North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy was one of a few dozen congressmen who lost their House seats in 2010 because they voted for Obamacare. Pomeroy even kind of apologized for his vote in one sort of sad TV ad.
But I doubt Pomeroy is very sad about his vote today. He’s now a lobbyist, with much of his money coming from clients who need help navigating the subsidies, regulations and mandates of Obamacare.
For Aetna, Pomeroy lobbies only on “Health reform implementation,” according to his lobbying disclosures.
Pomeroy lobbies alongside that vaunted pro-Obamacare Kansas Republican Bob Dole for drugmaker Celgene. Pomeroy and team lobby on Obamacare for the Kidney Care Council, and other clients.
But the most interesting Pomeroy client may be the one that exists only because of Obamacare, and which is seeking a bailout from the Obama administration.
Health Republic Insurance of New York is an insurance co-op created under Obamacare. These plans were supposed to provide extra competition to the big insurers — a poor-man’s public option.
But some co-ops are collapsing — for instance, NPR covered the demise of Iowa’s insurance co-op. One struggling co-op is Health Republic Insurance of New York. They’re lobbying “to obtain additional solvency funding from CMS,” as the lobbying disclosure puts it.
In English, this insurer — created by Obamacare — is seeking a federal bailout. And a guy who became a lobbyist because he voted for Obamacare is getting paid to win that bailout. Just think, had he voted “No,” he still might be a lowly congressman — or at least he wouldn’t have as many lobbying clients, because Obamacare might not exist.
