Insurance Industry Lobbyists Poised for Healthcare Win

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The U.S. health insurance industry is, Noam N. Levey and Lisa Girion report, "on the verge of seeing a plan enacted that largely protects its financial interests.That achievement, should it stand up in the final legislation, would be the capstone of a sophisticated lobbying and strategic campaign that began even before Obama was elected president." The campaign, they report, has been "developed by one of Washington's savviest lobbyists, Karen Ignagni", the President and CEO of the industry group, America's Health Insurance Plans. "Insurers poured campaign donations into the coffers of key sympathetic members of the House and Senate, and loaded up on lobbyists. And when Obama and other Democrats began attacking the industry, insurers made a strategic choice not to walk away from the negotiating table," Levey and Girion write.