INSURANCE INDUSTRY www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org The HMO and insurance industries have spent a breathtaking $769 million since 2007 to influence federal public policy and elected officials.1 In 2010 they have not let up, despite passage of the new health reform law. They're now trying to undermine the law with intense pressure on state officials to water down the federal provisions and interfere with their implementation.2 As we all know, the insurance industry mounted a massive campaign to defeat health care reform and maintain their stranglehold on our health care. But thank goodness they lost. Now they are turning their attention to undermining the new law so they can continue their obscene profiteering, their unconscionable denials of care and their shameless practice of giving CEOs jaw-dropping pay packages. The insurance companies are now coordinating a lobbying assault on regulators. Activists are fighting back and we can all help. This weekend, more than 1,000 insurance lobbyists and executives are expected to converge in Seattle to pressure the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to undercut important new rules intended to control costs and make health insurance more affordable for families and businesses.3 The insurance lobbyists will be met by scores of activists, because the stakes in this fight are too high. The amount of money riding on the outcome of this battle is huge. If the new law had been on the books in 2009, the six largest insurance companies would have been required to refund $1.9 billion for last year alone because of over charges.4 Unlike federal lobbying disclosure rules, health insurance companies aren't required to reveal what they are spending to influence state insurance commissioners, but the numbers are staggering. Demand that the insurance companies disclose their massive lobbying expenditures. The public has a right to know how much they're spending to protect their excessive profits and outrageous CEO pay. We can all join the fight to hold the insurance industry accountable by demanding that they disclose their lobbying spending of the NAIC and other state officials. Their unbridled efforts to protect the status quo must be stopped. In Solidarity, Melinda Gibson Health Care for America Now 1. healthcareforamericanow.org/site/content/insurers_spent_769_million_on_lobbying_to_protect_profits 2. Center for Responsive Politics 3. Battle in Seattle Over Insurance Company Profits 4. healthcareforamericanow.org/newpremiumrules   ©2007-2010, www.TheCitizensWhoCare.org/insurance-industry.html