U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week took advantage of the affordable health care plans offered to Missourians under the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), comparing plans available on healthcare.gov, and purchasing a policy that matches her needs.
Members of Congress and their staff are the only people in the country required by the Affordable Care Act to drop their employer health plan and purchase their health insurance on the new health insurance marketplaces set up by the law. Instead of using the Washington, D.C. marketplace, to which Congressional Members and staff were directed, McCaskill opted to use healthcare.gov, saying she wanted to have the same experience as her Missouri constituents. In doing so, McCaskill forfeited her federal employer contribution to her health plan and will be paying the entire cost of her new plan.
“My experience buying a plan on healthcare.gov tells me that the exchange is now doing exactly what it was meant to-provide a marketplace where private insurers are competing for our business, and offering a big range of options,” McCaskill said. “It wasn’t completely hassle-free, but it was pretty close, and all told it took me less than 45 minutes to create an account, shop for available plans, and select a new insurance policy. We need to keep working hard to fix problems with this law, but we can’t return to the old broken system where so many folks were shut out of the insurance market, and companies could discriminate because of preexisting conditions, or drop you when you got sick. We’ve got to keep moving forward.”
In addition to forfeiting her employer contribution, McCaskill was not eligible for subsidies that are available to many low and middle-income Americans, and that would have further lowered her monthly premium.
Watch video HERE of McCaskill navigating healthcare.gov and purchasing her Affordable Care Act insurance policy.
DETAILS OF McCASKILL’S NEW INSURANCE PLAN
Plan: $5 Copay PPO Carelink from Coventry
Plan’s category: Gold
Monthly premium: $552.60/mo
Deductible: $1,750/yr
Out-of-pocket maximum: $5,000/yr
Copay: $5 primary, $50 specialist, $5 generic prescription
Subsidies: McCaskill was not eligible for subsidies that are available to many low and middle-income Americans, and that would have further lowered her monthly premium
Employer contribution: Because McCaskill wished to use the same exchange used by Missourians, she purchased her plan on healthcare.gov, forfeiting her federal employer contribution, which would have been available if she used the Washington, D.C. exchange
McCaskill also issued a challenge to any elected officials who have claimed that the federal employer contribution somehow represents “special treatment,” or an “exemption” for Congress, to follow her lead and give up their own employer contributions.
McCaskill, a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act, has consistently worked across the aisle to make commonsense improvements to the law as it is implemented-first by successfully removing a burdensome reporting requirement on businesses, then teaming up with Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to seek a repeal of a provision that has proved problematic by causing some states to subsidize high wages at hospitals through Medicare reimbursements.