Despite promising to enroll in his controversial and problem-plagued signature healthcare legislation, President Barack Obama is still not a customer.
"I don't have an update for you on that," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday at his daily briefing, USA Today reports. "I know that he will and has said that he will."
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In March 2010
the White House announced that Obama "will participate in the exchange," the vernacular for the insurance marketplaces.
Carney said he did not have a timetable for when the president would enroll nor did he know if Obama's registration would be open to the press.
Obama and members of Congress are among more than 8 million federal employees, retirees, and dependents provided health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the country,
according to McClatchyDC.com.
Federal workers can choose from dozens of health plans and on average the federal government pays 72 percent of the total premium.
There is no statute explicitly governing the payment of health benefits for former presidents, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Most former federal employees must be enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for five years to qualify for health benefits, the report states, and the General Services Administration has historically interpreted similar service requirements for a former president to qualify.
The Former Presidents Act, which became law in 1958, provides many lifetime benefits to former commanders-in-chief, such as a hefty pension — currently $199,700 annually.
Former presidents also receive funding for an office staff and "suitable office
space, appropriately furnished and equipped," as well as lifetime Secret Service protection.
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