U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 9, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s upcoming resignation from Congress set off a series of questions and misinformation about what health care and pension benefits lawmakers receive once they leave public service.
The system is a bit complex and determined by when a lawmaker entered Congress as well as how long they stayed. Members must serve at least five years, putting Greene just over the eligibility line when she officially steps aside in January.
Members of Congress elected after 1984 are covered under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System. The four House lawmakers and one senator elected before then may be under the Civil Service Retirement System, so their benefit may be calculated differently than that of their colleagues.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service explains in a report about lawmakers’ retirement benefits that “pensions, like those of other federal employees, are financed through a combination of employee and employer contributions.”
“Under both CSRS and FERS, Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at the age of 62 if they have completed at least 5 years of service,” the report states. “Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The amount of the pension depends on length of service (as measured in months) and the average of the highest three years of salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member’s retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.”
All members also must pay into Social Security, and how much in taxes they pay and benefits they receive are the same as for all beneficiaries.
Members of Congress, except for leadership, are paid $174,000 a year.
Greene, who began her congressional career on Jan. 3, 2021, will be just over the five-year requirement when she formally resigns on Jan. 5.
Greene will receive about $8,700 in pension benefits per year for the rest of her life, after she turns 62. She is now 51.
Former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was first sworn in on June 2, 1987, after winning a special election, will receive considerably more in pension benefits given that she was a member for decades longer than Greene and had a higher salary during her time in leadership.
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation expects Pelosi will receive an annual pension of $107,860 after she retires in January 2027.
Health insurance benefits
Members of Congress who retire or resign are eligible to purchase health insurance from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program as long as they had health insurance from the District of Columbia’s Affordable Care Act marketplace “for the five years of service immediately prior to retirement,” according to a different CRS report.
While in Congress, lawmakers are eligible to have some of their health coverage offset by their employer — the federal government — as long as they purchase it through the D.C. marketplace, known as DC Health Link. Like others in the states, it was created by the Affordable Care Act.
As with group health insurance plans, the amount subsidized by the federal government depends on whether a lawmaker selects a health plan that covers themselves or themselves plus eligible family members.
