Despite Obama’s lofty rhetoric about taking on the special interests with health care reform, most of the special interests are fully on board with reform and expect to profit handsomely from it. Don’t believe me? Well, why else would all the major health care lobbyists be lining up behind Martha Coakely, the Democrat expected to fill Ted Kennedy’s old seat in the Senate? The intrepid Tim Carney takes a look at the invitation for Coakley’s next Washington fundraiser:
Of the 22 names on the host committee–meaning they raised $10,000 or more for Coakley–17 are federally registered lobbyists, 15 of whom have health-care clients. Of the other five hosts, one is married to a lobbyist, one was a lobbyist in Pennsylvania, another is a lawyer at a lobbying firm, and another is a corporate CEO. Oh, and of course, there’s also the political action commitee for Boston Scientific Corporation.
All the leading drug companies have lobbyists on Coakley’s host committee: Pfizer, Merck, Amgen, Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Astra-Zeneca, and more. On the insurance side of things, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, HealthSouth, and United Health all are represented on the host committee.
Those HMOs (like Aetna) or drug companies who don’t have lobbyists in Coakley’s top tier of fundraisers? They’re covered, because the host committee includes four lobbyists representing the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), two representing America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), and one representing the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
This bill has always been one that favors the health care industry; it forces people to buy one of their most expensive products for God’s sake! And when it passes, industry insiders will be the ones who control how it is implemented as they rotate from the corporate world into the government and back through again. To believe that this bill has anything to do with making people healthier is the height of naivete. Like all legislation, this is about lining the pockets of the powerful.
Link via Hit and Run.
