House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised that we would find out what is in the health care reform bill after it passed. And, true to her promise, certain provisions are now coming
to light, including one that exempts certain Congressional staff.

According to the Hotline, Congressional staff who work for committees or leadership offices are specifically exempt from the mandates imposed by health care reform to enroll in government provided health care reform plans.

"Leaving out committee staffers means aides at the 24 standing House committees and the 20 Senate panels will each be exempted as well, if CRS's interpretation of the measure stands."

Members of Congress and the personal staff for members of Congress are still subject to the mandates. The interesting thing about the "oversight" for leadership and committee staff is that there are some of the same people who actually wrote the bill in the first place."

One such surprise is found on page 158 of the legislation, which appears to create a carveout for senior staff members in the leadership offices and on congressional committees, essentially exempting those senior Democrat staffers who wrote the bill from being forced to purchase health care plans in the same way as other Americans.

“It’s pretty unbelievable that the President and his closest advisors remain untouched by the reforms they pushed for the rest of the country. In other words, President Obama’s health care reform won’t apply to President Obama,” Grassley said. “Last December, the effort to apply any new law to administration political leaders was rejected by the Senate Majority Leader. But there’s no justification for the double standard, and I’ll continue to work to establish fairness.”