gutentag (or should I say guten abend? :) )
Thank you for your question regarding the health benefits afforded to
members of the United States Congress and the Supreme Court Justices.
I had assumed that the members received special benefits due to their
positions. Turns out, I was wrong.
While members of Congress are elected by their constituents, they are
still considered federal employees. Supreme Court Justices are
appointed, but they are also considered federal employees. Their
benefits and retirement plans are, therefore, the same as any other
federal employee. While their pay scale is higher than the average
federal employee (rank and file members of the both houses are paid
and annual salary of $150,000 per year. The leaders of the House and
Senate (Majority and Minority) receive $166,700 and the Speaker of the
House receives $192,600 per year. The Chief Justice receives
$175,600, Associate Justices get $167,900) the medical benefits that
the members of Congress and the Justices receive are the same
benefits, covered by the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, as
all other federal employees. They pay the same premiums as other
employees based upon their choice of the medical benefits being
offered. The United State Office of Personnel Management is the
agency that handles benefits for federal employees. You can visit the
OMB's insurance website at http://www.opm.gov/insure/index.asp for
information about the benefits offered to federal employees. If you
go to http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/about/premiums.asp you can see
the premium schedule to see how much employees, which includes
Senators, Representatives and their respective staffs pay for their
medical benefits. Their premiums are based upon the District of
Columbia scale. Federal taxes, actually, are what pay the benefits
for these Members, but taxes also pay for the medical benefits of
8,000,000 federal employees as well.
This is not to say that special considerations are not offered to
these government officials, but that can be said about celebrities,
sports stars and other famous individuals. They do, however, get the
same benefits as other federal employees.
Thank you very much for your question as it was quite enlightening to
see that the secretary down at the local US Agriculture office has the
same medical benefits as newly elected Senator Libby Dole.
If you need any further clarification, please let me know.
Regards,
-THV
References:
Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members
http://usgovinfo.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm
Salaries and Retirement Benefits of U.S. Presidents and other Federal
Government Employees
http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/pensionFARQ.html
Unites States Office of Personnel Management
http://www.opm.gov/
Question of the day: How much do the president of the United States
and other federal government officials get paid in salary and fringe
benefits?
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question449.htm
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