This Neutering of Health Care Reform brought to you by...

[AFK]

The Insurance Industry. 

Yes, big shock I'm sure. 

The Democrats, once again, are afraid of their own shadow, and so the moderates have been busy palling around with some Republicans to carve out a bill that will do pretty much nothing.  No public option, no insuring the uninsured, just a bunch of hot air.

Meanwhile, the Republicans have been throwing around this esteemed Lewin Group think tank as their central locus of opposition to health care reform.  About how it is going to cost too much, force people to change their insurance plans, etc., etc. 

Just one caveat, the Lewin Group is to the Insurance industry as KBR is to Halliburton.

the Lewin Group is owned by UnitedHealth Group. 

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the Lewin Group, a health care research consulting firm, is owned by Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group. Research by Lewin has been a staple talking point of Minnesota's Republicans — who tout the group as "independent" and "non-partisan" — in their opposition to a health reform package currently being debated in Washington.

The Lewin Group is owned by Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, which posted hefty profits for the first half of this year, thanks in part to a federal subsidy called Medicare Advantage. Despite the profit from public programs, UnitedHealth has been actively working against a public option as part of Congress' health reform package.

minnesotaindependent.com/40431/oft-quoted-independent-health-group-has -ties-to-big-insurers

But of course, your average joe sixpack isn't going to delve deep enough, (aka a simple Google search) to discover this little gem, and will just go along with the sham that the Lewin Group is like RAND or some other outfit that actually does legitimate research now and again. 

[Jenne]

What I'm predicting from this 3-ring circus is that we'll end up with more health care coverage, but not the 100% that the Democrats were committed to 8 mos ago.  Well, paid lip service to, anyway.