Republican Lawmaker Criticizes Leaders on Health Care Lobbying
The Republican sponsor of a bill to curb alleged health care abuses has accused his party’s leaders of appearing to be “in the pocket” of the health industry.
Rep. Greg Ganske (R-Iowa) circulated a letter to his Republican House colleagues this week bitterly charging that party leaders were ignoring the horror stories of patients who died because of limitations on their care imposed by health maintenance organizations.
He acted after memos surfaced linking Senate and House GOP leaders to an industry lobbying campaign to thwart new federal managed-care standards.
“Maybe they ought to look at some facts,” Ganske wrote. “Maybe they ought to think about why the public perceives the Republican leadership as being ‘in the pocket’ of the HMOs.”
A memorandum written Oct. 22 by a lobbyist for the Health Insurance Assn. of America details advice from congressional leaders to the industry “to start fighting like we are in a war” against a series of bills aimed at controlling widely reported industry abuses.
The document states that the battle against regulatory legislation is being coordinated by an aide to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), together with the National Federation of Independent Business, the small-business lobby.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
