Rep.-elect Joe Walsh of Illinois has become the third freshman Republican to turn down the gold-plated government-sponsored health insurance plan available to lawmakers. "I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy healthcare plans," he tells the Chicago News Cooperative,
The Hill reports.
The other two incoming GOP freshmen shunning their government health insurance are Reps. Bobby Schilling of Illinois and Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
Democrats are pressuring Republicans in Congress who oppose Obamacare to drop their own government coverage.
That pressure grew after Rep.-elect Andy Harris, R-Md., reportedly complained in a private November meeting that his government healthcare benefits didn’t start until next year.
But Walsh's wife is reportedly upset with her husband's move. She has a pre-existing medical condition and will have to buy her own insurance, the Chicago News Cooperative reports.
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