Baucus health reform plan splits ‘Gang of Six’
| September 16, 2009 | 11:37 AM
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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus unveiled his official plan for health care reform on Wednesday, and it closely matches the initial framework he sent out last week.
The plan is the culmination of several months of work by the “Gang of Six,” a bipartisan group of senators on the Finance Committee. A key word there is bipartisan, because it caused a kerfuffle Wednesday since none of the Republicans in the Gang of Six say they will support Baucus’ bill.
As a nod to the GOP, Baucus’ plan is more moderate than others making their way through Congress. It permits interstate health insurance sales, does not have a public health insurance option (instead it would set up nonprofit insurance co-ops), and is meant to be deficit-neutral. Funding for the plan would come from increased efficiencies in Medicare and Medicaid as well as from new fees on the health care industry.
All the talk about money got me to thinking. The health care industry has a pretty big lobbying setup, and we all know they’re big donors to political campaigns. How do the Gang of Six rate in that money? Here’s the breakdown from OpenSecrets.org for the most recent election cycle:
- Max Baucus, D-Mont.: Of his top 20 donors, six are tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 2, 3, 8, 9, 12 and 15. Broken down by sector, Health is his second-highest source of funding. Broken down by industry, Health Professionals and Pharmaceuticals/Health Products are his No. 2 and 3 sources of funding.
- Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.: Of his top 20 donors, one is tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 14. Broken down by sector, Health is his fourth-highest source of funding. Broken down by industry, Health Professionals is his third-highest source of funding.
- Kent Conrad, D-N.D.:
- Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.: His No. 1 donor is tied to the health industry (insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield). Four others in his top 20 donors are tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 5, 9, 13 and 17. Broken down by sector, Health is his second-highest source of funding. Broken down by industry, Pharmaceuticals/Health Products is his top source of funding, and Health Professionals is No. 4.
- Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa: His No. 1 and No. 2 donors are tied to the health industry (Biotech firm Amgen and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, respectively). Seven others in his top 20 donors are tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 18. Broken down by sector, Health is his top source of funding. Broken down by industry, Health Professionals is his top source of funding, and Pharmaceuticals/Health Products is No. 3. He is No. 2 on the list of Pfizer donation recipients, and No. 4 on the list of Blue Cross/Blue Shield recipients.
- Olympia Snowe, R-Maine: Of her top 20 donors, three are tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 2, 8 and 15. Broken down by sector, Health is her second-highest source of funding. Broken down by industry, Health Professionals is her second-highest source of funding.
His No. 1 donor is tied to the health industry (DaVita Inc., which provides kidney dialysis services). Three others in his top 20 donors are tied to the health industry, ranking at No. 3, 13 and 19. Broken down by sector, Health is his third-highest source of funding. Broken down by industry, Health Professionals is his fourth-highest source of funding.
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