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Health insurer WellPoint Inc. spent $1.1 million lobbying the federal government in the third quarter, as it focused on several issues tied to the health care overhaul Congress passed in March.
The Indianapolis company lobbied on Medicare Advantage and implementation of the overhaul, which aims to provide health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. It lobbied on insurance exchanges, quality improvements and medical loss ratios, which measure the percentage of premiums an insurer spends on care.
Starting next year, insurers will be required to spend certain percentages of premiums on medical care or offer rebates to consumers.
WellPoint is the largest commercial health insurer based on membership. It operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states and Unicare plans in several others. The insurer spent the same amount of money in the second quarter and slightly less in the third-quarter of 2009.
WellPoint lobbied Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
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