ObamaCare: Health Industry Leaves Democrats for the GOP

Sixteen months later, with the midterm elections looming, that photograph seems a relic. A new portrait of the health industry landscape has begun to take shape, with some of those major players shifting their dollars from the very Democrats who passed the law they seemingly endorsed at the White House.

The insurance industry, for instance, has consistently donated more to Republicans than to Democrats ever since August 2009, when it had a falling out with the Obama administration and became the brunt of withering White House attacks.

Health professionals, bolting from the American Medical Association’s pro-reform position, have become the strongest supporters of the Tea Party Caucus, a coalition of conservative House members aligned with the movement born from a visceral rejection of the law.

Drugmakers, which invested millions in television advertising last spring and summer to promote passage of the bill, are sitting on their wallets in the run-up to the November elections.

Overall, the health sector has poured nearly $40 million into the 2010 election cycle through its many varied political action committees. A Center for Responsive Politics analysis for POLITICO reveals a marked shift from political giving to Democrats as health reform became more of a certainty — even among those who signed on as key partners in passing the overhaul.

Uncertainty and a poorly designed health care reform plan that was RAMMED through the Congress does not make for good business.