Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans vowed to block President Barack Obama’s nominee for surgeon general and other health officials unless the government drops what they said is a “gag order” barring insurers from lobbying their Medicare policyholders on the health-insurance overhaul.

The move by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and seven other Republicans would delay confirmation of almost a dozen nominees for Health and Human Services positions, including Dr. Regina Benjamin to become surgeon general.

“Until your department rescinds its gag order and allows seniors to receive information about matters before Congress, we will not consent” to move forward with the confirmations, the eight Republicans said in a letter today to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The conflict erupted this week when Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus accused insurer Humana Inc. of using “scare tactics” in letters urging senior citizens to oppose his legislation.

Humana is based in Louisville in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. It is Louisville’s fifth-largest employer, with 7,558 jobs as of June 30, 2007, according to the Louisville Metro Finance Department.

Humana Chairman David Jones Jr. and foundations he controlled contributed some $1.6 million in donations to the McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville, according to a 2004 report by the Courier-Journal newspaper in that city.

Campaign Finance

Jones also gave $28,500 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in September 2007, according to campaign finance records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Humana was McConnell’s eighth-biggest political contributor since 2005, with donations from employees and the company’s political action committee totaling $57,400, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Eric Schultz, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, criticized the Republicans’ letter to Sebelius in a statement.

“Republicans jeopardize their own credibility when they choose to defend big insurance companies trying to make false claims about senior citizens,” Schultz said.

Losing Benefits

At Baucus’s request, Medicare officials are investigating letters in which Humana told customers that senior citizens may lose benefits under a health-care overhaul. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a Sept. 18 letter to Humana, ordered the health insurer to stop the mailings and remove the materials from its Web site.

Humana spokesman Tom Noland said Sept. 21 the company was working with federal officials to resolve the matter.

The Republicans’ letter said the agency imposed an “industrywide gag order” that violates constitutional free- speech protections and overturns a Clinton-era rule letting insurers disseminate information about legislation to Medicare beneficiaries.

“Seniors on Medicare should not be subjected to misleading information about their Medicare benefits,” HHS spokesman Nicholas Papas said in a statement. “We have serious concerns that certain communications from a major insurance company violated CMS regulations and our investigation will continue.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan J. Donmoyer in Washington at rdonmoyer@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 24, 2009 18:19 EDT