Healthcare

Get A Room

The Republicans loooooove health insurance companies.

Republicans took to the floor of Congress, the Internet and the Wall Street Journal op-ed page Tuesday in a rush to defend a health insurance company [Humana] that used taxpayer-subsidized communication to terrify seniors with the prospect that health care reform will cut their Medicare benefits.

Republican leaders in both houses of Congress ripped Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) for urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to put a stop to the insurer's efforts, decrying what they called a "gag order" and reading the First Amendment on the floor of the Senate.

Can you imagine what America will look like if the Citizens United case goes the wrong way? I mean, corporations already have too many privileges -- imagine what will happen when they have unlimited access to campaigns, too. Seriously, it would more or less be game over.

And what about Humana? The Republicans are defending some real bastards.

"Humana was recently featured in a HuffPost story for denying health care due to lack of an enema. In 2005, it settled a racketeering suit for $40 million. It settled a fraud lawsuit in 2000 for $14.5 million. Since 2000, its profits have soared from $90 million to $834 million."