The Perks Of Elitist Congressional Health Care
Oct 1, 2009 Political
I have written before that members of Congress have the same health care insurance as all other federal employees and that it is nothing special. There are a number of plans from which to choose and the prices are reasonable because there are a lot of federal employees in the pool.
I have also written about the special floor at Walter Reed Army Hospital that is set up for special people like members of Congress. The floor has about nine beds, all in private rooms, a concierge, and its own chef. While the troops are navigating the unbelievable paper storm and administrative maze that is military care, the members of Congress are whisked to that special floor to be treated like royalty. The floor is not used very often and costs about a million dollars a year to maintain.
Another perk that members of Congress have is a special clinic that is very modern with up to date equipment and features six satellite sites. It is run by the Navy and basically provides family practice care to members of Congress. Who pays for this? Well, they pay $503 a year to use it and taxpayers foot the bill for the rest. Congress appropriated $3 million to reimburse the Navy for the staff providing the care. This does not include the equipment and procedure costs. The perk is known as the Office of the Attending Physician.
Members who do not pay the fee are not turned away and none of them fill out paperwork for reimbursement from their federal employee insurance. The VA bills the private insurance of our veterans but members of Congress are not bothered with such things.
The care provided is not first aid. When members report to the clinic they are given a thorough exam and everything under the Sun is done for them (even if first aid is all they need). The clinic has x-ray equipment and provides services such as physical therapy.
The clinic staff would not answer questions and ABC reporters looking into the perk were asked to leave. Much of the information comes from former employees who say that members of Congress abuse the Office of the Attending Physician and use it as their primary care.
One person, though, defended the perk. Eduardo Balbona, who worked there from 1993 to 1995 had this to say:
“They provide members an accessible, professional place to get services. The alternative would be members going throughout Washington, DC, interrupting their service to our country,” Balbona said. “It’s not a political perk. Much like a medic who’s in combat, it’s not a perk for those soldiers. It’s part of the mission.” ABC
Additionally, the piece indicates that this is viewed as no different from the medical services provided by many employers. Most medical services provided by private employers are for the purpose of work place surveillance relative to exposures to hazards (noise, toxic chemicals, cumulative trauma etc.) and is not there to provide primary care. Sure, some places check blood pressure, provide cholesterol screening, offer workplace education on proper lifting and back injuries, and dispense over the counter medications to keep people at work but they do not provide the things members of Congress are getting, largely at our expense. And to this Balboa guy, he obviously does not know what a combat medic does. The medic is not on the battlefield waiting for people to stop by for a check-up. He is there to provide lifesaving care to those who are injured as a result of war. Members of Congress are being treated like royalty for things that, most of the time, are non emergent.
This might explain why these people exempt themselves from the government plan they will force everyone else to take. Why should they have to sit in an office for a few hours with the regular people waiting to be seen by a doctor when they can waltz into a state of the art facility, be seen right away, and get a complete exam with everything they want, with all but $503 at the taxpayer’s expense?
We need to hold these people accountable and force them to take any option that they require us to take. Any member who uses this service needs to be voted out of office.
Call your Representatives and Senators and ask them if they use this service. If they do, tell them they lost your vote and boot them out of office.
Until we hold these people accountable and get it in their heads that they work for us, they will continue to add to the ever growing list of perks that are provided at our expense. That list includes the services mentioned in this post, free cars (with insurance, gas, and maintenance included), and free flights.
We are a country that does not have royalty and we need to stop these people from acting like kings and queens.
Wake up America. The next American Revolution takes place in November of 2010 when we vote them all out of office.
Be patriotic and be part of that revolution.
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Tags: Congress, elitists, health care, perks, royalty, special care, walter reed
Update On The Executive Jets For Congress
Aug 7, 2009 Political
I wrote recently about Congress adding two executive jets to the Air Force budget, jets the Air Force says it does not need. The Congress added the jets under the guise of giving the troops what they need but the reality is they added the jets for their own travel.
It gets worse though. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that The House added a total of eight more planes. The story goes on to discuss the increased amount of Congressional travel and how they do not like to have air travel on these planes rationed. It seems that with what the Air Force currently has some members of Congress miss out on the luxury travel.
Of course Coungress is saying this is for the troops:
Ellis Brachman, a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, said the changes were part of “Congress’s normal oversight responsibility” to make sure “the troops have everything they need.”
But the Pentagon has a different take on the subject:
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said the Department of Defense didn’t request the additional planes and doesn’t need them. “We ask for what we need and only what we need,” he told reporters Wednesday. “We’ve always frowned upon earmarks and additives that are above and beyond what we ask for.”
However, this might explain why the Congress felt the Air Force needed more luxury jets:
The 737s, known as C-40s by the military, are designed to be an “office in the sky” for government leaders, according to Air Force documents describing the plane. The plane is configured with all first-class leather seats, worktables, two large galleys for cooking and a “distinguished visitor compartment with sleep accommodations.”
~snip~
Lawmakers typically fly on military jets, where members of the Armed Services carry bags and take drink orders. When flying on military jets, lawmakers are permitted to bring along spouses at no cost.
When there are too many requests for military planes, the speaker of the House or the Senate majority leader decides who gets to go. Two House employees work full time to organize overseas trips.
There is often a shortage of military planes for use by lawmakers when Congress is in recess, according to emails from 2007 obtained by the conservative group Judicial Watch under a Freedom of Information Act Request.
In June 2007, the House’s travel coordinator, Kay King, was told that all military planes were booked for the July 4 recess. She replied to the Air Force officer: “This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset Speaker.” [emphasis mine]
It does not take an aerospace engineer to see that these planes were ordered to accomodate members of Congress who like to fly in style and be catered to. And if they fly on military aircraft they can take their spouses at no cost.
The article points out; “Over the past five years, 44% of the use of the planes has been for the military, 42% for the administration and 14.5% for members of Congress, Mr. Brachman said.”
The military use is undoubtedly for the Joint Chiefs and other DOD executives but I imagine some of the flights involved members of Congress using the planes to visit troops. Until they classify what constitutes military use we won’t know the extent of the travel.
Regardless, the Congress chastised auto executives for flying to DC in corporate jets to beg for stimulus money and Congress is using executive aircraft to fly around while taking more and more of our money.
These planes will cost $550 million. I know that seems like very little when Obama and Congress are spending trillions but it is a waste of money for the purpose of providing members of Congress with a perk.
I just hope no one tells them what comes after a trillion…
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Tags: Congress, executive aircraft, Obama, perks, pork