Health care fix spares insurance hike for Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under a forthcoming fix from the Obama administration, American taxpayers will continue paying for most of the health benefit costs for members of Congress and their aides who are being marshaled into new insurance exchanges.

Lawmakers and congressional staffers have been sounding the alarm that they could be forced to pay thousands more, picking up the tab themselves. In the past, the federal government chipped in about 75 percent. That sparked concerns that the best and the brightest might flee Capitol Hill rather than losing a benefit on which they and their families depend.