Ryan’s Budget Proposal Would Aid Insurers, a Top Source of Campaign Cash

Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal to end traditional Medicare for future generations would benefit private insurers, whose employees have given the Wisconsin Republican more money than any other industry.

Ryan has received $672,203 from insurance employees and their families since 1997, his largest industry source of campaign donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group. The figure includes all insurers, not just health-insurance companies. Employees of Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies and their trade group gave $48,650, his ninth-largest individual source of funds.

His proposal would transform Medicare, the federal health- care program for senior citizens, for all Americans now 54 and under. Under his budget plan released yesterday, the government would provide subsidies for the purchase of private insurance.

“It’s a windfall for the private health-insurance industry,” said Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports President Barack Obama’s health-care law. “It trades the guaranteed health benefits for vouchers that go directly to private health-insurance companies.”

Insurance industry employees and their families also gave $982,356 to the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2010 elections, in which Republicans won a House majority.

Competition Needed

Bringing private insurers into Medicare is crucial to holding down costs and reducing the federal budget deficit, Ryan said today.

“If you do not address health care, you do not fix the budget,” Ryan said on Bloomberg Television. “We want a bunch of providers competing against each other for our business. That gets rid of waste, increases productivity, and is better for the beneficiary.”

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington-based trade group, said the industry had a “proven track record” of providing quality care under Medicare.

In a statement, he said the group wants to work “with members of Congress in both parties to improve the quality and safety of patient care and to help put these critically important programs on sustainable and fiscally responsible paths.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. Photographer: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg

5:44

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and House Budget Committee chairman, talks about his budget proposal, which would phase out the traditional Medicare program and replace it with subsidies to buy private insurance. Ryan’s plan forecasts shrinking federal deficits starting over the next decade, from $995 billion in fiscal 2012 to $385 billion by 2021. Ryan speaks with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop." (Source: Bloomberg)

3:24

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Linden, director of tax and budget policy at the Center for American Progress, talks about House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's 2012 fiscal plan. The proposal outlined by Ryan calls for reducing the top individual and corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent, which would require lawmakers to consider eliminating tax breaks such as the mortgage interest deduction to meet his revenue targets. Linden speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)

5:02

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Bell, senior director of the Economic Policy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, talks about the possibility of a government shutdown if Democratic and Republican leaders fail to compromise on a budget plan. Bell speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)