any condition under the sun are written and the drugs swiftly dispensed; virtually unlimited tests and blood work are conducted; and any medical procedure, including in-patient surgery."

There's no emphasis on cutting costs and unnecessary procedures for Congress. As Obama lectures average Americans about the necessity to trim medical costs and services, Obama and Congress enjoy Cadillac health plans, where services are unlimited and cost is never an issue.

Millions of Americans will be forced into a government-run system of rationed care under Obama's plan. Costs will be cut because services will be cut and withheld. Obama keeps insisting that Americans are having too many medical tests. He promotes painkillers for grandma and grandpa rather than aggressive attempts to treat conditions and prolong the lives of seniors.

What Obama is proposing for the American people is nothing like the sort of health care that's available to him and members of Congress. The bill assures that they will be keeping their Cadillac coverage.

But it's unlikely that "government health care" will mean for the rest of us what it does for people like Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, along with members of the president's Cabinet.

Even further down the White House chain, perks are pretty sweet.

Low-level staffers have access to the White House Medical Unit, where they can receive care for virtually any non-major condition that ails them. Inoculations, ear infections, sore throats, allergy flare-ups, even basic ophthalmology -- everything's taken care of by excellent medical professionals. White House staffers don't have to step outside their office building or pay a red cent.

People on Capitol Hill aren't struggling either.

Members of Congress and their aides have access to the Office of the Attending Physician in the US Capitol, which, according to its Web site, provides "acute/urgent care for all that work on or visit Capitol Hill," including "emergency evaluation for injuries and serious illnesses," "free flu vaccinations," "the administration of allergy shots [patients provide their own serum]," "physician referrals," "travel advice and screenings," "occupational exams and certifications," and "beyond."

Who pays for this Cadillac care?

Who pays for all this FREE medical care for even low-level staffers and aides?

We do. Taxpayers. We pay for them to have the best medical care on demand, but we may be forced into a government-run system with long waiting lines and a litany of restrictions.

Clyne concludes:

[C]hanges in virtually every other area of policy affect the political class just as they would the Average Joe.

Pols pay the same prices for goods made more expensive by the lack of free trade; tax hikes will hit the members of the Obama team, too (except, perhaps, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner). But not so with health care.

These may be some of the reasons why ObamaCare is meeting tougher-than-expected resistance outside of government corridors. For people who won't be enjoying luxury care for the next several years, rationing and declining health-care quality are a big deal.

It would probably help Democrats if they listened to some of these concerns from across the country. Because "ObamaCare for thee, but not for me" just isn't going to cut it.

She's right.

"ObamaCare for thee, but not for me" will not cut it.

It's not fair.

If they are going to impose socialized medicine on the country, they should have to suffer as well.