Gingrich Organization Got Millions from Health-Care Industry
The revelations about Newt Gingrich’s extremely cozy relationships with big dollar lobbies and industry front groups keep on coming: Gingrich think tank collected millions from health-care industry.
The Center for Health Transformation, which opened in 2003, brought in dues of as much as $200,000 per year from insurers and other health-care firms, offering some of them “access to Newt Gingrich” and “direct Newt interaction,” according to promotional materials. The biggest funders, including firms such as AstraZeneca, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Novo Nordisk, were also eligible to receive discounts on “products and workshops” from other Gingrich groups.
The health center advocated, among other things, requiring that “anyone who earns more than $50,000 a year must purchase health insurance or post a bond,” a type of insurance mandate that has since become anathema to conservatives.
Gingrich also raked in about $840,000 ($120K per year for 7 years) “counseling” the US Chamber of Commerce, the right wing lobbying organization perhaps best known at the moment for its climate change denial and relentless attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency.