Health industry dominates PAC contributions to Hagan
Submitted by ChrisKromm on Tue, 07/21/2009 - 11:44am
When Sen. Kay Hagan (NC-D) announced earlier this month -- after months of vacillation -- her support for a health care reform bill that included a "public option" to compete with private insurance, advocates of reform were thrilled.
Not so happy: Key forces in the health industry who are still fighting bitterly -- and have spent millions of dollars in lobbying, advocacy and contributions to key politicians -- to preserve the status quo.
Newly-released federal campaign finance records reveal the intense interest health industry leaders have focused on Sen. Hagan, a first-year senator sitting on a key committee crafting the reform legislation.
A Facing South analysis of contributions to Hagan's primary PAC, Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate, finds that health care interests have dominated in the first half of 2009:
* In 2009, health-related companies have contributed $17,000 to Sen. Hagan's leading PAC -- all coming during or after March, when the health care reform debate intensified.
* Over half -- 52% -- of contributors to Hagan's PAC in 2009 have come from health care interests, including associations representing doctors, insurance, pharmacists and pharmaceutical corporations.
* Nearly 60% of the corporate contributors to Hagan's PAC come from the health industry sector.
And this doesn't include others who have lavished attention on Sen. Hagan, such as the health care industry's vast network of lobbyists which spent $127 million in the first three months of 2009 alone -- about $1.4 million a day.
A sampling of the companies contributing to Hagan's PAC reveals the breadth of health care interests engaged in the reform battle:
* Leading the pack: Companies heavily invested in pharmaceuticals, including Amgen, Baxter (makers of the swine flu vaccine), Biogen, Genentech and Novo Nordisk. Together, these companies gave $12,000.
* AFLAC, the major insurance company, contributed $2,000
* Doctors, represented by DOCPAC, contributed $2,000
* The National Community Pharmacists Association contributed $2,000.
Given the deep pockets and political clout of forces in the health industry, the success of advocates in convincing Hagan to embrace the "public option" seem especially remarkable.
But as these powerful interests know, the battle over health care is far from over.
This is an interesting analysis
But since Kay has said she supports a public option, I'm going to wait to see how she votes on this one.
Wait for what?
Wait for her to stab us in the back at some later date when the votes really count?
She was dragged kicking and screaming to support the pubic option, but she has never fully embraced the concept. Instead she uses euphemisms for what a pubic option should look like.
Trusting any legislator's good intentions, when it come to the details of the health insurance legislation, is a fools game.
Agreed
The truth is, whatever Hagan has the opportunity to vote on in the Senate will be light years short of a real solution. She'll still get to say she voted for "the public option" even as that option locks in profits for traditional insurers.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Yes!
I'm fast coming to the conclusion that whatever gets voted on—if anything actually does—won't make a whole lot of difference in either the outrageous premiums and deductible I'm paying as a self-employed fifty-something OR the massive profits the insurance folks are raking in.
It's a real sign of the times, when as a candidate, Hagan ...
supported Obama's idea of a universal health care plan, but now doubt has surfaced, leaving us to wonder what she is supporting? My own opinion is that many of these elected Fed officials would like to keep up the misinformation, and in-fighting to prevent any plan from being voted on. The result would be no public record where fingers could be pointed. So here we have the most important issue for the people floundering about, while the whole minority party, ( Republicans) have no alternatives except "no", and many of the majority saying they're not sure what they want, but are openly accepting all kinds of money from the special interests of the medical insurance groups. Is there any question left whether we have moved to a complete oligarchy form of government?
What is Interesting
What is interesting is that the three-month total is only $17,000.
I would say that if Senator Kay sells us out on healthcare, that is much to cheap a price.
Which is why I have hope, and keep calling about the public option and the House version of the bill.
I bet if pushed we could probably meet or beat that $17,000 on ActBlue ourselves, with help from other North Carolinians interested in real healthcare reform.
Right now, with phone calling organized by progressive blogs, the lobbyists are burning $1.4 million a day. Let's keep up the pressure on our employees to make sure that they stay bought by we the people.
50 states, 210 media market, 435 Congressional Districts, 3080 counties, 192,480 precincts
It's the down stream revenue after the vote
that she will reap if she plays ball with the insurance companies.
I not trying to be rude, but are you new to politics?