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legislation: following the money
> CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
> MONEY IN POLITICS ALERT
> Vol. 5, #26 September 13, 1999
> tel: 202-857-0044, fax: 202-857-7809
> email: info@crp.org, web: www.opensecrets.org
>
> Just What the Donors Ordered:
> The Health Benefits Coalition and Managed Care Reform
>
> Just weeks after Senate Republicans blocked legislation that
> would give patients the right to sue their health plans, the
> debate over how to revamp the nation's troubled managed care
> industry shifts to the House. There, lawmakers this month are
> expected to take up a spate of bills, including a bipartisan
> measure that would permit lawsuits against health maintenance
> organizations (HMOs).
>
> The legislation, sponsored by Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and
> Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.), already has prompted an extensive lobbying
> campaign from the health insurance industry, most visible in
> the amount of TV, radio, and newspaper advertisements running
> in more than 50 congressional districts across the country. One
> of the groups behind such ads is the Health Benefits Coalition
> -- a group joining managed care companies with some of Washington's
> most powerful trade associations, including the Chamber of Commerce
> of the US and the Business Roundtable. The more two dozen organizations
> that make up the HBC have spent millions of dollars in recent
> years lobbying against so-called patients bill of rights measures.
> During the first six months of 1999, a period when lawmakers
> began to undertake the managed care issue, HBC members made more
> than $1.3 million in PAC contributions to members of Congress,
> more than 80 percent to Republicans.
>
> Among the top recipients in the Senate were lawmakers who voted
> in favor of the Gregg Amendment, a measure that deleted provisions
> of the Senate managed care bill that would have allowed patients
> to sue HMOs. One of Congress' only practicing physicians, Sen.
> Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) became a leading coalition ally during the
> debate, telling colleagues that increasing the insurance industry's
> legal liability would cause health costs to skyrocket. House
> GOP leaders largely agree with Frist, though Speaker of the House
> Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) last month tentatively endorsed a bill
> sponsored by Reps. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John Shadegg (R-Ariz.)
> which would grant patients a limited right to sue.
>
> Such division among the GOP could be the reason HBC members gave
> more than two-thirds its total PAC contributions this year to
> House lawmakers. Another reason could be the recent decision
> by the American Medical Association to step up its lobbying in
> favor of the Dingell-Norwood bill, a measure than has been endorsed
> by almost all House Democrats and more than 20 Republicans. The
> AMA made nearly $205,000 in PAC contributions during the first
> half of 1999, 70 percent to Republicans. Of that total, just
> over $50,000 went to House Democrats, prime allies in the fight
> to increase health plans' legal liability.
>
> Click here to see Health Benefits Coalitions members and their
> PAC contributions to members of Congress:
>
> http://www.opensecrets.org/alerts/v5/alertv5_26.htm
CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
MONEY IN POLITICS ALERT
Vol. 5, #26 September 13, 1999
tel: 202-857-0044, fax: 202-857-7809
email: info@crp.org, web: www.opensecrets.org
Just What the Donors Ordered:
The Health Benefits Coalition and Managed Care Reform
Just weeks after Senate Republicans blocked legislation that
would give patients the right to sue their health plans, the
debate over how to revamp the nation's troubled managed care
industry shifts to the House. There, lawmakers this month are
expected to take up a spate of bills, including a bipartisan
measure that would permit lawsuits against health maintenance
organizations (HMOs).
The legislation, sponsored by Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and
Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.), already has prompted an extensive lobbying
campaign from the health insurance industry, most visible in
the amount of TV, radio, and newspaper advertisements running
in more than 50 congressional districts across the country. One
of the groups behind such ads is the Health Benefits Coalition
-- a group joining managed care companies with some of Washington's
most powerful trade associations, including the Chamber of Commerce
of the US and the Business Roundtable. The more two dozen organizations
that make up the HBC have spent millions of dollars in recent
years lobbying against so-called patients bill of rights measures.
During the first six months of 1999, a period when lawmakers
began to undertake the managed care issue, HBC members made more
than $1.3 million in PAC contributions to members of Congress,
more than 80 percent to Republicans.
Among the top recipients in the Senate were lawmakers who voted
in favor of the Gregg Amendment, a measure that deleted provisions
of the Senate managed care bill that would have allowed patients
to sue HMOs. One of Congress' only practicing physicians, Sen.
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) became a leading coalition ally during the
debate, telling colleagues that increasing the insurance industry's
legal liability would cause health costs to skyrocket. House
GOP leaders largely agree with Frist, though Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) last month tentatively endorsed a bill
sponsored by Reps. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John Shadegg (R-Ariz.)
which would grant patients a limited right to sue.
Such division among the GOP could be the reason HBC members gave
more than two-thirds its total PAC contributions this year to
House lawmakers. Another reason could be the recent decision
by the American Medical Association to step up its lobbying in
favor of the Dingell-Norwood bill, a measure than has been endorsed
by almost all House Democrats and more than 20 Republicans. The
AMA made nearly $205,000 in PAC contributions during the first
half of 1999, 70 percent to Republicans. Of that total, just
over $50,000 went to House Democrats, prime allies in the fight
to increase health plans' legal liability.
Click here to see Health Benefits Coalitions members and their
PAC contributions to members of Congress:
http://www.opensecrets.org/alerts/v5/alertv5_26.htm