A powerful lobby health braking Obama planned reforms

Lobby groups spend hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to block legislation to reform the health system in the U.S.

American health system has spent several hundred million dollars in order to thwart the reform in health care, which announced the U.S. president Barack Obama. The project is mainly carried out lobbying as the pharmaceutical companies provided donations key political actors.

Measures that supporters said Obama was considered that the current legislation reflects the financial superiority of stakeholders, mainly companies that deal with health insurance, and pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, which tend to stop the announced reforms in order to thus ensure profits.

In recent months, the health industry has spent about 380 million, which through lobbying, through which marketing activities, and direct political support from members of Congress. The largest donation of about 1.5 million newspapers in the name of Marcus Bokusa, chairman of the Senate committee responsible for drafting the new law.

One former cabinet members Bill Clinton says Obama administration in fear due to the potential impact of the powerful pharmaceutical industry at the right-wing American political spectrum. It is estimated that today operates about six people responsible for lobbying against the adoption of the said law.

NGO sector directs its criticism mainly on the political process, stating that the campaign of presidential candidates spent millions of dollars, and that an independent medical research projects completely ignored. As an example of this Bokus said Marcus, who got mentioned a million and half dollars, which was then referred to his political funds. Other members of the committee responsible for drafting the law have received several hundred thousand dollars.

Bokus organized a dinner for representatives of the health care industry in which they were paid several hundred thousand dollars for the presence and amount of money in order to play golf on weekends at his home in Montana.

Health care companies and their lobby firms try to influence the recent Conference on the lower staff to expand its field of action. "It would be naive to think that the politicians no impact," said an unnamed source.

Bokus refused to give statements in relation to political donations, but obtained earlier this year but said that no one will have a "preferential treatment". Robert Reich, minister of the previous Clinton administration, said that the current administration learned the previous example of a democratic cabinet, which was abandoned because of the reforms mentioned power health lobby. Pharmaceutical companies have already invested more than $ 120 million in ads where Obama expressed his opposition to reforms.

Obama says he has no intention of abandoning the reform of the health system, but is open to new ideas that can help. Suggests that health care costs less, and to obtain health insurance and 46 million Americans who now are not insured.

Most Republicans, but some prominent Democrats say they will vote in Congress against the law stipulates that nationalization of health insurance. "For several weeks we see the White House as the doubt about the reform. The president must draw a line and say that it is ready to fight for change," says Democratic Senator Anthony Vajner.


August protests

The demonstrators in August of each week arrived by bus from all parts of America in Washington to demand that Congress immediately adopt measures to expand health insurance, an estimated 47 million Americans who lack it. Opponents of Obama's health care reform, however, are determined to destroy the original plan of President Obama. They are opposed to planned costs, which would be within the next ten years could reach a trillion dollars, and also want to stop, to think, all the government a wider role in managing health care. The opposition has already spent millions of dollars on television ads in order to encourage resistance to Obama's plan at the local level.



Will the reform of the health system still be milder

High U.S. government officials indicated in August that a radical reform of the health system in the United States announced that President Barack Obama could be mitigated. Such information appeared only days after Obama said at a panel discussion which will include the reform. Announced the government program of health insurance, which should provide this kind of support for 46 million Americans who lack insurance is the main bearer of reform. However, in an interview with a U.S. TV station, the health minister in the administration Obaminoj Kathleen Sebelijus said that the creation of an insurance company that would manage the government "has never been high on the priority list predsednikovih. Reporters say that Obama would be able to seek alternative solutions to supplement or modify the plan of reform, and some Democrats and many Republicans harshly criticized the announced changes in American health care system.