Scott Spiegel

“MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the leading academic defenders of health care reform, is taking heat for failing to disclose consistently that he was under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services while he was touting the Democrats’ health proposals in the media.

“Gruber, according to federal government documents, is under a $297,600 contract until next month to provide ‘technical assistance’ in evaluating health care reform proposals. He was under a $95,000 HHS contract before that.

“But while he was being paid to provide his services to HHS, he was also fending off health care reform critics in the media. Gruber was one of the prominent analysts to rebut an insurance industry report from PricewaterhouseCoopers in October saying premiums would shoot up if a health care bill passes. And he has recently written columns defending specific provisions in the House and Senate bills, particularly the ‘Cadillac tax’ on high-cost insurance plans.

“The liberal base of the Democratic Party is widely opposed to that tax, out of fear that it will cut into union benefits — which may explain why the first criticism of Gruber came out of liberal blogs.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/08/economist-contract-health-department-touting-reform/

Related posts:

1. Key Republican: GOP Would Repeal Health Bill If They Win in 2010 “Republicans will repeal healthcare reform legislation if they win control...
2. House Democrats Considering Insurance Tax “Republicans sought to strip out a requirement for policies to...
3. NY Post: O’s Broken Promises – Health Bills v. Prez’s Words “President Obama promises that ‘if you like your health plan,...
4. Health Care Bill Gains Bipartisan Support from Career Gals of Maine Party Thanks to fierce lobbying by Congressional Democrats, the Senate Finance...
5. New Obama Health Proposal Would Limit Rate Hikes “President Barack Obama is making a fresh attempt to rescue...