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White House Staff Quick to Protect Insurance Company Profits

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White House Staff Quick to Protect Insurance Company Profits
Emails Show Close Partnership Between Obama Staff, Insurance Executives 

(Washington, D.C.) – Senior White House officials have worked closely with insurance company executives to guarantee generous bailouts for firms that lose money in the exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, according to records released today. Earlier this year, insurers lobbied the White House to lift caps on the use of taxpayer funds to compensate companies for their losses. While the White House initially refused, the cap was lifted after communications between senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and the CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This change may cost taxpayers billions, while adding significantly to insurance company profits. 

White House officials have also been partnering with insurance companies to deflect criticism of the new health care law. In the wake of the disastrous rollout last year, White House staff offered insurance executives assistance on messaging, and complimented them on their defenses of the unpopular regime. Left out of this close partnership between insurance companies and government officials are the taxpayers, who eventually end up carrying the significant costs.

Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative, released the following statement: 

"Senior government officials should not be working together with successful and profitable corporations to take more money out of the pockets of hard-working taxpayers. Yet, as the government continues to grow under programs like Obamacare, this practice of government cronyism becomes all too common. Health care reform should focus on giving people more options, encouraging doctors to stay in the system, and using market competition to keep costs down. Instead, under Obamacare, it has turned into a plan to force people to buy insurance they may not like, at inflated prices, while guaranteeing that the insurance companies turn a profit. That's not what people were promised. It's wrong, and it has to stop."

For interviews with a LIBRE representative, please contact: Brian Faughnan, 571-257-3309 or Steven Cruz, 202-578-6173

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