Paul Ryan: bought and paid for Big Insurance Hack

Ryan’s Budget Proposal Would Aid Insurers, a Top Source of Campaign Cash
By
Jonathan D. Salant
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document.write(dateFormat(new Date(1302062415000),"mmm d, yyyy h:MM TT Z"));Apr 6, 2011
BLOOMBERG.COM

Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal to end traditional Medicare for future generations would benefit private insurers, whose employees have given the Wisconsin Republican more money than any other industry.

Ryan has received $672,203 from insurance employees and their families since 1997, his largest industry source of campaign donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group. The figure includes all insurers, not just health-insurance companies. Employees of Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies and their trade group gave $48,650, his ninth-largest individual source of funds.

His proposal would transform Medicare, the federal health- care program for senior citizens, for all Americans now 54 and under. Under his budget plan released yesterday, the government would provide subsidies for the purchase of private insurance.

“It’s a windfall for the private health-insurance industry,” said Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports President Barack Obama’s health-care law. “It trades the guaranteed health benefits for vouchers that go directly to private health-insurance companies.”

Insurance industry employees and their families also gave $982,356 to the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2010 elections, in which Republicans won a House majority.
Conor Sweeney, a spokesman for the House Budget Committee, which Ryan heads, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.