How Congress Mysteriously Became a ‘Small Business’ to Qualify for Obamacare Subsidies

[Duaine]

Act Four—Congressional Bureaucrats File False Paperwork

In filing to get the special insurance subsidies for enrolling lawmakers and their staff members in the D.C. “SHOP” Exchange, congressional officials claimed that the Senate and House each had only 45 employees. That false information allowed both chambers to meet the magic number requirement.

In Feb. 2015, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a member of the Senate’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, attempted to subpoena these un-redacted documents, only to be stymied by all nine committee Democrats and five Republicans.

How Congress Qualified for Obamacare Subsidies

 

[Norwayguy]

Act Four—Congressional Bureaucrats File False Paperwork

In filing to get the special insurance subsidies for enrolling lawmakers and their staff members in the D.C. “SHOP” Exchange, congressional officials claimed that the Senate and House each had only 45 employees. That false information allowed both chambers to meet the magic number requirement.

In Feb. 2015, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a member of the Senate’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, attempted to subpoena these un-redacted documents, only to be stymied by all nine committee Democrats and five Republicans.

How Congress Qualified for Obamacare Subsidies

They were confused they thought it meant how many employees actually work.

 

[Post Quartermaster]

This article doesn't make much sense. The SHOP allows qualifying employers to claim a tax credit (rather than subsides in the form of APTC's). Seems the author is a bit confused as he seems to imply Congress got APTC's/subsidies for employees somehow by declaring itself a small business.

 

[unic.consulting]

They were confused they thought it meant how many employees actually work.

Seems like they were overestimating again.

 

[Yagents]

They shifted the employer contribution thru this vehicle. Which of course is the taxpayer. It's all comes from same pocket.

 

[Ann H]

Yes, as Yagents said, this was a massive shifting of dollars to get around the wording of the law that said Congress had to abide by the same Exchange as every American was being offered. In other words, "If ACA is so great, Congress has to live in it."

All of this maneuvering was Congress trying to get out of living in the same law as the rest of us.

Some of my favorites?

1 - Congress crying about the "brain drain" where employees would leave to get jobs with better health insurance. What do they think was facing American businesses?

2 - Complaints that private plans were too expensive without either subsidies or employer contribution. What do they think happens to other Americans who qualified for neither subsidies nor got great employer-provided plans?

3 - Now learning that Congress claimed they had less than 50 employees each, in order to go through SHOP.​

Hey, they aren't eligible for SHOP, they aren't eligible for APTC subsidies, they aren't eligible for Employer Contribution if they must go through the Exchange, and they aren't eligible for pre-tax (or even after-tax) bonuses earmarked specifically to pay their IFP premiums.

Welcome to America, Congress. This is what you stuck Americans with. You should have to live in it.

 

[pfg1]

Welcome to America, Congress. This is what you stuck Americans with. You should have to live in it.

If only it was that simple. They will always find a way to put themselves above the avg American, even if its on the backs of all of us.