Wow.
Health insurers last year gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce $86.2 million that was used to oppose the health-care overhaul law, according to tax records and people familiar with the donation.
The insurance lobby, whose members include Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., gave the money to the Chamber in 2009 as Democrats were increasing their criticism of the industry, according to one person who requested anonymity because laws don’t require identifying funding sources. The Chamber of Commerce received the money from the Washington-based America’s Health Insurance Plans when the industry was urging Congress to drop a plan to create a competing public insurance option.
The spending exceeded the insurer group’s entire budget from a year earlier and accounted for 40 percent of the Chamber’s $214.6 million in 2009 spending. The expenditures reflect the insurers’ attempts to influence the bill after Democrats in Congress and the White House put more focus on regulation of the insurance industry.
Think Progress has more on this developing story, highlighting the two-faced Karen Ignagni and her "have it both ways" campaign to support the passage of health reform while simulataneously spending millions behind the scenes to kill a public option.
Do you think this might explain why Democrats had such a hard time a couple weeks ago in the mid-term elections?
The battle waged between insurance companies and labor groups was a titanic struggle for the nature of the health reform law, which was signed into law earlier this year by President Obama. Labor groups, led by SEIU, HCAN, AFL-CIO, and the American Nurses Association, fought for a robust public option to provide stiff competition against the insurance industry, which has been maintaining huge administrative overhead costs and using skyrocketing premiums to pay enormous salaries for their executives.
We know how this ended. Ted Kennedy died before health reform was passed. The Public Option was dramatically watered down. Republicans were only too happy to lie with impunity about the bill, and used the opportunity to bolster their (completely false) claims that Obama is a socialist who hates small businesses. Meanwhile, the left, outraged by the perceived (and real) betrayal from the Democrats they had tirelessly worked to elect, began to feel so jaded with the process that many decided to stay home and even ran in primaries against those Democrats (Blanche Lincoln, chiefly) who put corporate interests ahead of the general welfare that they are Constitutionally bound to promote.
After the passage of the bill, insurance companies kicked their PR offensive into full gear, blaming "Obamacare" for insurance premium rate hikes. And despite the best efforts of HHS Secretary Sebelius to make the insurance industry cease and desist from spreading falsehoods about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the fact that insurance industry insider Liz Fowler is now working for HHS to help regulate the industry that she so handsomely rewarded, public opinion remains sharply divided over the healthcare bill and a small majority continue to disapprove.
There are, of course, organizations that are working to tout the benefits of the new health reform package. The Kaiser Family Foundation has put together a lovely 10-minute explanation of why the bill was designed to mandate insurance and how the bill works to promote choice and competition while reducing costs and improving healthcare outcomes.
But much of the damage is already done. Republicans went from a 59-41 minority to a 53-47 minority, taking 6 seats that will be held for 6 years. The sweeping shift in power in the House has put the Republicans in the majority just 2 years after losing badly.
I wrote about how the 1946 midterm elections swept Republican into power, only to see a reversal in 1948 as Truman successfully won re-election and brought an astonishing 75 House seats with him. Truman's victory in 1948 was predicated in part on a challenge issued to Republicans to "live up to their platform" and pass civil rights legislation, create a national health plan, and extend Social Security. By calling the bluff of the GOP, Truman turned the tide on his 36% approval rating and hammered the "do-nothing Congress" for its epic failure and unwillingness to act.
In 2010, the bluff of the Republicans is repealing "Obamacare" and cutting spending to reduce the deficit. While Republicans ran on a destructive platform in 2010, they will take the blame if unemployment remains high, especially if they succeed in cutting taxes for the wealthiest 2% and keeping the failed Bush tax cuts on estates and capital gains.
Business groups are not pushing for tax cuts because they want to create more jobs. Groups like AHIP and the US Chamber are pushing for tax cuts because they want to keep the same high salaries for themselves and maintain the imbalance of power between consumers and corporations.
The only question is this: Are we going to let that happen?