This page was last updated on January 31, 2011.
House’s 1 percent solution is a joke; John Sear; Beaver County Times; January 30, 2011.
Mr. Sear wrote at least 12 letters since 2006. Two I critiqued are here and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“I read in The Times last week that as of July 1 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are going to have to pay 1 percent of their salary in health insurance.
“Isn’t that a joke? I think 50 percent would be a better figure.”
[RWC] Mr. Sear’s position is a popular one but it ignores an important fact. Representatives and senators already pay for their “health insurance.” That’s because “health insurance” is part of their compensation (salary, vacation, other benefits), just like private-sector employees with employer-based medical insurance. This means members of Congress foot the bill for their “health insurance” even though the premium paid by their employer (in this case U.S. citizens) on their behalf doesn’t appear on their pay stubs. To be fair, if members of Congress are required to increase how much they pay out of pocket for their “health insurance,” some other part of their compensation should increase to offset the new out-of-pocket expense.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t like employer-based medical insurance whether it’s for private or public employees. The point of my comment is to note employer-based medical insurance isn’t free for the employee even if he pays nothing for it out of pocket.
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.