Most RI Legislators Pay for Healthcare...for now

Hm. This couldn't be election year grandstanding, could it?

Despite the state Senate’s refusal to even consider a bill to require that state lawmakers pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums, the number doing so voluntarily grew during the closing days of the General Assembly.

House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick, and House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, were among those who recently volunteered to pay 10 percent of the premiums for their health, dental and vision-care package.

I don't know if the headline was an attempt to let the General Assembly off the hook or not, but the actual story lists who's not paying 10% like the rest. And it explains who blocked legislation making such copayment mandatory. You'll be surprised....:

Last month, the House passed legislation that would have eliminated the waiver payments and required every lawmaker who accepted the insurance to pay 10 percent of the premiums. House Republicans chided their colleagues for voting for a bill that they knew was “NGN” — as in “not going nowhere in the Senate.” And that in fact is what happened, with Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, saying the Senate leadership saw no need for the bill. She said lawmakers could show more leadership by making the 10-percent payments voluntarily, as she does.

Again, at least for now.