Fourteen health insurers spend $15.5 million in the first half of 2009

Fourteen health insurance companies and their national front group spent $15.5 million in first half of 2009 - more than $2.5 million per month

Fourteen major health insurers and their industry association flexed their political muscle to the tune of $2.5 million per month - an increase of 25 percent over previous years - in the first half of 2009 to influence the health care reform debate, according to a report released today by the nonpartisan group Public Campaign Action Fund.

"These highly profitable corporations are spending millions every month to protect their bottom line by fighting health care reform in Washington, D.C.," said David Donnelly, national campaigns director of Public Campaign Action Fund. "To put it starkly, they have invested heavily in insider lobbyists and politicians to maintain their bottom line leaving Americans out in the cold and stuck with our broken health care system. It's time to end the campaign money chase and let politicians do what we elected them to do-- debate and pass sound public policy that benefits all of us and not just those who can make big campaign contributions."

"At a time when Congress is hotly debating health care reform, citizens want to know that their elected officials are listening to them, not the insurance companies and HMOs," continued Donnelly. "The best way to sever the link between special interests and the people we elect is the Fair Elections Now Act."

The report is the second in a series of reports that examines the political spending of the insurance and Health Services/HMO industries. The first part, released yesterday, looked at the industries as a whole (http://www.campaignmoney.org/HMO_insurance_spend_to_kill_reform).

The study analyzed political spending - campaign contributions by company political action committees and employees, as well as lobbying expenses - for the 14 insurance companies that were ranked in the largest 1,000 American corporations by Forbes Magazine earlier this year (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2009/industries/223/index.html).

Lobbying expenses and employee campaign contributions from America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group, were also included in the analysis. All of the data was compiled by reviewing records found at the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics website and the Senate lobbying disclosure website.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Urinary pentosidine reveals muscle and performance health in young men