Club for Growth PAC Slams Pryor On ObamaCare Exemption

Washington, DC – The Club for Growth PAC today issued the following statement on Mark Pryor’s claim that he does not get a special deal under ObamaCare. From the Wall Street Journal: 

Thanks to an amendment from Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley that Democrats enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act says that "the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available" to Congress are the ones offered on the ObamaCare insurance exchanges. But Members and many aides have been flipping out because they won’t qualify for ObamaCare subsidies and they’ll lose employer contributions they now receive under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, or FEHBP, which picks up about three-quarters of the average premium. 

At President Obama’s personal request, the Office of Personnel Management decreed that the Members don’t have to get off the gravy train after all. The eat-your-own-cooking provision begins with the phrase "Notwithstanding any other provision of law." The feds now interpret that clause as a loophole to mean that the Affordable Care Act did not change the 1959 law that created the FEHBP. 

Since Members and staff still technically meet the definition of federal employees qualified for the FEHBP, the Administration says they’re still entitled to enroll in the FEHBP concurrently with the exchanges. The feds then "clarify"—their euphemism—that the regulatory meaning of health benefits in the FEHBP can be ObamaCare plans. Voila, taxpayers will continue to chip in $4,900 for individual and $10,000 for family coverage. (Wall Street Journal, 8/7/13) 

“Mark Pryor doesn’t believe that he’s getting special treatment under ObamaCare, but regular Arkansans who have lost their employer-provided health insurance because of ObamaCare and are forced into ObamaCare don’t have the government picking up 75% of their tab.” said Club for Growth Spokesman Barney Keller. “Mark Pryor is simply not telling the truth about his special deal under ObamaCare that he voted to keep just last week. For Mark Pryor, it’s ObamaCare for others, but not for himself.” 

“Mark Pryor’s falsehoods about Tom Cotton are the sign of a flailing and increasingly desperate campaign. Mark Pryor can’t explain to voters why sending a supporter of President Obama back to Washington is good for Arkansas, so instead he’s attempting to deny basic facts about his record.” added Keller