You read that right — the nation’s largest insurer has hired Tom Carper’s ex-Chief of Staff as a lobbyist to campaign for their interests on the health care bill:
Then, on September 25, insurer WellPoint hired Jones’ firm to lobby in the issue areas of health care, insurance, and Medicare/Medicaid, according to the lobbying registration filed last week, which lists the anticipated “specific lobbying issues” as “Healthcare reform legislation, specifically proposals affecting health insurance providers.”
Jones’ other health-sector clients include drugmakers Astra-Zeneca and Amgen, the trade groups Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, as well as the American Insurance Association.
In his brief 22 months as a lobbyist, Jones has given $46,800 to Democrats, including White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Jones has also given to Majority Leader Harry Reid, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, health-care waffler Evan Bayh, as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
You aren’t surprised at this, right? But the narrative does click into place as Senator Carper continues to work at doing everything he can to try to rid the bill of any possibility of real competition for insurance companies. It isn’t enough that the public option as it exists has been pretty well watered down, Senator Carper is working and getting rid of it and letting the Congress walk away with the fig leaf of triggers — for local co-ops, for national co-ops, for some option that will simply never be invoked. Like his trigger for the Medicare Part D drug costs.
Some months back, David Shuster of MSNBC asked Carper directly if the amount of money he gets from insurance companies, drug companies and other medical businesses influences his vote. Time for someone in the media to ask this question again — especially since his ex CoS and friend is now the face of WellPoint in Congressional offices.
(h/t Allan Loudell’s news program this afternoon)