John Yarmuth, Hypocrite-Humana

UPDATE Below

If you were still in any doubt about the power of the health insurance lobby to buy the obedience of even the most personally wealthy and politically liberal Democrats in Congress, know that none are not immune.

Here's Media Czech on Louisville's "proud liberal" John Yarmuth, who has earned the scare quotes for dropping to his knees and sucking insurance corporation cock:

A few weeks ago, as PageOne reported, Congressman John Yarmuth fired off a letter to Humana, the Louisville-based profit-driven health care corporation, expressing his profound regret over the tenor of the health care debate in Washington and congratulating Humana's CEO on his company's almost Christ-like record of good behavior.

Regrettably, with passions inflamed throughout the country, Speaker Pelosi recently made inflammatory statements that assailed the character of health insurers across the board. I unequivocally reject these misguided comments. Not only do such overtures distract from a constructive debate, they are simply untrue. That certain insurers have engaged in unscrupulous practices cannot be denied, but to paint an entire industry with a single stroke is unfair.

Humana has long acted in an upstanding, thoughtful manner and given Louisville one of America’s most exemplary corporate citizens.

Well, turns out that at the very moment John Yarmuth was licking his stamp, our upstanding and thoughtful corporate citizen was terrorizing senior citizens and the disabled.

Yes, Humana is being investigated.

The government is investigating a major insurance company for allegedly trying to scare seniors with a mailer warning they could lose important benefits under health care legislation in Congress.

The Health and Human Services Department launched its investigation of Humana after getting a complaint from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a senior lawmaker usually viewed as a reliable ally of the insurance industry.

"It is wholly unacceptable for insurance companies to mislead seniors regarding any subject - particularly on a subject as important to them, and to the nation, as health care reform," Baucus said Monday, disclosing the HHS investigation.

HHS says Humana's mailer was "misleading and confusing" and ordered them to cease and desist.

So far, John Yarmuth has remained silent. When will the Congressman come the defense of poor Humana from these latest totally baseless charges?

In his letter to Humana's CEO, Yarmuth concluded by promising:

I will continue to support and defend Humana’s role in our community and the future of health care in the halls of Congress and elsewhere.

So John: Where's your defense?

And while you're spinning mad props in Humana's direction, here are just a few other abuses for you to keep in mind.

• Humana paid Florida $8,000,000 for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid.
• Humana paid Cincinnati-area doctors $106,000,000 over charges that the company had "conspired to use illegal and anticompetitive practices" to fix prices.
• Humana paid Wisconsin $750,000 for using unlicensed salespeople to over-aggressively sell Medicare drug plans.
  

I could go on for hours, but for now I'll keep your reading light.

John Yarmuth's Third District of Louisville is by far the most Democratic, liberal and diverse congressional district in the state. The Third gave him a decisive victory over five-term repug incumbent Anne Northup in 2006 because Yarmuth was the first Democratic candidate in more than a decade to stand up and loudly declare his liberal values.

It didn't hurt that he has a large personal fortune, earned in the media business, but that only makes his disgusting obsequiousness toward Humana more despicable.

Yarmuth isn't a repug or a Blue Dog who desperately needs insurance industry money to hold his seat in a liberal Democratic district. He's enormously popular, not to say beloved.

What's your fucking excuse, John?


UPDATE, 7:15 p.m. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal: "Yarmuth has received $295,748 in health care contributions since his election to the House in 2006. He said he has not taken money from pharmaceutical PACs or health insurance PACs but has taken contributions from hospitals.

Louisville-based Humana Inc., a health insurer, has donated to lawmakers inside and outside Kentucky, including $19,000 to McConnell since 2000.

In the 2008 elections, the company gave $335,550 to congressional Democrats and Republicans — double its contributions in the 2004 elections, records show. Since 2000, the company has given $920,999 in campaign donations, $186,949 of that to area lawmakers.

Company officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Yarmuth is on the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the panels that handled the House health care legislation. He said he decided not to take campaign contributions from Humana, which has 7,000 employees in the Louisville area, “because … I didn't even want to have the perception of influence.”"

Guess what, John - the only thing that makes a worse impression than taking money from murderers is publicly fellating them for free.