Health Care Insurers Spent $100 Million To Combat The Affordable Care Act

[deminks]

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/13/499093/health-care-insurers-spent-100-million-to-combat-the-affordable-care-act/?mobile=nc

As the Supreme Court readies to announce their decision on the individual mandate portion of the health reform, it has emerged that the largest health care lobbying group in the country spent a total of $102.4 million in just 15 months to prevent Obamacare from becoming law in the first place.

In 2009 alone, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) pumped $86.2 million into a conservative lobbying group, the US Chamber of Commerce, to combat President Obama’s health care reform plan. But with the added months of 2009 prior to the ACA’s March passage, AHIP piled on an additional $16 million to be used against the bill.

That staggering total, which the National Journal’s Influence Alley uncovered today, was not out in the open — rather, the funds were transferred through a secretive process and listed only by the organization as ‘advocacy’ spending:

(snip)

This funneling scheme allowed health groups like AHIP to save face no matter whether the bill passed or not — if the bill failed, the groups figured, they would be able to point to their lobbying efforts against it. When it succeeded, AHIP and others remained quiet about any efforts against the legislation.

(end snip)

And where did that money go? In the MEdia's pocket again. Ads. Tell me they are not complicit. And the back and forth banter on health care only serves to make them more money during (s)elections, where both sides buy more ads.

[RKP5637]

1. This crap is so out of control. Jail time is even too good. As US slides more to

the bottom of the barrel. This isn't even a country anymore, it's just a feeding frenzy off of the citizens.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

2. What is so criminal

about this is that the president of AHIP gave a speech at the organization's annual convention, shortly before the bill was passed, saying that the current business model of health insurance is not sustainable in the long run.