America's Health Insurance Plans

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is an American political advocacy / trade association of health insurance companies known for certification of Medicare Advantage and other health plans governed by CMS: Medicare Core Quality Measures.[1][2][3]

America's Health Insurance Plans
AbbreviationAHIP
Formation2003
TypeTrade association
PurposePolitical advocacy
Location
Region served
United States
Websitewww.ahip.org

History

AHIP was formed in 2003 by the merger of Health Insurance Association of America and American Association of Health Plans.[4][5]

The association's 2005 television advertisement "Shark Bait" drew criticism for its claim that "lawsuit abuse" by American trial lawyers cost the typical American family $1,200 a year.[6]

On August 27, 2009, a spokesman for the association told CNN's Lou Dobbs program that "every survey shows strong satisfaction for private health insurance," as part of the organization's campaign against health care reform. The non-partisan Politfact watchdog organization found that his words were "half-true." In fact, Politifact said polls have found that often the majority of consumers have varying degrees of satisfaction, but are not strongly satisfied. For instance, an ABC News poll in June 2009 about the cost of health insurance premiums found 23 percent were very satisfied, but a combined 75 percent of consumers were somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied (31 percent somewhat satisfied, 19 percent somewhat dissatisfied and 25 percent very dissatisfied).[7]

On the July 10, 2009 edition of Bill Moyers Journal, Wendell Potter, former Vice President of corporate communications at the health insurance corporation CIGNA, claimed that the industry was "afraid" of the Michael Moore documentary Sicko.[8] As a result, the association formed a strategy to discredit the film.[8] As part of the reporting on this allegation, Bill Moyers Journal leaked May 2007 and June 2007 drafts of a memo entitled "Ensuring Accurate Perceptions of the Health Insurance Industry".[9][10]

AHIP gave more than $100 million to help fund the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2009 and 2010 efforts to defeat President Obama's signature health care reform law.[11]

In 2015, two major American health insurance companies, UnitedHealth and Aetna, left the association; in 2017 a third large insurance company, Humana, also left.[12][13]

It was a co-founder of the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future in 2018. Also in 2018 Matt Eyles became President and CEO.[14]

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the association spent more than $181.8 million on lobbying from 1998 to 2019; in 2018, $6.7 million was paid for work by 44 lobbyists from seven different lobbying firms.[15]

AHIP was one of several organizations involved in founding and funding Partnership for America’s Health Care Future (PAHCF), a nonprofit created in 2019 to oppose the creation of a comprehensive, universal health care system in the U.S.[16]

References
  1. Medicare, Centers for; Baltimore, Medicaid Services 7500 Security Boulevard; Usa, Md21244 (2017-07-28). "Core Measures". www.cms.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  2. Mullner, Ross M. (May 15, 2009). Encyclopedia of Health Services Research. SAGE Publications. pp. 77–78. ISBN 9781452266114. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  3. Herman, Bob (March 14, 2018). "Marilyn Tavenner leaving AHIP". Axios. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  4. "Health insurers gain a huge new lobby," The New York Times, September 23, 2003
  5. Sarah Lueck, "Two health trade groups to merge,", The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2003
  6. "Insurance Industry Ad Makes Fishy Claim About Lawyers". FactCheck.org. April 19, 2005. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  7. Jacobson, Lewis (September 1, 2009). Adair, Bill (ed.). "Private insurance plans say public has 'strong satisfaction' with their coverage". PolitiFact. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  8. "Bill Moyers Journal . Transcripts . PBS". Bill Moyers Journal. Public Broadcasting Service. July 10, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  9. America's Health Insurance Plans (May 2007). "Ensuring Accurate Perceptions of the Health Insurance Industry" (PDF). Bill Moyers Journal. Public Broadcasting Service (published July 10, 2009). Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  10. America's Health Insurance Plans (June 1, 2007). "Ensuring Accurate Perceptions of the Health Insurance Industry" (PDF). Bill Moyers Journal. Public Broadcasting Service (published July 10, 2009). Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  11. Frates, Chris (2012-06-13). "AHIP Gave More Than $100 Million to Chamber's Efforts to Derail Health Care Reform". National Journal. Archived from the original on 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  12. Bob Herman (January 9, 2016). Big insurer defections signal AHIP's fading clout. Modern Health Care. Accessed January 2019.
  13. Bob Herman, Sam Baker (January 10, 2018). Humana leaves AHIP. Axios. Accessed January 2019.
  14. King, Robert (March 14, 2018). "Insurance lobbying group gets new president". Washington Examiner. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  15. "America's Health Insurance Plans: Summary". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  16. Perez, Andrew (2019-11-19). "Top Democratic Consultants Working for Anti–Medicare for All Campaign". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
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