Insurer Aetna spends $902 K on 2Q federal lobbying

Quote: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Managed care company Aetna Inc. trimmed its federal lobbying spending in the second quarter, as it focused on bills that shape parts of the health care overhaul, including one that asks the Supreme Court to expedite an appeal over its constitutionality.The Hartford, Conn., insurer spent $902,453 in the three months that ended June 30. That's a 42 percent drop from the $1.6 million it spent in last year's second quarter and a 17 percent decline from 2011's first quarter.Aetna lobbied on legislation calling for the repeal of the overhaul's individual mandate, which would require all Americans to be insured. The overhaul aims to eventually cover millions of uninsured Americans, and insurers have said that for the plan to work, people need to buy and keep coverage. Otherwise, customers would only buy a policy when they became sick.The overhaul also imposes restrictions on insurers, and Aetna lobbied on one of those, a minimum medical-loss ratio that took effect this year.The overhaul calls for insurers either to spend certain minimums of the premiums they collect on care and quality or to provide rebates to consumers. Aetna lobbied on a resolution expressing disapproval of that regulation and on a bill that would exclude broker compensation from the formula used to calculate those ratios.Aetna also lobbied on bills that would allow the establishment of a nationwide Medicare Part D prescription drug program, a national insurance marketplace, and for the Department of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate drug prices.Aetna is the third-largest commercial health insurer, as measured by both enrollment and revenue, trailing WellPoint Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. Health insurance is Aetna's main product, but the company also sells dental, group life and disability coverage.Besides Congress and the White House, Aetna lobbied the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Departme...
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