Four major insurers and their employees have doled out $4.5 million in campaign donations, with slightly more than half of those dollars going to Democratic candidates, many of whom are running on single-payer healthcare platforms that would eliminate private insurers, The Hill reports.
The Hill reports that these donations suggest payers will continue to have significant influence over healthcare reform.
Donation data is from the Center for Responsive Politics. The four major insurers — Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealth Group, Cigna and CVS Health — and their employees have donated about $2.3 million to Democrats at all levels who are campaigning for the 2020 election.
Top Democratic presidential candidates have benefited from these donations. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has received the most — about $89,000 — from the four insurers and their employees, followed by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has received about $67,000. Donations have also gone to former Vice President Joe Biden ($60,500) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ($47,500), according to The Hill.
Last July, Mr. Sanders pledged he would reject donations over $200 from insurance companies, political action committees and lobbyists. He said, however, that he would still accept donations from their employees. ABC News found that at the time of the pledge, Mr. Sanders had already accepted some donations that would have been considered off limits.
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