The Gang of Six, three Republican and three Democratic senators in the group, all of them members of the Senate Finance Committee, received an average of $74,600 from health industry lobbyists, according to The San Francisco’s Chronicle’s analysis of records through June.
That is about 25 percent more than the average of $59,632 in such donations that the gang’s other Senate colleagues raked in from lobbyists for the pharmaceutical, hospital, insurance and nursing home industries, according to the analysis, which was based on records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit watchdog group.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, [Wikipedia] [VoteSmart] [OpenSecrets] the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee who is seen as key to influencing other conservatives, received the most this year – $223,600. Committee chair Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., [Wikipedia] [VoteSmart] [OpenSecrets] was second with $141,000.
Baucus’ $856 billion, 10-year bill, which is scheduled to be amended and voted on beginning Tuesday, has been criticized by liberals and conservatives across Capitol Hill.
Conservatives blasted the plan for increasing the tax burden on some Americans. The plan imposes a 35 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” insurance plans that cost more than $8,000 a year per person, or $21,000 a year per family.
Liberals dislike the Baucus plan because it does not allow consumers to choose a government-run insurance option, which could hold down costs by promoting competition with private insurers.
Baucus’ bill would allow cooperatives to sell insurance as a form of competition for private insurers, but Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said co-ops “seem unlikely to establish a significant market presence in many areas of the country.”
Blue Dogs are getting their share too. They have received an average of $31,467 from health care lobbyists this year, more than the $27,385 average of other House members, according to federal figures compiled by The Chronicle.
Money talks. Here is how much Nevada’s Senators/Representives have taken from the health care sector. [Source: San Francisco Chronicle]
[Source: San Francisco Chronicle]
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