As reported by Noam Levey via the Tribune news service (Chicago Tribune, LA Times) and commented upon by PNHP's Dr. Don McCanne:
The insurance industry is pouring money into Republican campaign coffers in hopes of scaling back wide-ranging regulations in the new healthcare law but preserving the mandate that Americans buy coverage.
Since January, the nation's five largest insurers and the industry's Washington-based lobbying arm have given three times more money to Republican lawmakers and political action committees than to Democratic politicians and organizations.
That is a marked change from 2009, when the industry largely split its political donations between the parties, according to federal election filings.
The largest insurers are also paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobbyists with close ties to Republican lawmakers who could shape health policy in January, records show.
"The industry would love to have a Republican Congress," said Wendell Potter, a former executive at Cigna Corp., one of the country's biggest insurers. "They were very, very successful during the years of Republican domination in Washington."
As PNHP's indefagitable and indispensible Don McCanne points out:
Why are the insurers supporting the Republicans?
Well, that didn't last long. The insurance industry supported the Democrats just long enough to get passed into law their one policy proposal made in insurance heaven: a mandate for everyone to purchase their private insurance products. Now that we have to buy their plans, they want Republican-style market reforms to make sure that their insurance products are not priced totally out of the market, even if that leaves health care itself unaffordable.
What are these measures that Republicans support and that Democrats don't?
* Insurers want to be able to sell their plans across state lines. By opening up markets in the less regulated states, insurers can sell more competitively priced products, even if they provide patients less protection against loss.
* They want to sell less expensive, high-deductible plans linked to health savings accounts that attract their favored healthier and wealthier clientele, even if it harms the sick by pushing them into more expensive, higher-risk insurance pools.
* They want to increase wasteful taxpayer subsidies of their private Medicare Advantage plans in order to create incentives to shift more patients from our government Medicare program into their own industry plans.
* They want relief from having to insure high-needs, high-cost patients. They would do this by shifting the burden to taxpayer-financed high-risk insurance pools or reinsurance programs.
* They don't want to be exposed to some of the transitional programs such as requiring coverage of children with preexisting disorders.
* They want to be sure that required "standard benefits" are defined as loosely as possible to protect their market of low cost products, even if those products fail to provide adequate protection.
* They want to be sure that rules for waivers will be applied liberally so that they can continue to offer innovative products such as the mini-med plans for McDonald's employees that have basic benefits paying a maximum of $2,000 per year, or up to $10,000 maximum per year for the deluxe plan. (These plans are a cruel hoax.)
* They want to be sure that overall regulatory oversight will be relaxed as much as possible so that the free market can offer the highest quality insurance products at the very best prices (sic).
Right now Sandy and I have the pleasure and honor of hosting some of the Mad as Hell Doctors at our home during their current California tour in support of single payer. At dinner last night, one of them asked me if, when I'm writing the Quote of the Day, aren't there times that I want to say... like... Bullshit!!... or something like that.
Yes! Right now. Bullshit!! Today I'm also a Mad as Hell Doctor!
We have to get this uncaring, thieving industry out of our health care and out of our lives. The Republicans won't do that, but don't ever forget that it was the Democrats who set up the framework that will keep them there forever - unless we start exercising more effectively our responsibilities to participate in a citizen-run democracy.
Let me supplement that:
- Thanks to the White House and Senate Democrats, the insurance companies got what they wanted, the individual mandate which uses the police power or the state to coerce individuals to buy an inherently faulty private for profit product. And no public option. Obama ran on public option and no mandate, and did not lift a finger while delivering the mandate without a public option. Now that they got what they want, they have turned completely against the Democrats, to get more. Profits are all. You still cannot make money insuring sick people. At the end of the day, single payer is not a dream, it is only system that can actually work.
- The right wing "fight" against mandates is phony and will not go anywhere. And progressives should not support the individual mandate.
- All the inside the beltway dealing by the Democrats to pre-compromise with the insurance companies, while collecting their checks from the insurance companies in last two cycles, was b.s. The insurance companies really really do not like you; and never will. Neither does the rest of the Chamber of Commerce and the rest of the corporate-wall street-super rich oligarchy. They may briefly, transiently, funnel equal amounts of cash to the Democrats as to the Repuglicans, when they feel the tactical need to head off any potential economic policy populism. But it won't last. When Democrats pre-compromise and kowtow to Corporate interests, in the hope of compromise and money, it is ultimately a fool’s game. At the end of the critical cycle, the real money will always flow to the Repuglicans. We need to force the party to forget about appealing to them. Economic populism is a winning strategy, but not if it is undercut at every turn (strong bail out but weak stimulus; no cram down; single payer off the table; mandates but no public option; no vote on card check; no serious jobs program).
- We need to hold the Democrats to an progressive economic populist agenda, and push them to complete the divorce with the selfish regressive forces of corporate-wall street-super rich oligarchy. Whether it is health care, financial reform, global warming and the environment, minimum wage and wage enforcement, card check and the rest of labor rights, jobs, stimulus, etc... it is all the same issue and the same powers-that-be and the same fight.
- Reform of the power of money in politics, visible and hidden contributions, lobbyists, etc. is a priority. Perhaps something can be done on this during the lame-duck session after the midterms.
- We are stuck with the two-party system. Third parties running their own candidates only splits the vote and makes the Repuglican's and Corporatists and selfish Rich job easier. What we need to do is force the Democrats to become and stick with a true progressive alternative agenda. Primary every ConservaDem. Primary every CorporateCrat. Between election cycles, and through the primaries, hold their feet to the fire; challenge them; make them pay for not holding to an agenda that benefits the other 95% of us. Do what the tea party has done to so-called moderate Republicans. Throw the bums out. Even if it temporarily costs us some marginal seats. But after primaries, fight like hell for every Democrat over every Republican. And don't forget to vote.