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Why AHIP Is Fighting Real Reform

March 6, 2009 - 5:27pm ET

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AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) is a national trade association that represents the special interests of the health insurance industry in government and in the media, and with individuals and employers. AHIP members are insurance companies profiting from the status quo. When you learn more about AHIP and its member companies, it becomes clear why the insurance industry cannot be trusted with health reform.

Insurance companies feigned support of and then helped torpedo health care reform in the early 90's with the now infamous "Harry and Louise" ads.

The top 7 "for profit" health insurers made a combined $12.6 billion in 2007— an increase of 170.2% from 2003.

In 2007, the average CEO compensation package for the top 7 "for profit" health insurance companies was $14.3 million. Pay packages ranged from $3.7 million to $25.8 million. AHIP's President, Karen Ignagni, was paid nearly $1.4 million in 2006.

Two UnitedHealth Group executives sit on AHIP's board of directors. This January, UnitedHealth Group agreed to pay $50 million to settle a New York Attorney General investigation into a scheme by health insurers to defraud consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates, plus another $350 million to resolve class action lawsuits based on the same abuses. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo called it "an industry-wide scheme perpetuated by some of the nation's largest health insurers to deceive and defraud consumers.".

Health Net's president & CEO sits on AHIP's board of directors. Health Net dropped 1,600 enrollees when they got sick, saving the company $35.5 million. Health Net "set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved." The insurer "paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies."

Last year, an AMERIGROUP executive spoke before Congress "on behalf of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)" about "Medicaid's critical role for Americans with disabilities." Just two years earlier, a federal jury awarded $48 million in damages against AMERIGROUP-which triples to $144 million under the federal False Claims Act-for discriminating against people with health conditions and pregnant women enrolled in the Medicaid program.

The insurance industry has been using its deep pockets—your health care premiums—to try to influence lawmakers. The Washington Post reports that:

"Health insurers and their employees contributed $2.2 million to the top 10 recipients in the House and Senate since 2005, while drug makers and their employees gave more than $3.3 million to top lawmakers during that period, according to an analysis of federal elections data by Consumer Watchdog, a California-based advocacy group."

Are these the type of people you want influencing health care reform? If not, support a choice of public health insurance, so we are not left at the mercy of the insurance companies if we don't want to be!