TPM Muckraker has two stories about how the health care industry benefits Hoosiers — two families anyway.
Yesterday, the site had an article about the Buyer family entitled PhRMA Gave Big To GOP Rep’s Iffy Foundation, Hired His Son, Kept On Giving (h/t Blue Indiana).
Drug industry umbrella group PhRMA, which has given $200,000 to given Rep. Steve Buyer’s Frontier Foundation, in June 2008 hired a director of the foundation as its federal affairs manager, TPMmuckraker has confirmed.
The name of that director? Ryan Buyer, son of the Indiana congressman.
. . .
With the revelation that Ryan Buyer was hired by PhRMA in what appears to be a lobbying position, the web of connections between the Indiana congressman, his foundation, and the drug industry grows still thicker.
Today, it has an article about the Bayh family entitled Report: Bayh’s Wife Made Millions As Board Member for Health Insurer.
Susan Bayh’s affiliation with Indianapolis-based WellPoint isn’t news. But a new report on TheStreet digs into the details. It also finds that last year, Susan Bayh sat on four other corporate boards, in addition to WellPoint’s. She received over $656,0000 in cash and stock for all her board work, around half of which came from WellPoint.
For his part, Sen. Bayh denies that Mrs. Bayh’s board memberships influence his judgment. But, at the least, the appearance is pretty bad.
In any case, I guess it’s wrong to vilify the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries when they are providing good jobs to ordinary Hoosiers like the Bayhs and the Buyers.
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