Late last week, the Obama administration named Quality Software Services Inc. (QSSI) to be the new general contractor in charge of the emergency operation to fix the glitches plaguing the government’s healthcare website. QSSI is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc, the health insurance giant that has lobbied extensively on issues relating to the federal healthcare overhaul — and also happens to employ a key donor to President Obama.

Anthony Welters, executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group, and his family has gone all out for Obama. During the 2008 election cycle, his wife Beatrice bundled donations totaling between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama’s campaign. In 2009, the two were among the president’s top inaugural donors, contributing a total of $100,000, as well as bundling an additional $300,000 for the festivities.

Soon thereafter, the Obama administration nominated Beatrice Welters to serve as the ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago.

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Anthony and Beatrice Welters and their sons, Andrew and Bryant, have contributed more than $258,000 to various candidates and committees — almost all of them Democratic — since 2007. That includes $30,800 donations by Anthony, Andrew and Bryant to the Democratic National Committee in 2012 — the maximum amount an individual can give to a party committee.

UnitedHealth Group’s purchase of QSSI in 2012 triggered some controversy on Capitol Hill. Republican lawmakers expressed concern that awarding a subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance companies a contract to work on the federal government’s healthcare website was a conflict of interest. Nonetheless, QSSI was allowed to go forward with building the website’s data-transferring hub, one of its more successful components.

UnitedHealth Group has lobbied extensively on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2013. The company has spent more than $2.5 million on lobbying overall so far this year.



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