House Democrats are probing the nation’s largest insurance companies for lavish spending, demanding reams of compensation data and schedules of retreats and conferences.
Letters sent to 52 insurance companies by Democratic leaders demand extensive documents for an examination of ‘extensive compensation and other business practices in the health insurance industry.” The letters set a deadline of Sept. 14 for the documents.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, signed the three-page letter dated Monday.
An industry source replied when asked for comment: “This is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded fishing expedition designed to silence health plans."
By Sept. 4, the firms are supposed to supply detailed compensation data for board members and top executives, as well as a “table listing all conferences, retreats, or other events held outside company facilities from January 1, 2007, to the present that were paid for, reimbursed, or subsidized in whole or in part by your company.”
For employees or officers making $500,000 or more, the committee wants information on salary, bonus, options and pension.
And by Sept. 14, the firms are supposed to provide copies of reports from compensation consultants, plus board drafts of compensation plans and information about market share.
I sure hope the insurance industry doesn't have any private jets, because Congress may get jealous due to not getting theirs and confiscate them.
Since when was it the government's and specifically the President's and Congress' business to investigate and demand changes to the business practices of private companies? Oh yeah, when Obama took over GM after he pressured the company to fire its management team. This is nothing more than a giant leap forward to changing this country into a freedom-free tyranny. When a government can do things like this without any worry of repurcussions from the courts or the people, Liberty has been yielded to total government control. The insurance companies, or any other private company or individual for that matter, should have the freedom to use their revenue in any legal manner they choose without the fear of unreasonable interference from government entities. This is no longer the truth. Actually this may be bouncing up awful hard against the 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th Amendments and Art. 1, Sec. 9 of the Constititution which states: No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
While the courts to this point has granted Congress wide latitude in their "investigations," I wouldn't be surprise if there was a judicial slap up side the head in the near future for overreaching both the commom sense level of that power as well as any possible Constitutional argument in favor.
Again I ask, with the government acting like this, why should they be allowed to control the healthcare industry?
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