The Connected Company behind Healthcare.gov

The Connected Company behind Healthcare.gov

Democratic powerbrokers lobbied for QSSI’s big award.

By Jillian Kay Melchior

November 6, 2013 4:00 AM

http://nationalreview.com/article/363186/connected-company-behind-healthcaregov-jillian-kay-melchior

Quality Software Services Inc., the company that built the data hub for Healthcare.gov, won its huge contract after its parent, UnitedHealth Group, enlisted two so-called super-lobbyists. These men are Democratic power-brokers: They have raised significant amounts of funds for Democratic causes and campaigns, and they maintain lots of friends in high places.

One of them, Jeff Forbes, has worked on behalf of UnitedHealth regarding Obamacare implementation since at least January 2011, first for Cauthen Forbes & Williams, and then for Forbes-Tate. Between the two firms, UnitedHealth has spent $600,000 for Forbes’s efforts since 2011.

Forbes has a history with some of the health law’s major players. According to his official bio on the Forbes-Tate website, he served as a senior adviser to President Obama for the New Hampshire campaign in 2008. Since 2009, Forbes has visited the White House at least seven times, according to the visitor logs — sometimes for tours, but at other times for small meetings with Obama-administration staffers, including Chris Dawe, health-policy adviser to the National Economic Council and a former staffer to Senator Max Baucus.

Like Dawe, Forbes is a Baucus alum; he served as the senator’s chief of staff from 1999 to 2002 and went on to work for the Senate Finance Committee. As even Mother Jones has noted, the revolving door spun then, too: “In 2003, Forbes was Baucus’ lead staffer on the Senate Finance Committee working extensively on the Medicare prescription drug bill,” writer Jonathan Stein complained in 2008. “Baucus, then the top-ranking Democrat on the panel, was one of the bill’s central architects. In late November, just five days before the Senate took the final, key vote on the bill, Forbes quit. Six weeks later, he was registered to lobby for two drug companies and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the lobby representing the nation’s biggest prescription drug companies.” In that context, it’s worth mentioning that Baucus was later instrumental in writing and passing Obamacare.

And then there’s the fact that Forbes has raised a lot of money for Democrats. In 2010, he co-founded Commonsense Ten, a liberal super PAC that has since changed its name to Majority PAC. Many of its biggest donors are union groups, and, according to OpenSecrets.org, Majority PAC spent $33.8 million against Republicans during the 2012 election cycle.

Since 2009, Forbes has co-hosted fundraising parties for seven Democratic political candidates. He has personally given $469,520 in campaign contributions since 1991, the money going exclusively to Democratic candidates and groups, according to InfluenceExplorer.

The other super-lobbyist is Steven Elmendorf — of the firm Elmendorf Ryan, on which UnitedHealth has spent $1.35 million since 2010. Elmendorf personally spent $146,400 in political contributions during the 2012 campaigns, more than all but five other lobbyists in the United States. Since 1991 he has given $672,328 in campaign contributions, almost exclusively to Democrats. He’s also one of the top bundlers in the U.S., having raised at least $200,000 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to InfluenceExplorer. And since 2009, Elmendorf has hosted 13 fundraising parties for Democratic candidates.

Furthermore, Elmendorf – like Forbes — has been a frequent visitor to the White House. Logs show at least 39 visits to the White House since 2009. In the course of those visits, he had small meetings with several top policy and economic advisers to the president.

National Review Online’s look into UnitedHealth’s lobbying choices comes days after the New York Post found that the company’s executive vice president, Anthony Welters, was also “a top campaign bundler,” and that he and his wife were “top donors.” Furthermore, OpenSecrets.org reports that there are “revolving door” concerns about every single one of the 40-plus lobbyists who have advocated on behalf of UnitedHealth over the past two years.

Of course, lobbying and political contributions have long been a part of government contracting, and the revolving door has long been in continuous motion. But as Healthcare.gov struggles, it becomes harder to believe these companies were chosen strictly because of their competence.

Jeff Forbes

Jeffrey A. Forbes is a founding partner for Forbes-Tate, was a founding partner at Cauthen Forbes & Williams, and Max S. Baucus’s chief of staff.

Note: Cauthen Forbes & Williams was a lobby firm for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the UnitedHealth Group Inc.

James A. Johnson was a director at the UnitedHealth Group Inc., a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, is a member of the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Jason L. Furman was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the deputy director at the National Economic Council, and the assistant to the president for economic policy for the Barack Obama administration.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Committee for Economic Development.

George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and was a contributor for the Majority PAC.

John E. Sexton is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and a trustee at the NYU Langone Medical Center.

Anthony Welters is a trustee at the NYU Langone Medical Center, and the EVP for the UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Donna E. Shalala is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, was a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a director at the UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Lois E. Quam was a manager at UnitedHealth Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

Barbara G. Fast was a VP for the CGI Group Inc., and a VP for the Boeing Company.

W. James McNerney Jr. is the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and Obamacare is his signature policy initiative.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Brian Pomper is a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, was a founding partner at Parven Pomper Strategies Inc., and the chief international trade counsel for Max S. Baucus.

Scott Parven is a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, the founder & president for Parven Pomper Strategies Inc., and the chief international trade counsel for Max S. Baucus.

Greg Mastel was a lobbyist for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and the chief of staff for Max S. Baucus.

Max S. Baucus’s chief of staff was Jeffrey A. Forbes.

Jose H. Villarreal is a senior adviser at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and a director at the Center for American Progress.

Tom Daschle is a director at the Center for American Progress, was the nominee for health and human services secretary for the Barack Obama administration, an adviser at the UnitedHealth Group Inc., and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Gene B. Sperling was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress,, and is the director at the National Economic Council for the Barack Obama administration.

Lawrence H. Summers was the National Economic Council chairman for the Barack Obama administration, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is a distinguished fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Center for American Progress.

George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, was a supporter for the Center for American Progress, and a contributor for the Majority PAC.

Laura D'Andrea Tyson was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is a director at the Center for American Progress, a director at the CBRE Group, Inc., and a professor at the Haas School of Business.

Richard C. Blum is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the chairman for the CBRE Group, Inc., a board member for the Haas School of Business, and married to Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Dianne Feinstein is married to Richard C. Blum, a U.S. Senate senator, and a member of the Alfalfa Club.

James Dimon is a member of the Alfalfa Club, and a trustee at the NYU Langone Medical Center.

Anthony Welters is a trustee at the NYU Langone Medical Center, and the EVP for the UnitedHealth Group Inc.

John E. Sexton is a trustee at the NYU Langone Medical Center, and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Lois E. Quam was a manager at UnitedHealth Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.