Emails: White House worked with health industry to send business to Axelrod’s firm

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Daily Caller:

The charge that the Obama administration coordinated with the health-care industry in 2009 — during the Obamacare fight — to send a good chunk of business to the consulting firm founded by presidential adviser David Axelrod has resurfaced in the news media, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently releasing a barrage of emails showing communications between the administration and the industry sent ahead of the push for Obama’s health care overhaul.

At issue is whether the White House worked with officials inside the industry to form the outside group, “Healthy Economy Now,” which ran pro-Obamacare ads with the help of Axelrod’s former political consulting firm, AKPD Message and Media.

In 2009, the firm not only still employed Axelrod’s son, but it still owed the presidential adviser money as part of his buy-out deal with the firm ahead of leaving to work in the White House.

The emails — which have been reviewed by The Daily Caller — include the revelation that the AKPD consultants were being described as “[White House] WH-designated folks.”

“They have been put in charge of the campaign to pass health reform,” Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures of America (PhRMA) consultant Steve McMahon wrote of a group of consultants, including those from AKPD.

The emails also show how the health-care industry was concerned in 2009 about the revelation in the media that they were partnering with AKPD.