Failed Co-Op Used $280K in Taxpayer Dollars For Lobbying

Federal rule: No portion of the loans given to co-ops could be used for ‘propaganda purposes, attempts to influence legislation, marketing’

A failed co-op currently under investigation for underreporting its financial situation used hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars for lobbying, according to Senate lobbying disclosure records.

Health Republic Insurance of New York, a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act, began paying Alston & Bird, LLP in the second quarter of 2014 and continued through the third quarter of 2015, around the time the co-op announced that it was going out of business, according to the lobbying database.

Earl Pomeroy, a former Democratic Congressman from North Dakota’s at-large congressional district from 1993 until 2011, and Bob Siggins, the longtime Chief of Staff to Pomeroy, were deployed by the K-Street firm to lobby the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on behalf of the co-op. Between April 2014 and September 30, 2015, Alston & Bird were paid $280,000 in taxpayer dollars for its lobbying services.

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