So how did the Senate’s provision forcing members of Congress to buy health insurance through the exchange end up in the final bill? A reader emails to explain:
The provision in the health care bill was added by Sen. Chuck Grassley. He originally wanted it to cover all federal workers — not just the Congressional ones — and obviously that created a bit of a stir. Baucus tried to placate him by adding language to say that federal employees may enter the exchanges, but that didn’t work. So then Grassley offered his amendment saying, members of Congress and their staffs must use the exchanges. Perhaps he thought this would lead to an embarrasing fight, but Baucus said, “fine,” and then that was that. As far as I know, the House version just says, members of Congress may enter the exchanges if they want to.
So there you have it. More here.