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Big Insurance Funds Chamber of Commerce to Kill Health Care Reform
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The nation’s biggest health insurers have been funneling money quietly to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to air lie-filled, scare-mongering commercials about health care reform.
Like Capt. Renault, who discovered there was gambling going on at Rick’s Café Américain in Casablanca, we are: “Shocked, shocked….” Yeah, right.
Most observers of the health care reform fight suspected the major insurers that make up the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) were helping to foot the bill for the latest round of ads by two “business coalitions” subsidized by the Chamber. But it wasn’t until Peter Stone at the National Journal connected the dots that we had proof.
Dan Pfeiffer, White House communications director, says the report confirms
one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets—which is big insurance companies are fighting tooth and nail to kill health reform that will wrest power from their hands and give it to American families.
The big AHIP members have long tried to maintain a positive public posture of supporting some type of health care reform—just so long as reform proposals wouldn’t do anything to end their strangle hold on health care coverage and never ending, always soaring profits.
Writes Stone:
That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint, according to two health care lobbyists familiar with the transactions. The companies are all members of the powerful trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans.
The ads sharply criticized the high costs of the separate bills, especially the House version. The commercials warned the legislation would raise taxes for Americans and hurt the economy as it tries to recover from the recession. And some chamber-financed commercials attacked setting up a government-run plan to compete with private insurers—a special sore point for the insurance industry—which is part of the House measure.
Click here to read Stone’s entire piece.
After the story broke yesterday, Kaiser said it provided funds to AHIP for advertising with the stipulation it not be used for negative ads and AHIP assured Kaiser none was sent to the Chamber for the current campaign. Read more from Ben Smith at Politico.
On her blog, The Gavel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi writes:
These big insurance companies appear to have gotten caught secretly bankrolling the effort to kill health insurance reform for millions of Americans, despite their disingenuous claims of support for the legislation. This duplicity is not surprising coming from an industry that has used every method to try to kill health insurance reform that would save lives, save money, save jobs, and save Medicare.
What about the commercials themselves that have been airing in dozens of media markets around the country? Media Matters takes apart the claims of the Chamber ad lie by stinking lie here.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by New_Health: Big Insurance Funds Chamber of Commerce to Kill Health Care Reform http://bit.ly/86xjsd...
It is sad that big business hijacked the Chamber of Commerce, on health care, and other issues. I think workers and small business should be on the same side. It is like war; old men plan them and young men fight them.
This is supposed to be amazing news? All of these outfits are in together to hurt the working people and get wealthier on our backs. Different day same s–t!!!
Hello
If you like this then please publicize it to the progressive community across our fine country as I appear unknown and have not gotten much response from many progressives. I also must say that there appear many fake progressive organizations out there, even progressive democrats of America who would have none of the boycotts I set up.
I have seen and spoke to a lot of well meaning Democrats wanting to make change in Washington and they issue petitions that do not include a boycott of the friends of those who would block progressive action and legislation. Such Democrats unnecessarily tie their left hand behind their backs. I urge people to consider boycotting the friends of those conservatives in congress in order to force them to sit up and take notice and capitulate to our demands. In our country money appears an important factor in getting action done. We need to go on a purchasing strike against the friends of regressives in order to force them to cooperate with us. It appears peaceful and legal in an atmosphere of legalized bribery in congress. We need to take back control over our purchases and how the profits get spent especially how they get used for legalized bribery in congress.
If you don’t like a particular TV program, you call their sponsors and tell them you will boycott them until the program either goes off the air or changes to your liking. This works similar with political parties, politicians and their sponsors (campaign contributors).
If you have a blog please post this on your blog. I want to get at least 100,000 people to sign these petitions, the first two which you can demand single payer health care and a fix to the Medicare prescription drug benefit. These petitions appear at
http://liberal.posterous.com/the-liberal-democratic-party-of-the-united-st-1
http://bit.ly/public_option
http://bit.ly/drug_benefit
http://bit.ly/traitorjoe
http://bit.ly/single_payer
http://bit.ly/single_payer_baucus
http://bit.ly/single_payer_california
http://bit.ly/EFCA
http://bit.ly/10_an_hour_min_wage
http://bit.ly/women_freedom_of_choice_act
http://endthewars.democratz.org
Thank you.
The AFL-CIO should have taken a stand in support of HR 676, Medicare for all / single payer when it was introduced four years ago.
Then we could negotiate from a position of strength and principle and would get at least a ‘robust public option’, not the corporate friendly bill that will force us to buy insurance. This kind of debacle is a direct result of playing nice with the Democrats, who are just as corrupted by the campaign cash of the Chamber and insurance industry as their republican partners. Obama took more money from HMOs and the health care industry lobby than the evil John McCain.
Labor lost an opportunity and we will be betrayed yet again because of the failure to DEMAND real change and progress!
big insurance was also at a fund raiser for margeret coaxly, democratic candidate in mass. to replace ted kennedy in the special election next week. So what does that tell us?
As Capt Renault said Shocked Shocked!!
These Insurance companyies are as bad as the Mifia on second thought they are much worse they take money from working families and keep taking form the country with lousey health coverage and out ragus ruls and ever rising premiums and co pays and now president Obama has made a real effort to clean up the health care system for the good of the country and the working families all over the country. Now there is proof that the Scaby “CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE WAS INVOLVER WITH THE INSURANCE COMPANIES LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. We should not be Shocked. The Chamber of Commerce has long been Promoting Anti Union Animus/SCABY Tendencies prometing right to work states anti union policies and jumping on the ban wagon helping to promote replacing strikers during strikes throughout the country. The Chamber of Commerce is as bad as the Mafia like Insurance Companies and the scaby right winged republicans who have not helped at all with Health Care Reform. The Republicans just had eight years with BUSH to deal with Health Care Reform but why kill the Golden Goose. He just put his head in the sand and lied about Sadam and how many service men and women had to die or be wonded thanks to a lie. Thank GOD for President Obama, Richard Trumka and the Unions!! Some organizations are looking out for the working men and women of this great country.
Aldo Cafarelli
I don’t understand how any small biz person would be a member of the Chamber Of BIG Commerce. They get screwed as bad as us workers and I think they’d be on board if recruited actively, or challenged by the AFL-CIO