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I love it when the truth comes out


Posted: Nov 17, 2010

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.

“Clearly the secrecy was important to industry,” Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, said in an interview. The group tracks money in politics and isn’t affiliated with a political party. “Eighty-six million dollars is an astonishing sum,” she said.

The spending reflects the insurers’ attempts to influence the bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will provide coverage to 32 million previously uninsured Americans, after Democrats in Congress and the White House put more focus on regulation of the insurance industry.

U.S. Disclosure Law

The $86.2 million paid for advertisements, polling and grass roots events to drum up opposition to the bill, said Tom Collamore, a Chamber of Commerce spokesman. The Chamber said in a statement it used the funds to “advance a market-based health-care system and advocate for fundamental reform that would improve access to quality care while lowering costs.”

The organizations disclosed the funding yesterday in annual tax records required under U.S. law. The Chamber’s records show it received $86.2 million from a single group, which a second person briefed on the transaction by those involved identified as Washington-based America’s Health group.

 Health insurers expressed opposition to parts of the health-care legislation while they conferred with congressional Democrats writing the bill and the White House. At the same time, the Chamber of Commerce was advertising its opposition.

The Chamber began in March 2010, weeks before the bill became law, another $10 million effort focused on pressuring lawmakers to vote against the bill. Blair Latoff, a spokeswoman for the Chamber, wouldn’t say how much of the money was spent in 2009 and how much, if any, was used in 2010.

The $86.2 million dwarfs other large donations given to the Chamber, such as a $15.4 million 2008 transaction whose contributor isn’t identified, as well an anonymous $4.5 million contribution in 2009, according to records.

By funneling the money through the Chamber, insurers were able to remain at the table negotiating with Democrats while still getting the bill criticized. “It enables you to have it both ways,” Potter said in a phone interview.

“They clearly thought the Chamber would be a more credible source of information and advertising on health-care reform, and it would appear less self-serving if a broader business group made arguments against it than if the insurers did it,” said Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

The White House criticized the insurer money in a blog post. Insurers were “desperate to preserve their ability to discriminate against you if you had a preexisting condition, drop your care when you got sick and limit the amount of care you could receive in a year or a lifetime,” wrote Stephanie Cutter, assistant to the president for special projects.

Representative Pete Stark, a California Democrat who helped write the health-care law in the House, criticized the insurer spending in a letter to fellow members of Congress. “That $86 million in attack ads could have been better spent to reduce insurance premiums,” he wrote.

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the truth - none

[ In Reply To ..]
and the truth is we pay for those uninsured, the premiums have gone up already, the unions have opted out, the middle class is screwed.... etc... that is THE truth

Very true...and please give me a good reason why... - sam

[ In Reply To ..]
if we are already paying for those people, would we add over 3 trillion to the debt over 10 years for the privilege of continuing to pay for those people?

That is some really fuzzzzzyyyy math.

Are you talking cost of health care reform? - It will reduce the deficit by $138 billion

[ In Reply To ..]

"According to the CBO projections, this bill will cover 32 million of this nation’s 47 million uninsured; bringing the national total to nearly 95 percent coverage.  It will reduce the deficit by roughly $138 billion over the first ten years, and by $1.2 trillion over twenty years.



According to the CBO, a non-partisan body organized to provide cost estimates on pending legislation, the health reform package would cost $940 billion over a ten-year span.  It should be noted that this averages out to just $94 billion annually, and the program fits completely within the U.S. budget. "


I don't think your math is as good as the CBO.


 

The elephant in the room is this presupposes.... - sam
[ In Reply To ..]
that it will be cost effective, that it will be paid for as the bill states. That is a HUGE presupposition.

Point me to even one government sponsored program that has run efficiently or has been paid for as it was written. Just one would be good.

The other elephant in the room...the health care exchanges that are the big deal in this bill...failed in Texas and in Calfornia. It didn't even work on a state level.

And you are willing to stake the welfare of the country, your kids and their kids on THAT? Sorry, not me.
The elephant in the room - The people who buy into fear. - nm
[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you, DNC, for that public service message. Try caution... - sam
[ In Reply To ..]
Caution is a good thing. If Barney Frank and Chris Dodd had shown a little caution (even a LITTLE) the economy would not be in the shape it is in.

The elephant in the room is syncophants who keep saying the same thing over and over and think if they say it long enough it will be true. You have history, you ignore it. You know that the health care exchanges have already failed on a state basis, but oh you have all the faith in the world they will work on a nationwide basis. Medicare is failing as we speak and fraud is rampant. Oh, but we can handle it for EVERYONE in the country.

Now do you understand why we don't want you NO FEAR folks in charge anymore?
Keep closing your eyes and covering your ears - to the truth - nm
[ In Reply To ..]
Have you looked up "truth" in your Funk and Wagnall's? - sam
[ In Reply To ..]
and you get the last word. lol.

truth - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I am sure you already have insurance, so you can't possibly understand. I'm sure it is okay with you that people can't afford insurance but the insurance companies can afford 86 billion to fight against health reform. By the way, insurance rates have been increasing ridiculously for a long time, not just since health reform. That's the truth!

Yes, you are right...insurance premiums have been going up. So where.... - sam

[ In Reply To ..]
are the cost cutting measures in the health care plan that Obama promised? Not there. No tort reform, which would go a long way to cutting costs. You are still going to have to pay insurance premiums. The are not going to go DOWN with Obama's plan. They are likely to go UP. The only difference it makes is that yes, we will still be paying for the same people who were uninsured (basically because the can STILL opt out even though "mandatory" and pay a penalty at tax time. The penalty is high, but not as high as insurance premiums and certainly not high enough to give back what it will cost if they have a catastrophic accident or illness which we pay for now anyway, so basically not a thing will change. But you will be happy paying a higher premium and adding untold amounts to the debt because Obama tells you you should?

It is amazing really. All they have to tell you is the big companies are screwing you, we have a better way, and even though that better way never seems to materialize they will just blame it on the Republicans and you will be happy again. No better off, but still hating Republicans.

Amazing. You gotta hand it to'em I guess. They know how to manipulate.
How about you go and research - "the cost savings of preventive care"
[ In Reply To ..]
How about you look at statistics for people who... - sam
[ In Reply To ..]
already have insurance that will pay for preventative care (pap smear, mammogram, screening colonoscopy, prostate exams, you name it) and just refuse to do it? Is government going to make that mandatory too? The government van going to come and take those people to the doctor to get those things? Next we will have the obesity police and your BMI can't exceed whatever?

Are you SERIOUS?? You really think that now all of a sudden people are going to run get preventative care? If they wanted to, they could budget to have their annual things done and budget for the longer term ones like a colonscopy every 5 years. Would cost a LOT less than insurance premiums.

Get it through your head...some people just don't want to, and we should not be trying to force them to to the detriment of the country. Just keeping chipping away at our fundamental rights as Americans, and if people don't want to have those things they should not be forced to.

Yes, I know, if they don't and they get sick we are paying for them. And with Obamacare we will STILL be paying for them, AND for Obamacare on TOP of it.

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