Insurance Industry

United Healthcare Urges Employees To Lobby Senators

The Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 11.13.2009 | Business


The nation's largest health insurance company is recruiting its employees in a grassroots lobbying campaign against health care reform, according to t...

"Therapy" for Obama and His Demoralization by the Insurance Industry

Bruce E. Levine | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics


Bruce E. Levine

Obama is trapped in the same kind of thinking that initially demoralized his hero Abraham Lincoln, who ultimately rejected that kind of thinking, regained his morale, and fought against what was morally wrong.

GOP Health Care Bill WON'T Prevent Insurance Companies From Denying Sick People

Wall Street Journal | JANET ADAMY | Posted 11.03.2009 | Politics


Republicans are preparing to unveil their own health bill in the next few days. Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said Monday that the plan woul...

Harry Reid Reassures Democrats That Joe Lieberman Is On Board With Health Care Bill

The Hill | Alexander Bolton | Posted 11.03.2009 | Politics


Sen. Joe Lieberman has reached a private understanding with Majority Leader Harry Reid that he will not block a final vote on healthcare reform, accor...

Nebraska Voters Favor Public Option, Want Ben Nelson To Back It

Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics


If Ben Nelson decides to filibuster a Democratic health care bill that includes a public insurance option, he should expect to lose support among Nebr...

GOP Health Bill In The Works; Boehner Says Republican Bill Would Extend Insurance Coverage To "Millions"

Wall Street Journal | GREG HITT | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics


Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in str...

Ryan Grim

Reid Punts On Insurance Industry Anti-Trust Exemption

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 10.29.2009 | Politics


Senate negotiators have decided not to include a provision revoking the insurance industry's anti-trust exemption in the bill leadership sends to the ...

Woman Denied Health Care Insurance After Rape Tells Her Story (Video)

The Huffington Post | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics


Christina Turner was drugged and raped by two men in 2002. After taking anti-HIV drugs prescribed by her doctor as a preventative measure, Turner was ...

Sam Stein and Ryan Grim

Leaderless: Senate Pushes For Public Option Without Obama's Support

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein and Ryan Grim | Posted 10.25.2009 | Politics


President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as p...

Dems Go After Antitrust Exemption For Insurers

AP | DAVID ESPO | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Democrats launched a drive at both ends of the Capitol on Wednesday to strip the insurance industry of its decades-old exemption fr...

Medicare Part D Creators Now Working For Lobbyists With Billions At Stake

ProPublica | Olga Pierce | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Four years ago, a group of lawmakers and aides crafted Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program for seniors that has produced billions of dollar...

A Health Insurance Mandate and Corporate Monopoly

Zack Cooper | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Zack Cooper

The only way to go from sickness care to health promotion is with both tougher regulation of insurance companies and a meaningful mandate for individuals to buy health insurance.

Health Care Bill's Winners And Losers: Drug Makers To Benefit, Insurers Brace For Hit

Wall Street Journal | JANET ADAMY and GREG HITT | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


The drug industry stands to gain in a health-care overhaul by getting tens of millions of newly insured customers, while insurance companies -- especi...

Obama's Rx For Health Care: Pull Plug On Insurance Companies, Not Grandma

Julie Farby | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Julie Farby

Crazed, shrieking mobs of birthers, secessionists, and teabaggers are one thing. As annoying and demented as they may be, Barry knows these confederat...

CNN's Castellanos' Firm Is Ad Buyer For AHIP's Anti-Health Care Ad Blitz

Media Matters | Matt Gertz | Posted 10.14.2009 | Media


Media Matters for America has obtained evidence that CNN contributor Alex Castellanos' political consulting firm, National Media, is the ad buyer for ...

Senate Democrats Launch Attack On Insurer Anti-Trust Exemption

POLITICO | Patrick O'Conner and Carrie Budoff Brown | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


The long-simmering tension between insurers and congressional Democrats is erupting into open warfare, with lawmakers stepping up their push to revoke...

Where Are All the democrats in Congress ? Little "d" Intended

Vivien Lesnik Weisman | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Vivien Lesnik Weisman

We live in a country where 400,000 people die every year not from a disease, but from what they eat -- and this is not considered relevant to health care reform?

An Open Letter to Senator Max Baucus : Save Your Health Care Bill With Simple Reform

Dr. Paul Toffel | Posted 10.12.2009 | Politics


Dr. Paul Toffel

I've reviewed the current form of the your Senate Finance Committee bill, which is basically a good compromise, but has significant watered-down defects as it's about to go to vote.

Health Insurance Industry Exposes Its Insatiable Greed

Peter Dreier | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Peter Dreier

After pretending for months to cooperate with the Obama administration and Democrats to secure a reasonable health reform bill, the industry's CEOs and lobbyists on Sunday double-crossed their one-time political allies.

Max Baucus Has Only Himself To Blame

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

I have little sympathy for Baucus at this point, when he complains that his adversaries have had time to put out a report attacking his bill. Because there is one reason that they've had all that time.

Media Discovers WellPoint "Right To Profit" Case

David Dayen | Posted 10.08.2009 | Media


David Dayen

The new health insurance rates offered by the Maine Superintendent do not prevent Anthem from making a profit. But Anthem wants the state of Maine to guarantee a 3% profit as a Constitutional right.

The Un-Credible Max Baucus and the Failure of Health Care Reform

Michael B. Laskoff | Posted 10.01.2009 | Politics


Michael B. Laskoff

Money spent on abstinence education is a waste, except for those pandering to please a minority of citizens who do tend to vote consistently.

Fool Me Once: The Insurance Industry Looks to Tort Reform to Pad Profits

Anthony Tarricone | Posted 09.30.2009 | Politics


Anthony Tarricone

Who came out winners from a decade of tort reform, and of destroying the civil justice system? That would be the insurance industry.

The HealthScare Debate

David Spiegel | Posted 09.27.2009 | Living


David Spiegel

So the health scare mongers accuse the government of what the private insurers are now doing. The anti-change 'protesters' are angry and they're not gonna take it any more. The only problem is that the private insurers have already taken it, and the anti-reformers are angry at the wrong people.

The Will Ferrell Video - Actually Not a Parody

David Dayen | Posted 09.22.2009 | Politics


David Dayen

Shocking that Mitch McConnell would leap to the defense, Will Ferrell-style, of a health insurer based in his state which has feathered his nest to the tune of six figures, no?