AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Senator Evan Bayh is a Health Insurance Millionaire

United States Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat from Indiana, publicly released his asset information. He and his wife own more than $1 million in stock in Anthem Corporation. Ages ago, in the 1990s, Anthem was Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana, a not for profit corporation. BC-BS Indiana changed its status to a for profit corporation, went on an acquisition spree and made its executives and shareholders a whole lot of money. At the same time, Anthem has been opposed to measures that would extend coverage and affordability to the uninsured.

I consider Sen. Bayh's assets noteworthy because he is expected to announce a candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008. Healthcare is expected to be a key issue. You can expect candidate Bayh to make lofty speeches about changing our healthcare system, but the fact is, he's invested in the status quo. You can expect him to fight single payer coverage and anything else that will hurt the Anthem profit machine. In the end, you can expect him to side more with Republicans than Democrats, just like he did on the BARF bankruptcy reform bill and the war in Iraq.

Hoosiers among 46 millionaires