Healthcare Industry Supports Johnson Campaign
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 – Health care-related political action committees as well as individuals in the field are playing a significant role in funding Rep. Nancy Johnson’s (R-5) House campaign.
Johnson has raised $2 million for her campaign and has approximately $1.4 million still available, according to Federal Election Commission records analyzed by PoliticalMoneyLine, a non-partisan research group. More than half of Johnson’s money-57 percent-came from political action committees. And among the political action committee money, 42 percent came from the health-care industry.
Johnson has been on the House Ways and Means Committee since 1988, and has been chairwoman of its health subcommittee since 2001.
“Because Nancy is a nationally recognized on health care, she receives backing from doctors, hospital officials, and others who support her work to make health care more affordable and accessible,” said Ken Hiscoe, Johnson’s campaign manager.
As a result, Hiscoe said, Johnson receives contributions from out-of-state political action committees and individuals. According to PoliticalMoneyLine, 47 percent of her individual contributions came from outside Connecticut.
“We’ve always seen Nancy Johnson as someone who’s worked for consumers, who’s worked for choices in health care and who is interested in providing the best health care options for American seniors and those under 65,” said Mohit Ghose, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, an association whose political action committee contributed the limit of $10,000 to Johnson’s campaign.
Ghose cited the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act, which Johnson cosponsored that will provide senior citizens with prescription drug benefits, as a recent legislative accomplishment that his group supported.
“She’s pushed that through for Connecticut seniors who do not have that access,” Ghose said.
Medicare was also an important issue for Aetna Healthcare, whose political action committee also contributed $10,000 to Johnson’s campaign. Aetna spokesperson Fred Laberge said the company’s political action committee gave to Johnson because of her influential leadership in Congress and concern with health-care issues.
“We support her philosophy, essentially a free market system,” said Laberge.
Additionally, he said, Aetna supports Johnson because they have more than 1,000 employees that live and work in her district.
