title:  Republicans Just Granted Themselves Special Status In Their Latest Healthcare Bill
text: If you have a pre-existing condition, Obamacare currently protects you from being turned down for insurance on the basis of that condition. Republicans want to take that away because insuring sick people just eats too much profit, and healthcare is a privilege, not a right anyway. The latest iteration of their ridiculous healthcare plan will allow states to decide whether insurers have to cover people with pre-existing conditions, because of course it does, but it also contains a brand-new amendment that s patently disgusting.It carves an exemption out for members of Congress and their staffs. Insurers would still be required to provide coverage for them regardless of pre-existing conditions. Vox confirmed it last night: A spokesperson for Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) who authored this amendment confirmed this was the case: members of Congress and their staff would get the guarantee of keeping these Obamacare regulations. But don t Republicans hate Obamacare? Well, their relationship with Obamacare is actually considerably more complex than we tend to give it credit for. Contrary to popular belief, we taxpayers don t subsidize Congress  health insurance the way many people think. In fact, we never did. Until 2013, they were covered under the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, which is a health insurance marketplace where they (and every other federal employee) purchase health insurance with all the same bullshit as everyone else, and have their premiums taken out of their paychecks.The Office of Personnel Management contributes to each employee s premium, but where private sector employers cover an average of 83 percent of their employees  premiums (or 72 percent for family plans), OPM covers 72 to 75 percent, whichever is less depending on a variety of factors, across the board.In 2013, all of Congress was kicked off of FEHB thanks to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). He proposed an amendment to the ACA that would require all members of Congress to purchase health insurance through the exchanges, and for their staffs under the small business provision.So that s what they ve been doing for health insurance for the last four years. Where their own lives are concerned, Obamacare s popular provisions are good things. Where the rest of the country is concerned, though, well, we all know how they feel about the rest of us. The prohibition on denying insurance due to pre-existing conditions is one of the most popular provisions and they want to gut it.For everyone but themselves.Can they get any more obvious about where their true priorities lie?Featured image by Mark Wilson via Getty Images