The trade association America’s Health Insurance Plans, whose members include managed-care providers based or with operations in Connecticut, spent $2.3 million lobbying the federal government in the third quarter, as it focused on medical liability reform and Medicare Advantage plans among many other issues.
Spending for the association known as AHIP climbed 2 percent from the second quarter but dropped 3 percent compared to last year’s third quarter, when the debate over the health care overhaul heated up in Congress.
Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp. and UnitedHealth Group are AHIP members.
AHIP lobbied on an antitrust exemption for physicians, a bill to extend premium assistance to help unemployed people continue their employer-sponsored health benefits and implementation issues for Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug programs, including risk adjustment methodology, data and audit issues.
The association also lobbied on an act that aimed to protect consumer access to generic drugs and on Health Savings Accounts, according to a report filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives.
Aside from Congress and the White House, AHIP lobbied the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and the departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services.
Among those lobbying for the health insurance trade association was Mary Donahue, a former employee of the office of the Health and Human Services secretary.
