Progress Now Action

The reporting in the media around candidate health care reform proposals perpetuates a false premise: the notion that health care reform revolves  around the question of whether or not to enforce a mandate to purchase private insurance. Growing numbers of under-insured will testify that insurance does not equal health care. At best, mandates move people from uninsurance to undersinsurance, leaving families at health and financial risk.

However, the insurance industry promotes mandates and taxpayer subsidies to private insurances because they enhance their bottom line, while failing to address cost and quality controls for health coverage.

Following is information forwarded from Rep. Morgan Carroll about the money spent by insurance, pharmaceutical and related lobbies. The insurance and pharmaceutical have recouped many billions of dollars in profits in return for  their lobbying investment.

From 1998 - 2007 here''s how much the following industries spent on lobbying  activities nationally:
Insurance Industry spent $1,008,474,967 on Lobbying
Pharmaceutical Industry spent $1,316,714,703 on Lobbying
Hospital / Nursing Home Industry spent $563,926,474 on Lobbying
Health Professionals spent $531,096,203 on Lobbying
*SOURCE: Open Secrets.org

Imagine how much cheaper your premiums might be if YOU weren't paying $3.95 BILLION for their lobbying activities since 1998? ($3,951,308,550 to be precise). That would have been enough to pay for an entire year of insurance premiums for 1,069,655 individuals at the average of $3,695 per year for individual coverage.
*SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation

The consumer is ultimately footing a big bill for lobbying activities that are not always in their best interests.