Obama Advisor Axelrod's Vocera/CURE/Hospital Industry Connection?

In his 2010 book The Promise: President Obama, Year One, Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter noted that the wife of White House’s Senior Advisor to President Obama, former Chicago media/campaign consultant David Axelrod, “Susan, cofounded CURE, a nonprofit devoted to research on epilepsy.”

Coincidentally, less than 7 weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court declared an “Obamacare” reform bill constitutional, a board member of the Illinois Hospital Association and the for-profit Vocera health care industry firm, University of Chicago Medical Center President Sharon O’Keefe, became a member of the board of Susan Axelrod’s CURE [Citizens United For Research in Epilepsy] health care industry-related organization. Although CURE claims to be a “non-profit” organization, the total revenue collected by CURE in 2010 ($4,687,949) apparently exceeded CURE’s total expenses ($2,501,390) by $2,186,559.

Jonathan Alter’s The Promise: President Obama, Year One also indicated how the “Obamacare” reform bill (that requires individuals to purchase costly, sub-standard health insurance coverage policies from for-profit insurance corporations and will likely provide increased profits for drug companies and for-profit health care industry firms) came to be:

“The [Obama health care reform] plan called for…winning support—or at least neutrality—from the insurance and drug industries (compensated by the award of 30 million new customers)…Obama…said the goal was `comprehensive health care reform by the end of the year.’…He warned `liberal bleeding hearts’ not to get…ambitious about universal coverage…Everything…([except] a single-payer plan, which he had ruled out in 2008…) was on the table…Jeffrey Kindler, the CEO of Pfizer, the drug giant, happens to be a Democrat…The industry would pay for the media to build public support for the plan…On May 11 [2009]…Obama met in the Roosevelt Room with industry…representatives…


“…The White House began cutting its own deals…Obama agreed to speak to the AMA convention—the first president to do so in a quarter century—and open the door to malpractice reform…in exchange for doctors’ not actively opposing him…


“All the claims of no quid pro quo couldn’t obscure the major deal cut in the Roosevelt Room in July [2009] between Rahm Emanuel and Billy Tauzin…representing the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, better known as PhRMA…The Drug industry…stood to gain billions from the legislation…


“On one level the loud public option debate was good for the overall prospects of the bill because it distracted media attention from…the mandates forcing individuals…to buy insurance…Rahm…told anyone who would listen that a public ooption wasn’t necessary…Rahm…thought he could satisfy the base by having Obama lash out rhetorically at insurance companies, but it wasn’t enough. Liberals wanted to see the president fighting for them…


“…Congressman Bart Stupak’s amendment…prevented abortions funded even by private insurers. Women’s groups called passage of the Stupak Amendment the worst setback for the pro-choice movement in a generation…It was more restrictive than the Hyde Amendment which barred any use of federal money for abortions (although 17 states allowed their Medicaid programs to fund it)…Stupak settled for an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment banning federal funding for abortions…”