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WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health insurer based on membership, spent about $1.5 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, as the health care overhaul debuted a new restriction that concerned managed care companies.
That total represented a 13-percent drop from what the Indianapolis insurer spent in the same quarter last year but a 55-percent increase over the final quarter of 2010. WellPoint, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, spent nearly $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2010 and $870,000 in that year's final quarter.
The insurer began 2011 lobbying about the implementation of the health care overhaul, which was signed into law in 2010 and aims to cover millions of uninsured people. The law also imposes some restrictions on insurers, and one of those started this year.
Insurers now have to spend a certain percentage of the premiums they collect on care and quality issues or pay rebates to consumers. WellPoint lobbied on these medical-loss ratios among other implementation topics.
It also lobbied on topics like hospital safety, medical errors, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care organizations.
Besides Congress, the insurer also lobbied the departments of Health and Human Services and Labor, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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