Hospital lobby tried to save individual mandate in Mizzou

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Hospital lobby tried to save individual mandate in Mizzou
By: TIMOTHY P. CARNEY
Examiner Columnist
08/04/10 4:35 PM EDT

Barack Obama told you that those battling his health-care bill were those who “profit from the status quo.” Joe Biden just sent out an email bragging that he and the President defeated “corporate influence” in order to pass the bill.

Of course, this is a load of bull, as demonstrated by the drug industry’s embrace of the bill and subsequent campaign to re-elect Harry Reid. The latest bit of evidence that “reform” — regardless of what you think of it — is no assault on the special interests, is the money spent on Missouri’s Proposition C.

Prop C, while largely symbolic, aims to defang the “reform’s” individual mandate in Missouri. Ballotpedia has some info on the money both for and against. One opponent — the hospital lobby.

The Missouri Hospital Association, a major lobby in the state, spent at least $400,000 on mailings opposing the ballot measure. One the other side, it looks like some wealthy individual donors helped bankroll a $75,000 effort — less than 20% of the pro-mandate side. But Democrats will continue to argue the fight against ObamaCare is driven by the special interests.