Myth - Members of Congress Do Not Pay Social Security Taxes
Fact - All members of the U.S. Congress pay Social Security taxes and have done so since 1984.
A good deal of false information about the House and Senate pension system has been circulating in chain e-mails and Internet postings, mostly based on information that has been outdated for more than two decades. Prior to 1984, members of Congress were covered only by a separate Civil Service Retirement System that was criticized as being overly generous. They did not pay Social Security taxes and received no Social Security retirement credit for their time in office. However, legislation passed in 1983 required members to begin paying into Social Security, effective January 1984.
FactCheck.org
National Taxpayers Union
Myth - Members of Congress Have Government Run Health Care and Enjoy Better Health Insurance Than Other Federal Employees
Fact - About 8 million people -- including most active federal employees, 1.9 million federal retirees, their spouses and children -- obtain private health insurance through enrollment in the federal program. This setup offers many different plans through an insurance exchange and is overseen by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
In 2011, the program offered 207 total plan options, including fee-for-service plans, HMOs and high-deductible health insurance plan options with a tax-advantaged account. The plans cover a variety of services, including hospital visits, surgeries, mental health, prescription drugs, emergency care and "catastrophic" benefits. An employee's plan selection is limited to providers near his or her home (and family).
The most popular plan is offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield and covers 62 percent of federal employees and retirees. This year, the bi-weekly employee premium contribution for individual and family plans under standard Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage would cost $199.20. Blue Cross Blue Shield basic coverage would cost $122.53.
Taxpayers pick up about 75 percent of the premium, and employees contribute the rest, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
It's a process very similar to private industry practice, but private employers generally contribute more toward employees' plans, according to a 2007 study by the Congressional Research Service about congressional health benefits. And federal employees have a wider plan selection than private-sector employees, said Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, a nonprofit organization that scrutinizes government and taxes.
"They can buy into HMOs, straight insurance, health savings accounts, all kinds of options," Sepp said. "Whereas in the private sector with a given company, you may only have a handful."
The same buffet of plans is available to federal government workers and members of Congress, experts we talked to said. They pick the plan that is best for them, and they pay the same price. In short, there is no discount for members of Congress, or their staffs.
Politifact
Myth - Congressional Staffers Have Their Student Loans Forgiven
Fact - It is wrong to say congressional staffers "do not pay student loans back." There are student loan repayment programs that may be offered to eligible House and Senate staffers, but those programs have annual and lifetime caps. It’s possible that some congressional staffers will not have to repay their student loans, but that depends on how much they owe and how long they remain on staff. It is also worth pointing out that a similar program exists for executive branch employees, so congressional staffers aren’t the only ones receiving this benefit. All of the programs were created to help recruit and retain qualified employees.
We don’t take any position on the merits of the programs. But it’s simply not true that they exempt anyone from repaying their student loans.
Snopes
FactCheck.org
Myth - Congress Is Exempt From Sexual Harassment and Other Laws
Fact - The claim that Congress is exempt from "many" of the laws it has passed is 15 years out of date. In the 1980s there were news stories prodding members of Congress for putting themselves "[a]bove their own laws," as a 1988 Time magazine story put it. But following the "Republican Revolution" of 1994, which put Republicans in control of both House and Senate, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act (PL 104-1), which applies a dozen civil rights, labor and workplace safety regulations to the legislative branch.
FactCheck.org
Myth - After One Term, Members of Congress Receive Their Full Salary as a Pension for Life
Fact - Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at age 62 if they have completed at least five years of service. They 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 years of service 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 percent of his or her final salary.
It is of course possible that a member of Congress who retires with a starting pension equal to 80 percent of final salary would, after many years of annual cost-of-living adjustments, see that pension rise to equal their final salary. But that is also true of any federal employee, and it is rare. Most congressional pensions are far less.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, as of October 1, 2006, there were 290 former members of Congress who had retired under the Civil Service Retirement System, the old system which had drawn much criticism for being too generous. They were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. That’s a fraction of the current salary for rank and file House and Senate members, which is $165,200 per year.
The pensions of the 143 former members who retired under the newer Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS) average even less. Their pensions averaged $35,952, according to the CRS. Members elected in 1984 or later are automatically covered by FERS unless they decline coverage. That was the year Congress revised the old system and came under Social Security for the first time
FactCheck.org
