On Thursday, New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reported that sources are saying Steve Bannon is unhappy with the House Republican healthcare bill, titled the American Health Care Act, claiming it was “written by the insurance lobby.”
One day earlier, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., made that same point, reiterating a charge he leveled less than 24 hours after the bill’s release in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Pressed by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to explain why any conservative would support the AHCA on Thursday, Massie said, “The insurance companies were the ones at the seat of the table when this bill was written. That’s why everybody comes out worse except for the insurance companies if this bill passes.”
The congressman, one of the legislation’s staunchest opponents, continued, “They bring a lot of pressure to bear with the money that they contribute here on the Hill… You can probably confirm that that has a lot of influence on what happens up here.”
Earlier this month Massie told the Examiner, “The committee that’s writing this bill receives the most money from the health insurance lobbyists,” continuing, “In fact, probably everybody on that committee receives max checks from most of the health insurance companies.”
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the top two industry donors to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for the 115th Congress were health professionals and pharmaceuticals/health products. Combined, these two industries contributed more than $12 million to members of the committee. Nearly 62 percent of those donations went to Republicans.
On the Ways & Means Committee, Health Professionals ranked second among industry contributors, donating $4.4 million to committee members during the 115th Congress. About 70 percent of those donations went to Republicans.
An Examiner survey of the committees who drafted the AHCA tested these claims as well.
Campaign donations from PACs and individuals classified as health professionals or pharmaceuticals/health products by the Center for Responsive Politics ranked among the top two industry contributors to 25 of the 31 Republican members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That’s 80 percent.
Members of the House Ways & Means Committee fared better. By the same metric, industry contributions from health professionals and pharmaceuticals/health products ranked in the top two of industry contributors for only eight of the 24 Republican members. Nevertheless, health professionals still ranked second among industry contributors to the committee.
Whether these contributions translated into influence writing the bill is more difficult to say. But it’s clear the industries supported members of both committees at a high level.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
