DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Thursday urged some state
insurance commissioners to investigate how the costs of insurers'
lobbying to defeat health-insurance reform are affecting
premiums.
"We believe that health insurance providers' lobbying
expenditures have led to excessive rate hikes," Trumka wrote to
regulators in Connecticut, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania. Laws
in those states require insurance regulators to approve rate
changes. Two of the four top insurance companies, WellPoint Inc.
(WLP) and Cigna Corp. (CI), are based in Indiana and Pennsylvania,
respectively.
The AFL-CIO leader also pointed to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue
Shield, which has requested a rate hike of up to 30% in Connecticut
while spending more than $9.5 million on lobbying, and UnitedHealth
Group Inc. (UNH), which recently proposed a premium increase for
its Medicare supplemental insurance while spending more than $2.6
million on lobbying in the first half of 2009.
In addition, Trumka asked regulators to investigate allegations
that UnitedHealth and Anthem/WellPoint forced employees to attend
meetings intended to pressure them into helping their employers
oppose pending health insurance reform legislation.
According to the AFL-CIO - which is supporting the Obama
administration's efforts - premiums for employer-based health
insurance more than doubled in the past decade while the
health-care industry spent more than $3.5 billion on lobbying.
The health-care industry is the biggest-spending lobbying force
in Washington. In the second quarter, health-care players spent
$133 million pressing their interests, according to the nonpartisan
Center for Responsive Politics. Labor unions and others with a
stake in the health-care debate also are lobbying heavily
Insurance companies have been lobbying Congress to defeat the
inclusion in health-care reform bills of a "public option" that
would provide health insurance at lower costs than is now
available. Groups of all stripes are blitzing lawmakers to shape a
trillion-dollar health-care overhaul that would reach into every
business and home in the country.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357;
kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com