Lawmakers face their own health law reality: Navigating the online exchanges

Nov 13 2013

Lawmakers and some of their aides are preparing to navigate the health law's online insurance exchanges to buy coverage. An Alaskan senator is declining the employer contribution to buy coverage, and some senators will ask for a full investigation of the troubled startup of Healthcare.gov.

The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers And Aides Start Shopping For Coverage
Members of Congress and some of their staff are about to get personal experience with the Affordable Care Act. The law says they will cease to be eligible for federal government employees' health-insurance plan on Jan. 1. So starting Monday, lawmakers and their aides will be able to sign up for health insurance through a special section of an online marketplace being run by the District of Columbia (Radnofsky, 11/11).

Politico: Mark Begich Declines Health Insurance Subsidy
Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat facing a competitive reelection race next year, has enrolled in the Obamacare health exchange and has turned down a federal government contribution. "I want to have the exact same experience and go through the same steps as other Alaskans when it comes to signing up for health care, which is why I have decided to refuse any federal subsidy and have signed up on Alaska's federally run marketplace," Begich said in a statement (Haberkorn, 11/11).

Politico: Kay Hagan Seeks 'Complete' Obamacare Probe
Senators will ask the Obama administration for a full investigation into the bungled launch of HealthCare.gov, according to a letter being circulated by Sen. Kay Hagan. The North Carolina Democrat is collecting signatures this week for a letter to Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro and Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson asking for "a complete, thorough investigation to determine the causes of the design and implementation failures of HealthCare.gov" (Everett, 11/11).

Republicans plan a vote this week in the House to let Americans keep their health coverage --

Fox News: Republicans Shift To Chipping Away At ObamaCare With Vote This Week On Keeping Health Plans
After failing to derail ObamaCare during the partial government shutdown, congressional Republicans have found new life in attacking President Obama's signature health care law. With Congress returning on Tuesday from the long holiday weekend, the battle shifts to a House Republican-backed bill that would allow Americans to keep their health plans. The House Energy and Commerce Committee bill capitalizes on Obama's apology last week for earlier mistakenly assuring the public that they could stay on their health insurance if they liked it (11/12).