Merrill Matthews, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance writes a letter to the Kansas City Star:

In single-payer systems such as Britain’s, taxpayers pay higher taxes for universal health coverage and the government pays most of their medical bills.  Read more 

So AHIP’s astroturf site, Campaign for an American Solution, aka, murder by spread sheet has a web site. Sign up if you want to. Don’t give them your address (you have to give a zip code, use theirs, 20004). Give your name as Single Payer and address as HR 676.

Shakesville alerts us to Insurance industry forming activist army

“On an issue as big and far-reaching as health care reform, you need to be working with real people and you need to have a reach outside the Beltway,” AHIP spokesman Michael Tuffin told Politico in an interview outlining the industry’s strategy. “The issue isn’t going to be settled just by lobbyists in Washington. The American people are going to have their say.”

Projection, thy name is AHIP.

Sits on Wellpoint’s Board of Directors

Susan Bayh, wife of Senator Evan Bayh, sits on the board of directors of Wellpoint, a huge health insurance company. poputonian has an excellent run down of the history of Wellpoint.  Read more 

Molly Ivins dings another one out of the park. Via Chicago Tribune:

I’m not attempting to make this a partisan deal—only 73 percent of Enron’s political donations went to Republicans. But I’ll be damned if Enron’s No. 1 show-pony politician, George W. Bush, should be allowed to walk away from this. Ken Lay gave $139,500 to Bush over the years. He chipped in $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund in 2000 and $10,000 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund. [snip] Until January 2004, Enron was Bush’s top contributor.  Read more