That's the question recently asked by Wall Street Journal
columnist Robert Bartley.
Curiously, members of Congress are on the verge of enacting a
Medicare drug benefit that has already led the House of
Representatives to enact legislation to exempt themselves and
federal workers from it in their own retirement. Key senators are
pushing similar legislation.
In an Aug. 18 column, Bartley notes that members of Congress have
given themselves and their employees, as well as millions of
federal workers, a superior system.
What Bartley's talking about is the Federal Employee Health
Benefits Program, or FEHBP. It's a system of competing health plans
that covers 8.3 million federal employees and retirees, including
members of Congress. It offers broad patient choice, low costs and
prescription drugs to boot.
It's also backed by The Heritage Foundation as the best model for
true Medicare reform. Heritage analysts say an FEHBP-like system
would provide the seniors the prescription drug coverage
politicians want, and the powerful forces of consumer choice and
free-market competition would save the taxpayers' money over the
long run.
To be fair, a House bill starts a transition to an FEHBP-like
system in Medicare in 2010. But a mammoth 1,043-page Senate bill
has nothing even close to FEHBP. It's a prescription for massive
government micromanagement.
For more
information or to receive an e-mail version of "Medicare Maladies,"
contact [email protected]
or call Heritage Media Services at (202) 675-1761.
("Medicare Maladies" is a regular feature, launched 7/14/03, from
The Heritage Foundation. Sad to say, there's another malady coming
your way tomorrow. Daily "maladies" are also available on heritage.org.)
