Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala appears to approve of the group's campaign. Insurance industry forming activist army

Ahead of the approaching health care reform storm, the insurance industry is building an ark: a nationwide education campaign aimed at raising an activist army at least 100,000 strong.

The unprecedented effort by America’s Health Insurance Plans, called the Campaign for an American Solution, includes a nationwide listening tour, advertising and an intense recruitment effort aimed at signing up Americans who are satisfied with their private insurance coverage. AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni plans to launch the campaign Tuesday by hosting a discussion among a group of uninsured people in Columbus, Ohio.


“On an issue as big and far-reaching as health care reform, you need to be working with real people and you need to have a reach outside the Beltway,” AHIP spokesman Michael Tuffin told Politico in an interview outlining the industry’s strategy. “The issue isn’t going to be settled just by lobbyists in Washington. The American people are going to have their say.”

The massive outreach is AHIP’s attempt to drive debate in a political climate that has had the industry on the defensive since Democrats took control of Congress last year.

Democrats have been critical of insurance company practices such as denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. And just this week, Congress cut billions of dollars from industry-administered Medicare plans to better fund doctors who treat traditional Medicare patients. When President Bush sided with the industry and vetoed the cuts — a veto that Congress promptly overturned — insurers won few new friends.

“There will be a mix of cynicism and hope in reaction to [the industry’s campaign]. To a large degree, the onus will be on the health plans to be a constructive force. I think they get this, but the proof will be in the pudding,” said Chris Jennings, a Democratic health care strategist.

The let’s-all-play-together approach is a marked departure from the Dr. No persona that helped insurers kill President Bill Clinton’s health care reform plan nearly 15 years ago, even after insurers and the administration had initially struck a collaborative stance.

This time, though, the industry’s collaborative attitude is more than a nod to political realities; it’s also an acknowledgement that spiraling costs are threatening its business models. Universal coverage could increase the market and lower costs, which might make reform smart politics and good business.

Often viewed in Washington as a faceless, profit-driven industry, health insurers hope that hitting the road and starting a fan club will help lawmakers better understand the value of their products.

To spread the AHIP gospel and sign up true believers, the group has planned dozens of unscripted roundtables in cities from Albuquerque, N.M., and Denver to Boston and New York. The discussions will include union members, working families, faith and community leaders, and small-business owners and employees. The roundtables are an opportunity for the industry to hear feedback on its ideas, Tuffin said.

Group officials have been quietly briefing health care leaders about the coming campaign, including former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who gave it a positive review.

The industry’s efforts and others are crucial, she said, to push health care reform to the forefront of the presidential debate so that it becomes a top priority for the next administration.

“Look, [insurers] already have considerable clout. They don’t actually need to do this. I think they believe that they’re going to learn something by doing this,” Shalala said. “They want to get a feel for how the public is feeling out there.”

Field staffers will organize volunteers and work with local leaders in up to 20 states. To run the grass-roots activity, AHIP hired Beth Leonard, who was John Edwards’ state director in New Hampshire during his recent presidential campaign.

The effort also boasts e-mail and snail mail outreach, as well as print, radio and television advertising. The first print ads will hit papers inside the Beltway next week. Online messaging, including Web advertising and blog outreach, will be a permanent feature once nwww.americanhealthsolution.org launches.

The group would not disclose the costs of its efforts, but Tuffin said it’s the most expensive campaign the industry has launched in the past decade, with “unprecedented” spending on grass roots and outreach.

“We’re going to spend the resources necessary to make sure that we hear the American people and the American people hear us,” Tuffin said.

By giving voice to the customers who benefit from their products, the campaign completes an employer-insurer-consumer lobbying trifecta that has been taking shape inside the Beltway.

“What you’re seeing is the alignment of the key constituencies for building and strengthening the employer-based system,” said Republican health care strategist Phil Blando.

The insurance industry’s outreach builds on a policy foundation that AHIP has been laying for almost two years. Just days after the 2006 elections and facing a difficult political environment, the group released a plan to cover the nation’s 47 million uninsured. Since then, the group has released proposals to reduce health care costs and increase quality and safety.

The group is pushing for universal coverage through strengthened private/public partnership. The industry wants to expand access to Medicaid and the state Children’s Health Insurance Program; provide tax credits to parents covering their children with private insurance; and create more portable and flexible tax-free health savings accounts, Tuffin said.

If states were to provide coverage for those too expensive to insure, he said, the industry would be willing to offer guaranteed coverage to everyone else and allow consumers to appeal denied coverage to an independent review board.