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The nation's largest health insurance carrier is urging its employees to lobby the Senate against reform proposals that would hurt the firm's bottom line, according to copies of e-mails released Thursday by a liberal advocacy group.
UnitedHealth Group, which is based in Minnesota, sent an e-mail message to its 75,000 employees on Tuesday asking them to
write their senators and
local newspapers in opposition to a public insurance option, alleging that "government-run health care" will force "millions of Americans" to drop their current coverage.
Proposed
form letters from the company also lay out opposition to cuts in the costly Medicare Advantage program and advocate higher financial penalties for individuals who do not buy health insurance.
The e-mail was sent by United for Health Reform, which is the name of the company's lobbying arm; the subject line read: "Write Your Senators!"
Consumer Watchdog, the California-based advocacy group which obtained the documents, says
the letters are full of misleading GOP talking points, such as the claim that millions will lose coverage. The group also says the campaign amounts to intimidation of employees of UnitedHealth Group and its main operating division, UnitedHealthcare.
The insurance industry has spent more than $120 million on direct lobbying in Washington through September of this year, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
UnitedHealth Group alone has spent $3.5 million so far, disclosure reports show."
