Big Business launches healthcare lobby group

[babylonsister]

Big Business launches healthcare lobby group
By Jeffrey Young
November 06, 2007


As state legislatures, Congress and the presidential candidates turn up the volume on national healthcare reform, more than 50 of America’s largest corporations and most powerful lobbying organizations are joining forces in a campaign to protect their stake in the status quo.

The newly formed National Coalition on Benefits will spend the next two months working to convince members of Congress that the health benefits they provide their workers, through a federal exemption for state insurance regulations, are an essential component of the current system that should not be undermined in any reform initiatives.

The corporations making up this umbrella group include some of the largest employers in the country, from AT&T to Xerox; trade associations, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable; and health insurance companies like Aetna and UnitedHealth Group.

“Our statement is: This is the one part of the healthcare system that’s working,” said Andrew Mekelburg, vice president of federal government relations for Verizon Communications.

With healthcare reform shaping up to be the No. 1 domestic issue in the 2008 presidential race, these employers wanted to make sure they had a seat at the table when the real legislative efforts begin.

“Because of the activity in the presidential campaign, that is one of the reasons we wanted to form the coalition now,” said Annette Guarisco, executive director of federal affairs for General Motors. “A lot of this is putting a marker down,” she added.

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