Sen. Gary Peters Forces Michigan Taxpayers To Pay For His Cadillac Health Insurance

Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.) is campaigning on his support for the Affordable Care Act, but the Democrat opted out of Obamacare coverage to remain on a controversial plan that forces his state's taxpayers to foot the bill for his Cadillac health benefits.

Peters does not participate in the gold-level Obamacare policy available to all members of Congress, according to his financial disclosures. Instead, he participates in the Michigan Legislative Retirement System—a taxpayer-funded health care program that lawmakers reformed after public outcry about its multimillion-dollar costs.

The program covers 90 percent of the health care premium costs for retired Michigan legislators such as Peters, a state senator from 1995 to 2002. It's much better deal than Congress's Obamacare benefits, which only cover 72 percent of the cost for premiums. A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers abolished the program in 2011 after taxpayers took issue with its multimillion-dollar costs.

Even as Peters opted out of Obamacare, for which he voted in 2011, he has defended and even called for expanding the program on the campaign trail.

"We should open up the enrollment of the Affordable Care Act now so that people who may not have health insurance have the opportunity to have that peace of mind now," he said in a virtual campaign event in July.

The Peters campaign did not respond to a request for comment.