Until now, the Democratic Party has shied away from hitting insurance companies during the health reform debate. But after after PricewaterhouseCoopers' insurance-industry-commissioned report on the Baucus health plan, that's changed.
The party sent an email last night to its full supporters list, 13 million strong, seeking to use the report to rally its support base. In it, Organizing for America Director Mitch Stewart blasted the report, asked supporters to sign a pro-health-reform petition to Congress, and supplied them with a link to donate.
Since the current health reform debate began, it was the
first time the Democratic Party has sent its supporters an email
criticizing insurers.
And in an email to reporters yesterday, Democratic National
Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse accused the industry of "working feverishly to scuttle
reform to protect its bottom line"--going well beyond official Democratic Party
rhetoric against the insurance industry up to this point.
Commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans (the insurance
industry's lobbying group), the PricewaterhouseCoopers report concluded
that several provisions in the Senate Finance Committee would cause
health care costs to rise faster than under current law, and Democratic lawmakers have
spent the last two days bashing it as deceptive, noting that it didn't
analyze some of the cost-saving provisions, like subsidies to help buy insurance.
Thus far, blasting insurance companies has been the province of liberals--not the Democratic Party establishment. The interest-group coalition Health Care for America Now!, which comprises the left's organized movement in the health reform debate, and its member groups have gone after insurance companies with gusto, singling out insurance CEOs as well as the industry as a whole in TV ads.
But the DNC has shied away. Throughout the summer, none of its manifold daily press releases and statements have attacked insurers; the target has always been Republicans.
Democrats and health insurers started out this reform process with an ostensible alliance. Insurers had agreed to publicly support the administration's broad health reform goals, and America's Health Insurance Plans spent seven figures (it never released the exact dollar amount) airing a TV ad calling for comprehensive, bipartisan reform.
That dynamic changed in early August, when the White House decided to publicly make insurance companies the enemy, demonizing them and "special interests" as opponents of reform. But the strategic shift was limited to statements by the president and other individual Democrats--it never had the full weight of the Democratic Party's messaging machine behind it.
After yesterday's email to supporters, and the statement from Woodhouse, the gloves appear to be off.
It's unlikely that the DNC will start going after insurers unprovoked, but Woodhouse says we can expect to see more pushback from the DNC whenever the insurance company criticizes Democratic plans for reform.
"This represents the first effort by Organizing For America pushing back against the insurance industry during this debate -- and it will not represent the last as long as they continue to lie and deceive at the 11th hour to stop reform, protect the status quo and preserve their profits which are coming directly from the pockets of hard-working Americans and small businesses," Woodhouse said.
So AHIP's report seems to have had a political consequence, beyond initial reactions and its utility to critics of the Baucus plan: a Democratic Party less reluctant to join its liberal counterparts in making insurers the enemy.
"This represents the first effort by Organizing For America pushing back against the insurance industry during this debate -- and it will not represent the last as long as they continue to lie and deceive at the 11th hour to stop reform, protect the status quo and preserve their profits which are coming directly from the pockets of hard-working Americans and small businesses,"
Woodhouse, thank you for telling it like it is. I despise the entire insurance industry, they are nothing more than legitimate ponzi schemers and their fear-mongering tactics to extort people their hard earned money should be illegal. I would prefer to put the money I pay these bas tards in a tax-deferred, interest bearing account to accrue for my medical or disability needs. For someone else to "maximize" their wealth on your disfortunes is criminal.
We need more people like Woodhouse to help change the status quo.
JahLove63:
I'm not a fan of the health insurance industry, not many are, but they are not a ponzi scheme. They are in the insurance business, their business came into being as most businesses do to serve a real or perceived need, for better or worse they are a fundamental part of how the US health system functions, and like all businesses it not only makes sense to protect their interests they have a fiduciary duty to do so. You may not like the system but that's reality. As for the PWHC report, this was a dumb move. Health insurers are one of the least popular institutions in the country and coming out with this very obviously flawed report at the moment they did just hung a target around their neck. Even the Republicans didn't jump on this as you'd have expected them to do. Since they have been very quiet over the last 24 hours I suspect that lightbulb came on.
See, ottovbvs, that's what's wrong with our society (ie: status quo). It's people like you who feel we just have to roll over and take in the a hole cause that's "reality". They argue as you have, that the insurance companies are "fundamental" part of how the US health system functions (or not in our greedy, dysfunctional American way). I do not have to accept this reality, and I will advocate for change if the status quo doesn't feel right. I agree that businesses need to protect their interests (I work for several small businesses and myself run my own small business), but so do us serfs who seem to be exploited and extorted from on a daily basis by the corporatocracy. While I am all for changing the health care "system" (systems are in their nature meant to be changed), the current plans of both demos/repugs do not solve the real issues, it only lines the pockets of guaranteed money for these frothing capitalists. If the plan will ultimately fine people who cannot afford nor have health insurance, I see that as nothing more than facism.
It's generally believed that only the right are reality challenged, interesting to see the syndrome also appears on the far left......well at least you admit you're denying reality and I suppose that's the first step to a cure.......and where did you get this little bit of cracker barrel wisdom from " systems are in their nature meant to be changed"......whatever happened to if it's not broke don't fix it.......not that the US healthcare system isn't badly broken but irrationality is not going to fix it.
Let's look at the basic facts here:
1) The insurance companies are opposing healthcare reform.
2) The health insurance companies pays PriceWaterhouseCoopers prepare a report on the costs of the current legislation.
3) That report is released on the eve of the Senate Finance Committee vote on reform legislation
4) PriceWaterhouseCoopers acknowledges that important aspects of the reform are not included in the study.
So: The insurance companies, who profit off the status quo which we all acknowledge to be a broken system, paid PriceWaterhouseCoopers to produce a report with misleading information just in time to try and influence the Senate finance committee vote.
Regardless of what your position is on health care reform, you have to admit this is fishy.
Alex Brant-Zawadzki
Volunteer
Organizing for America
(full disclosure and all that...)