Wall Street Journal - October 5, 1999
LOBBYISTS HOLD FUND-RAISER FOR HASTERT AS HOUSE NEARS MANAGED-CARE DEBATE By a Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON -- As the House prepares for what could be a bruising battle over managed-care reform, Speaker Dennis Hastert will be feted Tuesday morning at a $1,000-a-plate breakfast sponsored by several industry lobbyists.
The event, limited to 15 participants, has been scheduled for several months and wasn't timed to coincide with the start of the debate on managed-care reform, organizers and sponsors said.
"These things happen all the time," said Deborah Steelman, a lobbyist for Humana Inc. and other health-care interests who is also a health-care adviser to Gov. George W. Bush. "It's serendipitous that it's [Tuesday]. It wasn't planned that way." The House is expected to take up the legislation later this week, including a controversial provision that would allow patients to sue their health plans. Among the 10 breakfast hosts, half represent managed-care companies.
The money raised at the breakfast will go to Speaker Hastert's political action committee, which funds Republicans running for Congress. Pete Jeffries, a spokesman for Mr. Hastert, said such fund-raisers "are routine for the PAC."
The timing, he said, was "purely coincidental," but that it represents "an opportunity for a cross section of the business community to hear the speaker's thoughts on the debate." Mr. Jeffries said some sponsors represent medical-device makers and other companies that aren't managed care groups.
The breakfast raised complaints from reform advocates. "Too much special interest money can make it tough for Congress to do what's best for consumers," said Gail Shearer, director of health-policy analysis for the Washington office of Consumers Union. "The politics are bad and the timing is bad. It's an egregious example of special interests having too much clout in Congress."
As of Monday evening, the House Rules Committee, which establishes procedures for the debate, still hadn't resolved how to structure the managed-care floor debate. That's crucial to the success of the bipartisan bill, which is sponsored by Reps. John Dingell (D., Mich.) and Charlie Norwood (R., Ga.).
Without significant changes, the bill would coast to victory: It has near unanimous support among Democrats and 21 Republican cosponsors. But some of its staunchest opponents are within the House leadership, and it remains to be seen how far they will go to stop it. For his part, Speaker Hastert has had little to say on the subject. Proponents of the bill fear it will be combined with Republican-backed legislation aimed at expanding access to health care. That measure is loaded with provisions many Democrats find objectionable, such as the creation of medical-savings accounts.
Monday, Rep. Norwood asked the Rules Committee to provide "full, open, fair debate" on his bill and to keep it separate from the access bill. "You'll have broad support if you consider them independently," he said. "You put them together and you may not pass anything."