Congressman Martin Frost, D-Texas, served twenty-six years in Congress representing the Dallas-Ft Worth area.
Attached is an article written two year ago addressing free medical care for Congressman, cafeteria medical plans, Medicare, and social security.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308378,00.html
Thank you!!!!!!
Good....Information.
thanks for posting this
Yes, thank you Waldo!
Thank you, Waldo. I have known this for some time, but I am never able to present the facts when called for. I hope this quiets some of the accusations voiced on this forum.
Hey I thought it was free for em but I can admit when I was mistaken
Good for you. Thanks.
Interesting post waldo, kinda goes with what I found on the subject...
"Cengressmen earn six-figure salaries and enjoy perks constituents can only dream about. But do Americans believe the compensation is fair for the demands of the job?...In addition to their federal health benefits, members of Congress can receive free outpatient care at either Bethesda Naval Hospital or Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For a small annual fee ($275 for the House; $520 for the Senate) they also get on-site treatment from the Capitol Office of the Attending Physician. Ruskin scoffs at members' arguments that the perks they are afforded barely offset their costs of maintaining two households -- one in Washington and another in their home districts. On top of their annual salary, pensions and health-care benefits, he notes, members also receive a $3,000 annual housing-allowance deduction."
Here is the rest of the article..
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_10_16/ai_60130260/pg_2/?tag=content;col1 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_10_16/ai_60130260/pg_2/?tag=content;col1)
For the record, Billy, your article is nine years old, so the costs the members of Congress pay should have gone up. If they haven't . . . . And the congressmen quoted in the article are Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
No bloviating or vitriol from me on this one. Members of Congress do enjoy some perks that are not available to the average citizen. However, (I will make one small point) with the exception of free care at the two aforementioned government hospitals, the congressmen and women's health care package it not very different than what middle management and higher enjoy at a Fortune 500 company.
Charles
apparantly, according to the original article, the HMO plan that congressmen get through the government is the same as that of all federal employees, which the exception of access to the naval facilities.
He was considering the care provided by the military to congress people as equivalent to an HMO.
But, he was also talking about cafeteria medical plans available to all Congressmen for themselves and their families and to federal employees of which genuine HMOs are a part, including a number of Kaiser plans.
Congress calls it cafeteria plans because there is no one plan. There are several hundred priced from cheap for lesser care to pricey for covers everything. Last time I checked 8 Kansas companies offered medical insurance to Congress and federal employees. There are so many plans because insurance companies would howl if Congress limited it to one or a few. The Congressman or federal employee selects the plan they need somewhat like a cafeteria.
Federal employees overseas do get medical care from military doctors and hospitals but the military bills the employee's medical plan for all doctor visits and hospital stays. Medicines are billed to the employee.