Boom, you know I never disagree with you nor question your information, and I really do neither now. It's just that I often hear people raving about extravagant retirement benefits and health care that congress gets and it irks me --- not the supposed perks but the raving. Congressmen and Senators have the exact same health care benefits as every other federal employee, be they Secretary of the Interior or a typist at the local Social Security Office. That is The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/

No doubt, this is a good program. My premiums (& the congressman's) are very reasonable and the coverage is pretty good -- our dental options suck and drug benefits vary. By comparison, most unions and many private companies are much cheaper. One big benefit we have is that if we've been in the program for the last 5 years before retirement, we can stay in the program in retirement.

Yes, the government pays a large portion of our premiums, but like the Civil Service Retirement Plan, the FEHB helped compensate some of those minuscule cost-of-living adjustments and often miserable working conditions. Should the FEHB be open to the public? In my opinion, not at the cost we pay. That would just be a kick in the testicles of longtime feds. However, as part of an overall reform, could the gov't create an FEHB-type program for the un- and under-insured? Most definitely. The problem for so many people is that they do not have a group available for health insurance. Under this new system, the gov't could create a massive insurable group that would likely attract a large number of insurers. Prices would naturally be lower than for the individual trying to get a solo policy. And whether the gov't should pay part of those premiums and how much ---- who knows?









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