Is ObamaCare a huge payback to the health industry?

Barack Obama spent the past year demonizing health insurance companies in an effort to pass ObamaCare. But something funny happened when he signed the bill yesterday, as the Washington Examiner reported.

[E]ven before the president spoke, the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America -- whose $26.1 million lobbying effort in 2009 was the most expensive by any industry lobby in history -- hailed the health package as "important and historic."

The second-biggest industry lobby in America, the American Medical Association, also cheered, as did the American Hospital Association, the No. 5 industry lobby. Throw in the goliath senior lobby AARP and Beltway powerhouse General Electric, and you realize Obama's underdog tale is all bark and no bite.

The close ties between Obama and the AARP and GE have been detailed here before. Obama's friend A. Barry Rand heads up the AARP and cleaned up thanks to the stimulus. Jeffrey Immelt, president of GE, runs the Obama-obsessed cable network MSNBC and has been appointed by the president to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve.

But why is the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, the American Medical Association, and the American Hospital Association hailing ObamaCare? Aren't these the very industries Obama wanted restrained? The fact is that when ObamaCare goes into law, it will become much more difficult to start a health insurance or medical company in America. The new regulations in Obama's plan will cost businesses millions. The industry behemoths, like Blue Cross Blue Shield, can easily pay that bill. Smaller companies and new start ups don't have that kind of money. It's why PhRMA struck a deal with Obama so early in the health care fight. They knew his plan would shore up existing business and preserve the status quo by keeping smaller businesses at bay. And with an insurance mandate requiring everyone in America to get health insurance, the big boys will have millions of new potential customers.

The Examiner points out the other goodies for big business in the bill.

Taxpayers will subsidize drug makers even more.

Employers will be forced to give prescription-drug insurance to workers.

Generic versions of biologic drugs will be kept off the market for 12 years.

States will be forced to subsidize drugs through Medicaid.

Americans will still be prohibited from importing cheaper drugs from China.

Medicare will continue overpaying for drugs.

So why would Obama sign into law a bill that's a boon to the very industry he claims to despise? These are the lists of the top 20 industry contributors to Barack Obama and John McCain during the 2008 campaign, taken from OpenSecrets.org.

Obama

1 Lawyers/Law Firms $43,154,642

2 Retired $42,892,978

3 Education $22,976,126

4 Misc Business $16,500,999

5 Securities & Investment $14,891,735

6 Health Professionals $11,746,631

7 Business Services $11,503,771

8 Democratic/Liberal $11,106,487

9 Real Estate $10,422,031

10 TV/Movies/Music $9,004,072

11 Civil Servants/Public Officials $8,807,391

12 Computers/Internet $8,521,003

13 Women's Issues $6,906,664

14 Misc Finance $6,398,267

15 Printing & Publishing $5,968,031

16 Other $3,669,123

17 Hospitals/Nursing Homes $3,339,099

18 Commercial Banks $3,316,351

19 Non-Profit Institutions $2,974,895

20 Construction Services $2,915,255

McCain

1 Retired $32,672,270

2 Lawyers/Law Firms $9,926,121

3 Real Estate $8,871,369

4 Securities & Investment $8,698,635

5 Republican/Conservative $6,787,091

6 Misc Business $5,921,718

7 Health Professionals $5,258,836

8 Misc Finance $5,210,724

9 Business Services $3,368,914

10 Insurance $2,447,206

11 Oil & Gas $2,402,937

12 Commercial Banks $2,293,748

13 General Contractors $2,023,286

14 Civil Servants/Public Officials $1,994,145

15 Misc Manufacturing & Distributing $1,848,756

16 Education $1,744,451

17 Computers/Internet $1,478,327

18 Construction Services $1,261,227

19 Lobbyists $1,227,875

20 Accountants $1,216,728

Obama received $6.5 million more in his campaign coffers from the health industry than did McCain, as well as an additional $3.3 million from hospitals and nursing homes. This was during an election in which he vigorously supported the same health care reform plan that he signed yesterday. The big corporations knew all along what Obama was up to and they donated big bucks. After yesterday, they'll reap the rewards.