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Health insurers and their lobbying associations gave a total $4,094,132 toGovernor Schwarzenegger, members of the California legislature, and politicalparties between January 2001 and June 2007.
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Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, thearchitects of a potential health care deal in Sacramento, have led the pack incontributions from the industry. Schwarzenegger has received $719,600, andNunez has taken $136,300, more than any other legislator.
"No one can say, or will admit, how much health care will cost or who willpay. With $4 million from health insurers and 6 dozen fundraisers in the lastthree weeks, no one in the capital wants to offend the health insurers," saidJerry Flanagan with FTCR.
AB 8, by Assembly Speaker Nunez, benefits insurers at the expense ofCalifornians by requiring workers and taxpayers to pay for coverage but doesnot cap what insurers are allowed to charge. Under AB 8:
The analysis includes contributions made by the top six health insurer andHMO donors -- Blue Cross, Blue Shield, PacifiCare, Molina, Health Net, Aetna -- as well as the Association of California Life and Health Insurers and theAssociation of California Health Plans:
"Lawmakers are focused on the interests of the health insurance industryto the exclusion of consumers and workers, who will be required to purchase aprivate health insurance policy regardless of what it costs or covers underthe emerging deal," said FTCR's Carmen Balber.
Legislation that would have required health insurers to defend theiroverhead and profit while getting approval for premium increases to regulatethe insurance industry was defeated in the legislature in July. Thelegislation would have applied to health insurers the same requirements thatapply to the auto insurance market and have saved drivers $23 billion since1988.
The five California companies (Kaiser, Blue Shield, Blue Cross,PacifiCare, and HealthNet), that control 80% of the HMO market, have recordedprofit increases of $11.7 billion since 2002. Four of the companiestransferred $4.1 billion in profit to out-of-state parent companies since2002. The six largest HMOs spent $1.6 billion on marketing in 2006.-- If the cost of coverage exceeds 5% of income, the worker is not required to buy coverage but will be uninsured or under-insured (forced to buy a high-deducible, low-benefit policy). Those that currently receive coverage from their employer may not be able to afford that coverage in the future. -- If a worker earns below 300% of the federal poverty level, the worker's share of coverage is capped at 5% and the remaining cost will be paid by taxpayers with no regulation of how much insurers can charge.
SOURCE Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
