Mike Enzi: GOP Gang Of Six Senator's Ties To Insurance Industry

Max Baucus isn't the only senator who may be taking his health care cues from insurance companies. WellPoint Inc., recently revealed to have influenced Baucus's health care framework, also has notable ties to Gang of Six Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

Enzi's former health policy director between 2003 to 2006, Stephen J. Northrup, is now a registered lobbyist for WellPoint, a subsidiary of insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Northrup, who has represented numerous health insurance and pharmaceutical companies in the past, is currently "responsible for leading WellPoint's advocacy efforts before Congress and various federal government agencies," according to the journal Modern Healthcare.

That's not all. Blue Cross Blue Shield is currently Enzi's biggest contributor, according to the Center For Responsive Politics, having provided the Republican senator a total of $38,500 in campaign cash this election cycle. Overall, Enzi has accepted $793,711 from various health care industries since 2005.

Enzi, whose Gang of Six may decide the fate of health care reform, is the only senator to sit on all three committees tasked with drafting the the health care bill -- the Finance Committee, Budget Committee and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (H.E.L.P.) Committee.

While Enzi has advocated for a "bipartisan" solution to health care reform, he has shown more interest in opposing the whole effort. At a town hall in late August, Enzi admitted to obstructing the legislation and has since predicted it will fail.

Senior White House officials have criticized Enzi for his role in trying to defeat the health care legislation, suggesting they may be willing to forgo his support -- and bipartisanship in general -- to pass a bill.

But it remains unclear how President Obama will proceed as he said in Wednesday's prime-time speech that he remains committed to working with Republicans to formulate a bipartisan bill, despite accusing them of promulgating "misinformation" and "lies".

Comments

[Janspeak]

Can't we break up the big health insurance companies the way we did AT&T

[Debzilla]

For-profit insurers are bad news for consumers. I worked for Wellpoint for 25+ years but our relationship ended on a bad note. I asked too many questions. Deborah L Dunn v. Wellpoint, Inc started in 2005 here in Kentucky.

[medic628]

So much for the will of the people!!

[structurequity]

twitter, tweet and stamping our feet do not erase the summer lost to a Gang of Six stalling the process to a crawl so creeps could eviscerate the truth with imbecilic eruptions of bile. As for the Senate members they are for the most part only propagated by media from main to extreme and we never hear the truth as we need to hear it from all concerned, not just those appointed by the lobbying arms of every major corporation in the USA and now global.

[gdcormany]

W*hor*e...and a cheap one at that

[BeAfraiduall]

It is time for all these Congress critters to wear patches of all their corporate sponsors so we can tell who is bought and beholden to. Already claiming failure-no wonder.

[SDindependent]

Now there is a good idea......kind of like those NASCAR crews.

[janeycat]

exactly...thats the best idea i have heard through all of this
other than skinning them all

[Thundercloud65]

Well, until we have laws preventing industry from becoming Pimps to our Congressional Prostitutes we won't see much change at all.

[Gidster]

Co-Sign!

[1differentdrummer]

Oh, but you see that money doesn't matter. He's a man of principle who only votes his conscience.

[crease]

There is that word Bipartisanship again coming from a re-puke who only says NO, ecause he does not want to lose his cash cow.My question to these so re-pukes who have not an ounce of fical conservativism whta health care proposals have guys proposed besides the audacity of NOPE?

[R Gary Fenske]

I thought Obama said he was going to work for an end to the corruption of lobbying, and with this kind of proof, can't we "kick him off the committees"??? This is just TOO obvious!?!?

[LouisvilleLiberal]

Does the President have the power to control which Senators are on which committees? I think not. The President has very little impact on the Senate by design. The Executive branch is not the boss of the Congress. The VP has a tie breaking vote - that's it.

Obama is giving Bacus and his Gang of Six every opportunity to come up with a bi-partisian bill. That way he can in good conscious move forward with reconciliation if the Senate can't get behind it because of their conflicts of interest.

My Senators are both Republicans and Mitch McConnell is the leader of them. They have both changed their stance on Health Care Reform from flat out against it to "in support of the right kind of reform". They can't afford to go against the will of the people and the people in Kentucky are poor and there are only 2 insurers that bother with the State. While poor people are generally not highly educated, they are not stupid. Our Senators are talking out of both sides of their mouth, but are finding it hard to stand in the way of any kind of reform.

Republicans are going to have to appear to be in favor of reform but with objections like abortion, illegal immigrants and budget deficits. Ultimately, they can't afford to oppose reform lest they find themselves in the unemployment line in 2010.

[PlanoBlue]

Ser-prize ser-prize ser-prize

[MacGregor57]

He's from Wyoming.

[DantesE]

Anyone else notice how cheap they are? I mean look at this guy, less than a mil in four years then he helps them make 100s of millions if not billions/year. What's that like a 1000% plus return on investment? As for Enzi it takes less than $200,000/year for him to keep millions of Americans uninsured. For the party of Life, those lives are worth less than pennies each.

[Gidster]

Congress appears to be a very good investment. That is why so many companies pay so many so much, to guarantee favorable laws and regulations.

[Roger Ellis]

Which company covers Enz's health insurance,what are the monthly premiums and who pays?

[babyboomerorig]

He pays his portion....and we pay the rest.

[chomedey]

Want to know too

[Roger Ellis]

Which company covers Enzi's health insurance,what are the monthly premiums and who pays?

[George Whizz]

Government Employees Health Benefits -socialized care- which taxpayers provide for his infinite wisdom. Not, Enzi - a complete waste of skin.

[Roger Ellis]

Thank you; so it is not private insurance?any idea what the premiums are?