OpenSecrets.orgInsurers On Alert Have Given $4 Million to Committees Grilling Them
written by Lindsay Renick Mayer
Tuesday September 15, 2009 10:00 AM
It's back to school and 52 insurance companies or their subsidiaries have an assignment due today: they must disclose their financial records, including details on executive pay and entertainment expenditures, to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).
While this puts mega-insurers such as AFLAC and Blue Cross/Blue Shield on alert, they might find some comfort in that collectively they enjoy a financial bond with the current committee members. The members have collected $2.9 million from the employees and political action committees of the insurers that received letters from Waxman in August. Fifty-three percent of those donations has gone to Republicans.
Waxman himself has brought more money from the companies he's questioning than all but four other members of the committee. His total haul since 1989 is $106,500. Ranking member Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has collected $84,350 in that time.
Here are the current members of the House Energy and Commerce to collect the most from the 52 insurers required to respond to Waxman's request, including contributions to the lawmakers' leadership PACs and candidate committees back to 1989: Click HERE to read detailed list of donations.
Two other lawmakers have recently requested similar information from insurance committees in the midst of an intense debate over health care reform and discourse over how to cut costs in the health care system. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, sent a letter to 15 insurers, asking them to detail how they spend health insurance premiums. Those replies were due last Tuesday.
The insurance companies that Rockefeller called on have given members of the Senate Commerce Committee $1 million since 1989. Of that, 53 percent has gone to Republican members of the committee. At $67,100, Rockefeller has brought in more than all but four other members of the committee from these specific companies. The insurance industry overall has given Rockefeller $393,400, making it one of his top 10 industry donors.
The committee's ranking member, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), has collected a little more than half of that at $37,450. The insurance industry is also among Hutchison's top 10 industry donors, giving her $617,200 since 1989.
Here are the current members of the Senate Commerce Committee to collect the most from the 15 insurers required to respond to Rockefeller's request, including contributions to the lawmakers' leadership PACs and candidate committees back to 1989:
Blue Cross/Blue Shield and AFLAC seem to have the strongest financial connection to both Rockefeller and Waxman's committees, giving $777,420 to the Senate committee and $1.8 million to the House committee. Blue Cross/Blue Shield has given members of Kucinich's subcommittee $82,500 since 1989.
Both insurers are among top all-time donors to candidates and party committees, together giving $1.1 million so far this year.
CRP Research Director Jihan Andoni and Senior Researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.
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