House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent letters Wednesday to 15 insurance companies demanding copies of their correspondence with the Obama administration in an effort to determine if the administration knew in advance that people could lose access to their doctors or have their existing health insurance policies canceled under Obamacare.
The letters were sent to major insurance companies — Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group among them. Issa asks for a response by Dec. 13.
Issa is looking for a few pieces of information. Did insurance companies know that the president would say that Americans could keep their health plan or their provider? Did they inform the administration that some plans would be canceled or provider networks changed? Did they object to that characterization?
He also asked for “all … communications” between company employees and members of the Obama administration since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March 2010. There is another request for interactions between insurance company employees about the accuracy of Obama’s “keep your doctor” pledge.
“The predictability of these impacts raises serious questions as to the origin and nature of the President’s assurances,” the letter said “The glaring inconsistencies in the Administration’s narrative, coupled with the dispositive evidence that millions of Americans are unable to ‘keep their doctor, period,’ demand rigorous examination.”
Issa previously subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for documents about HealthCare.gov’s troubled launch, along with any enrollment numbers.
The letters to the 15 insurers are nearly identical. Below is the one sent to Aetna President and CEO Mark Bertolini.
