Insurance Money Influence in the Senate

Published October 14, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT

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Well, the drama is over for the moment. AHIP had its hissy fit. The Senate Finance Committee bill was rubber-stamped (14-9), as expected. An uncertain forecast for Snowe did indeed produce some precipitation, though future chances of Olympia Snowe’s vote on the final Senate healthcare bill are slim. And in a final touch of irony, the only major health reform bill NOT to include a public option will now be merged with one originally called “Medicare For All.” But what’s most interesting is the numbers.

No, I don’t mean the contrived numbers AHIP commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers to churn out. Even PWC has backed away from its report, coming clean on the reform aspects it was asked to omit from analysis (it has a reputation to uphold, after all.) That left AHIP standing by itself, looking more than a bit foolish. I’m referring to numbers behind a Senate show of solidarity on October 8, 2009, made available by the Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets OpenData.

That day, 30 senators (all Democrats or Independents) wrote to Majority Leader Harry Reid to request he make sure the final Senate healthcare reform bill include a public option. Seventy senators did not sign the letter. What was the difference, besides partisan politics? MAPlight.org just did the math, and it was contributions from insurance interests. Observe:

30 senators who signed received an average of $15,937 in campaign contributions from insurance interests between 2003-2009. That’s 57% less than the $37,322 received by 70 senators who didn’t sign.

Eliminate the partisan nature of the letter by omitting the 40 Republican senators, and the results are eerily the same:

30 senators who signed received an average of $15,937, which is 54% less than the $34,400 received by 30 Democratic and Independent senators who didn’t sign.

Broken out over 6 years, $34-37,000 isn’t a lot of money, around $6,000 per year. But that’s all it takes to sway the votes of senators whose cushy health plan is bought and paid for by their constituents. When the health and solvency of a country’s citizens are at stake, knowing that so little money can buy our Congressional representatives is more than a little disturbing. You can check your senator's contribution status here.

Photo Afroswede // CC BY 2.0

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Comments (20)

The profit margin for insurance companies is 3%. The Dems are THUGS. They can't stand freee speech or anyone opposing their point of view. They will come after you if you do oppose them.

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."
Karl Marx

Welcome to collectivism!

For individuals making $34,140 (three times the Federal Poverty Level) the Baucus health care proposal could mandate up to $4,097 in annual premiums, a sum which could have been spent on over nine months of food, almost four months of housing or well over a year of utilities.For a family of four making $69,480 (300 percent above poverty) the Baucus bill mandates annual health insurance premiums of $8,338, which would be worth the equivalent of over 10 months of food, four months of housing or almost two years of utilities.For individuals earning $45,520 (400 percent above poverty) Baucus mandates $5,462 for health insurance, or over a year of food, four months of rent or a year and a half of utilities.For families earning $92,640 (400 percent above poverty) Baucus mandates $11,117 in health premiums, the equivalent of over a year of food, five months of housing or two years of utilities."

Source: Report, "Potential Impact of Health Reform on the Cost of Private Health Insurance Coverage," PricewaterhouseCoopers, October 2009.
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18546

Posted by Karen Walker on 10/15/2009 @ 05:40AM PT
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Give me a break! Do I come to your teabagnow.com website and trash your peeps? No.

Why don't you bring out something substantial, other than quoting your corporate masters.

Yep, that's who feeds you info, big corp, Fox News.

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/15/2009 @ 05:03PM PT
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Karen, what's your point? One illness would strip you of more than those mandates and leave you without food, clothing, and shelter. So, there, but for the grace of God, you'd be without anything, including good health.

It doesn't make sense to talk about what you'd do with money if it is not being spent to the benefit of others - family, friends, fellow citizens, anyone in need. Wealth is not for hoarding or selfish acquisition.

Instead of getting hyped up reading Marx, I'd suggest: Matt 19:16-23 or 25:32-46. Better, yet, read cover to cover. You may find it awfully subversive with respect to American market dogma, but try anyway.

As for "Welcome to collectivism!", thanks, but we're no where near this. "Collectivism" is shared responsibility and shared product. What's being discussed is "common" need, not "collective" production.

Again, you can get hyped up reading and quoting Marx in sound bites but keep this in mind, Marx was a capitalist (don't argue, I studied economics) who believed in the labor theory of value, as did Adam Smith. Marx's work has far less value as a basis for action or revolution than as a valid warning and criticism of runaway corporatism against the individual and the ways in which corporate capitalism alienate people from the root products and reasons for work - the necessities of life.

Posted by Harold Lewis on 10/16/2009 @ 05:38AM PT
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that PriceWaterHouseCoopers "Study" done by America's Health Insurance Plans is just a promise that they will raise rates by 111% by 2016. Also, I heard yesterday, 6, 12, 24.

$6,000 a year is what we were paying some years ago. Now it has doubled to $12,000 a year. If we don't do anything it will double again by 2016 to $24,000 a year. Yep, that's half of an average guy's income. Just like they promised. By then they will own 20% of the entire GDP!

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/16/2009 @ 09:30AM PT
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Great research Gillian. Amazing how they sell out the people for so little money, so easily bought. I think there's a silver lining. This fight makes it really clear who's for the people, like Grayson and Weiner, and who Is NOT for the people, the blue dogs. They pretend to me centrist, but they are most certainly right. We are the centrists. We are the mainstream. We need new dems to step up and challenge the blue dogs in the next elections. Micahel Moore will campaign for them.

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/15/2009 @ 10:46AM PT
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They say we show our true nature under duress, and we're definitely seeing the facades crack now. Private insurers and fat cat members of Congress are sputtering all sorts of absurdities.

I wish there were more Graysons and Weiners. It's not a proud moment to be from Arizona, with John Kyl inflating tort reform savings 10-20x, John McCain touting risk pools (ignoring the fact he'd be in one if the public wasn't providing his benefits), and John Shadegg spouting tripe about "Russian gulag healthcare." I hope people remember it come election time!

Posted by Gillian Hubble on 10/15/2009 @ 04:06PM PT
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Gillian, and Nancy Bartolo too. She was trying to get something on the ballot about Obama not being president. Add her to your list, and there are many on your side in AZ! I see it all the time.

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/15/2009 @ 05:04PM PT
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Tale heart, Gillian. If you want to see what I'm dealing with, check out my Congressman, Scott Garrett. He is against ANYTHING the administration wants or ANY Democrat wants and will not be moved. What's worse is that our district is Gerrymandered to guarantee an archconservative Republican will always win.

The last note he sent me was to make sure I "understand" that the public option in health care would be as disastrous to the insurance companies as the federal student loan program was to private lenders. Boy, shouldn't I feel awful about supporting single payer?

My son just started college. He's starting at community college and will move to a 4 year school in a few years. He'll become a productive taxpayer. I think that merits some public investment. But my rep doesn't see life that way and he's a typical Republican.

Bipartisanship, Baucus and his committee, weak/ no public options, fear of illegal aliens being covered, abortion rhetoric, tort reform is all BS. They're not in tune with the people, they're not aware of the need. Their only concern is the welfare of corporate America. If we haven't realized by now that they give us just enough to avert revolution and keep us dreaming, we never will.

Posted by Harold Lewis on 10/16/2009 @ 06:47AM PT
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Harold, I'm so glad you are here. :)

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/16/2009 @ 09:32AM PT
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Terrific piece.

If Judas Iscariot had had our legislators' sense of betrayal value, the Pharisees could have gotten him for five, maybe ten pieces, tops.

Posted by Russ Buchanan on 10/15/2009 @ 12:41PM PT
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Wish there was a way to withdraw all taxpayer funding from FEHB until we have unimpeded and affordable access to health care for all citizens, as needed, regardless of income.

Posted by Harold Lewis on 10/15/2009 @ 12:58PM PT
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FEHB? what's that stand for?

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/15/2009 @ 02:09PM PT
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Federal Employee Health Benefits

Posted by Harold Lewis on 10/16/2009 @ 04:52AM PT
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yes! agreed! all should benefit or opposer's should feel what it feels like not to have benefits. I had a link to a pledge to deny yourself Medicare, for the opposition, but I can't find it.

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/16/2009 @ 09:33AM PT
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I put a tongue in cheek one on my business blog (no relation to Change.org) a while ago. They can't sign it online, but it gets the point across:

http://healthcarerant.wordpress.com/2009/08/21/keep-government-hands-off-your-healthcare-and-help-the-deficit/

Posted by Gillian Hubble on 10/16/2009 @ 10:36AM PT
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Oh shoot, I'm getting a not found page on that link. I will bookmark it if you post it again. Thanks Gillian :)

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/16/2009 @ 10:58AM PT
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I'm not sure what the problem is, I get the same thing when I click from here. Try this short link:

http://wp.me/pzbXi-3Q

If it still doesn't work I'll re-post it.

Posted by Gillian Hubble on 10/16/2009 @ 12:17PM PT
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National, government run health care will bankrupt this nation. Nuff said.

Posted by arizona dentist on 10/15/2009 @ 08:54PM PT
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Only if we keep allowing providers, like dentists, to make a killing without taxing them progressively.

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291029.htm

Not bad for needing only half the schooling and training of a PCP, huh? We don't need comments from those who are part of the broken delivery system and part of the cost drivers. It's time for all of those to sit down, be quiet, and listen to the people.

Posted by Harold Lewis on 10/16/2009 @ 08:40AM PT
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You need to back your claims up with facts here.

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/16/2009 @ 09:34AM PT
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