In an effort to mold the legislation in its favor, health insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has been reported to have spent $660,000 during the first three months of 2010. This amount is 56% lower than the $1.5 million spent on lobbying the federal government in the same period a year ago and 30% lower than $940,000 spent in the final quarter of 2009.
 
Minnesota based UnitedHealth lobbied on a large number of provisions that will come into effect gradually over the next four years. These include expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, providing incentives for businesses to offer health care benefits, prohibiting the denial of coverage/claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, and supporting medical research.
 
Besides advocating against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), UnitedHealth also lobbied against the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, which aimed at rolling back the anti-trust exemptions enjoyed by the insurance industry. The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 was also one of the Acts that the company tried to influence.
 
Besides the Congress, UnitedHealth also lobbied the U.S. departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services.
 
Peers Cigna Corp. (CI) and Humana Inc. (HUM), who spent $400,000 and $248,000, respectively, during the first quarter, have also lowered their expenses compared with the corresponding 2009 period. Last year, when the health reform debate was at its peak, the health sector spent approximately half a billion dollars on lobbying.
 
The companies in the health insurance sector have been exposed to the uncertainties of the PPACA, which was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, though the degree of vulnerability varies.
 
UnitedHealth which derives almost one-fourth of earnings from Medicare Advantage plan, is most exposed to the health care reform that has brought spending cuts in the plan. Though the actual impact of the Act on the company will be mixed, the details will become clearer as the law unfolds.
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