Quelle Surprise !!: AHIP Laundered Attack Ad Funds Through US Chamber of Commerce

[marmar]

via CommonDreams:



Published on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by The National Journal
Health Insurers Funded Chamber Attack Ads

by Peter H. Stone


Just as dealings with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats soured last summer, six of the nation's biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying the major health reform bills moving through Congress.

That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, according to two health care lobbyists familiar with the transactions. The companies are all members of the powerful trade group America's Health Insurance Plans.

The funds were solicited by AHIP and funneled to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help underwrite tens of millions of dollars of television ads by two business coalitions set up and subsidized by the chamber. Each insurer kicked in at least $1 million and some gave multimillion-dollar donations.

"There's no question that AHIP has quietly solicited monies from their members which were funneled over to the chamber for their ads," said a source. The total donated by the health insurers, according to one estimate, was as much as one-quarter of the chamber's total health care advertising budget. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/13

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. LOL...of course...

U.S. Chamber has been flooding IL with those bullshit ads.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. While I wouldn't be shocked, the article is rather flimsy.

No evidence is offered outside of one line from an anonymous source and conjecture. It's all likely true, but that doesn't make this any better of an article.