LAMEborn town hall

Proof of the plan to keep out opponents by packing the venue with supporters:

the entry from the EPC GDop website:

Colorado Springs Republican Meet Up: Ray Hicks 291-1998.
Meet at Caddy Shack @ Valley Hi Golf Course, 610 S Chelton C/S CO 80910
(4th Thursday) 6:00 pm social/dinner & 7:00pm meeting
Dates: 1-22-2009, 2-26, 3-26, 4-23, 5-28, 6-25, 7-23, 8-27, 9-24, 10-22

LAMEborn mailer full of LIES

Rep. LAMEborn has just sent out an estimated 70,000 mailers "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense" that is full of LIES. You'll get one in the mail. It's only estimated to be 70,000 because LAMEborn's Communications Director Catherine Mortensen, said to a TV reporter, "I have the figures, but I don't have the authority to give them to you." Actually she doesn't have the authority to withhold that information because it is public record, since this pack of LIES was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense."


It says "114 million could lose their current health care coverage under the bill".
LIE!
This absurd figure comes from "The Impact of the House Health Reform Legislation Coverage and Provider Incomes," by the Lewin Group. The Lewin Group is a "research" and management consulting firm (lobbyists) owned by UnitedHealth Group.
Pure industry LIES!
The "research" does NOT show 114 million loosing healthcare but changing over to the public option, AND an additional 9.4 million being insured that are not now. The chart provided by this industry lobbying firm is interpreted by LAMEborn to say what it does NOT say. It's a total guess as to how many will change over to the public plan. The 114 million was a figure they published in June, which they revised DOWN to 88.1 million in July, so it's not ever their most current LIE.
Next LIE:
"4.7 million jobs that could be lost as a result of tax hikes on small businesses".
This figure comes from an op-ed piece written by House minority leader John Boehner (don't say boner) who got it, he says, according to methodology developed by Christina Romer, and she NEVER said such a thing, and he obviously doesn't understand her methodology. She's the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration.
What did she really say?

"the current healthcare system does not work well for small businesses." "They pay about 18% more for comparable coverage than a big firm, and that puts them at a competitive disadvantage." "Healthcare reform is ABSOLUTELY aimed at easing those burdens." "The plan has a tax credit for small businesses."
Watch her entire statement here, and compare that to what LAMEborn put in his pack of LIES "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense":

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/21

The Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers.

The Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. Ingenix supplied UnitedHealth and other insurers with data that allegedly understated the "reasonable and customary" doctor fees that insurers use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network care.

In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994.

Lewin produced one of the most widely cited statistics of the health-care debate: Under a particular version of a public option, the number of people with private, employer-sponsored coverage would decline by more than 100 million.

Adjusting its analysis to reflect the latest version of legislation drafted by House Democrats, Lewin has estimated that 88.1 million workers would shift from private, employer-sponsored insurance to the proposed public plan.

The Congressional Budget Office came to a different conclusion, saying that enrollment in the House Democrats' proposed public plan would total 11 million to 12 million people.

Though the millions of people Lewin Group Vice President John Sheils was describing would lose their employer-sponsored coverage, they wouldn't be forced into a government-run health plan, Sheils said in an interview. Rather, they would be able to choose between the government plan and other private options, and "they might very well be better off," he said.

The report estimates that premiums for a public plan would be up to 30 percent less than coverage under private insurance, or about $761 every month for a family, compared with a $970 monthly premium for the same coverage in the private insurance market. Single coverage would cost an estimated $298 a month under the public plan, versus $405 for private coverage.

But not all of the firm's reports see the light of day. For example, a study for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association was never released, Sheils said.

"Let's just say, sometimes studies come out that don't show exactly what the client wants to see. And in those instances, they have [the] option to bury the study -- to not release it, rather," Sheils said.

More research:

Washington Post on campaign bribes

MediaMatters on campaign bribes

several other GOP lawmakers, have quoted Lewin Group that a public option will harm private sector providers:

Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have quoted Lewin data.

Cantor has brought in $12,500 from UnitedHealth since 2007 and Hatch has raised $7,000. Cantor ranks No. 13 among all lawmakers who have collected UnitedHealth cash since 2007.

NPR story on campaign bribes

The study looked at six options, says Sheils. "And five of those options are less aggressively priced than the Medicare payment level option," meaning they would attract fewer enrollees to switch from private insurance coverage.

For example, Sheils says, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York "has a plan which would require the public program to pay private payer rates " the same rates that other private insurers have to pay " and under that scenario we get only between 10 and 12 million people dropping private coverage."

Fact: While news reports have discredited the Lewin Group as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the insurance industry, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed the provisions in America's Affordable Health Choices Act would result in dramatically increased coverage without crowding out private insurance. The CBO also says the bill would:

  • Lead to an increase in employer sponsored insurance coverage: "We estimate that about 12 million people who would not be enrolled in an employment-based plan under current law would be covered by one in 2016..."
  • Not crowd out private health insurance: "CBO does not anticipate a substantial shift from private insurance to Medicaid."
  • Not lead to inflated public option enrollment, in fact, private plans would be dominant in marketplace. The CBO projects only about 10 to 11 million individuals in the public option by 2019.
  • Several of the bill’s measures could lead to decreased costs for the average consumer (e.g. encouraging healthy consumers to purchase insurance, reducing the "cost shift" of the uninsured, and reforms to Medicare). [For More Information on CBO Analysis]
  • http://speaker.house.gov/newsroom/factcheck?id=0076

The Lewin Group has a reputation as the "go to" firm for beleaguered organizations in need of reports and research to support controversial positions and issues

Lewin Group is owned by a subsidiary of UnitedHealth called Ingenix that was accused by the American Medical Association and the New York attorney general of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. Ingenix supplied UnitedHealth and other insurers with data that allegedly understated the "reasonable and customary" doctor fees that insurers use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network care. In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York Attorney General and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994.

http://alligatorreport.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/611/

 LIE #1:

If the bill passes, approximately 114 million Americans are expected to leave private health insurance. Why?  Their  employers will drop the insurance because the taxpayer-subsidized plan will be 30 to 40 percent cheaper.

Fact: Employers will not be able to offer the public option exclusively. They will instead be able to buy into an exchange where they can offer employees more than one option, including the public option. This is what all Federal employees already have.

Source: Jacob S. Hacker: Co-director of the Center for Health, Economic, and Family Security at U.C. Berkeley; a fellow at the New America Foundation; and the editor of Health at Risk: America's Ailing Health System-and How to Heal It.

open secret file on LAMEborn:

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00028133

Campaign contributions by sector:

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/lamborn-for-congress.asp?cycle=08

LAMEborn did not even get ther majority of GOP support in the primary, but the majority voted for Rayburn and Crank.