http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/03/health-insurers-owe-policyhold.html Published by Lindsay Renick Mayer on March 26, 2009 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Members of a Senate Committee that today held the first part of a hearing to examine whether health insurance companies are failing to fully pay reimbursements to policyholders haven't had any trouble themselves collecting money from these companies. In total, health insurance companies' PACs and employees have given 25 members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation $3.3 million in campaign contributions since the 1990 election cycle, with 53 percent of that going to Democrats*.
At the top of that list is committee member Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who has collected $680,200 over time for his candidate committee and leadership PAC from the companies. But the industry under scrutiny has also helped pay for the campaigns of committee chair Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who has collected $141,000, while ranking member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has brought in $119,700. Blue Cross/Blue Shield has the strongest financial tie to senators currently on the committee, giving $505,700 total, followed by AFLAC, which has donated $337,250 since 1989. Although none of the individuals testifying today were from a health insurance company (instead they were from various health care and consumer task forces and associations), UnitedHealth Group president Stephen Hemsley is scheduled to testify at the second half of the hearing on Tuesday. His company's employees and PAC have given members of the committee $206,300, and Hemsley himself contributed to Rockefeller in the 2008 election cycle.
New York's attorney general recently published a study that concluded that the insurance industry has systematically under-estimated the reimbursement rates it pays policyholders for out-of-network costs, withholding billions of dollars. The industry has been on the defensive since a Democratic administration took over and Democrats with a health care reform agenda expanded their majority in Congress. This week health insurers wrote the Senate that they were willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with a history of medical problems. The industry likely hopes that concessions like these, in addition to the money it has poured into policymakers' campaigns, will ward off a government-sponsored health insurance program that could take business away.
Since 1989, the health insurance industry has given current members of Congress $39.5 million, with Democrats collecting 52 percent of that. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has collected the most from the companies at $767,800, followed by Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), whose health insurance money adds up to $737,260. President Obama received $1.3 million from the industry in the 2008 election cycle (and $1.4 million if you include his Senate fundraising). Among health insurers, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and AFLAC have made the greatest contributions to current members of Congress over time at $7 million and $5.7 million, respectively.
MORE at the link above --
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
