President Trump is clearly frustrated with the inability of the GOP Senate majority to pass legislation that would repeal Obamacare. Many Republican members of Congress were elected after promising their constituents they would repeal and replace Obamacare. It looks like President Trump plans to hold them to the promises they made to voters who put them in office.

President Donald Trump is considering stripping the employer contribution for health insurance away from members of Congress.

While the Trump White House has previously declined numerous requests from Roll Call to weigh in on the possibility, the president took to his favorite social media platform Saturday to make the threat himself.

“If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly,” Trump tweeted. “BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”

As part of the 2010 health care law, members of Congress and many staffers were shifted out of the usual Federal Employee Health Benefits structure and into the new insurance exchanges set up by the law.

The Office of Personnel Management under President Barack Obama determined that the employer contribution portion of the premiums could flow through the District of Columbia’s health insurance exchange.

In recent days, calls from outside conservative groups to rescind the OPM regulation for members of Congress — either through legislative action or an executive directive — have grown.

Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots suggested in a statement Friday, after the Senate failed to move forward on the so-called “skinny” repeal legislation, that the entire policy should be upended, including for staff.

 “To unite congressional Republicans, President Donald Trump should take action to end the congressional exemption from ObamaCare. It is apparent that since Members of Congress, their families and staff do not have to live under the law they passed for every other American, they lack the incentive to take the action they were elected to take,” Martin said. “Ending Congress’s special exemption from ObamaCare will motivate Republicans to finally keep their promise — if not for principle, at least to improve their own insurance predicament.” –Roll Call

 

 

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