Give Us an Open, Honest Debate on the Healthcare Crisis

The Washington Post has revealed that the Lewin Group - which is commonly cited by Republican lawmakers as an "independent, nonpartisan" think tank - is owned by a health insurance company.

From the Washington Post:
...the Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association, a physician's group, of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data.

Seems like Ingenix and UnitedHealth have much at stake in the ongoing health reform debate. That's hardly the work of an "independent" think tank.

Playing politics with health reform is simply unacceptable - and using insurance company-provided "statistics" to do it is just plain wrong. Ask Republican congressmembers why they claim their data is from "nonpartisan" and "independent" sources!