Eleanor Holmes Norton

I wanted to emphasize that the IRS already has special procedures to recover taxes from its own employees, and I commend the IRS for that, including, by the way, being able to garnish their wages up to 15 percent and even to take…

I have no further speakers, but I do want to thank the ranking member for his very vigorous and important remarks on this bill, and for his great assistance to me on this bill and on budget autonomy and many other issues. I yield back the…

I certainly hope some members will join me in asking that the Congress look again, in light of the Boston tragedy, at the cuts that are occurring to public safety as a result of this sequestration.

It is Emancipation Day in the District, and they are about to embark on a parade, the least emancipated city in the United States is about to march in an Emancipation Day parade.

I think he said $1.6 billion over a 10-year period.

I would like to have Mr. Foley respond to the chairman on whether he believes that the model from these other areas would also perhaps advise an employee advisory council for this area as well.

What bothers me most about your proposal is that there is no constituent.

I wonder if Mr. Foley would respond in writing as well to the suggestion of Ms. Simon for the AFGE based on what the Federal Government does in other areas.

Did 400 plans initially participate in government-wide and nationwide plans?

So when did the others drop out?

I will leave that on the table and ask Mr. Breskin, in fact, I will ask Mr. Foley, perhaps both of you can explain this.

Well, let's straighten that out. Are you saying to me that members of Congress and their staff will no longer be a part of the FEHBP?

Well, let's get to switching plans. First of all, I think you have an obligation, as you come before us, to tell the members of Congress and their staffs who are sitting here is our Federal employees going to be on the exchange, so that…

So you think the regional pools, for example, which are a smaller number of employees?

If you had a smaller pool, the way the average employer apparently has, wouldn't that mean that the price for the average Federal worker would go up?

So you are telling me that the pool would not be as Mr. Breskin says when he keeps his OPM cherry-picking; you are saying do not bother, we can manage anything, where they would cherry-pick the low-cost regions and charge a premium that…

Well, wait a minute. The point is price. What is the point, then?

The word competition means nothing unless you are going to reduce the price for the average person on FEHBP.

I find I can't bear how hard it is to change one little thing in government.

Do we currently have a system that would make the optimum national exchange or should we make it better?

So when I discover, as the President has discovered, that although a great and longstanding model, it is not a model with as open a process and as much competition as we could have.

Eight million Americans depend on this exchange, and it is the model, at best, for what we intend to make available to those who do not otherwise have employer healthcare providers.

And I want to thank Delegate Norton, our ranking member, because, in fact, this is the first and only federal exchange.

FEHBP is, of course, the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the Country, covering 8 million individuals.

The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Member of Congress from the District of Columbia, Opening Statement.