John Sununu’s Health Industry Connections Under Scrutiny in Senate Race
John Sununu, a Republican with a history in the U.S. Senate from 2003 to 2009, is facing renewed attention regarding his connections to the health insurance sector as he makes another bid for the Senate. The high cost of healthcare has become a focal point in this election, as noted in a recent report.
Post-Senate, Sununu spent nearly a decade at the lobbying firm Akin Gump, advising on financial services while the firm represented major health insurers, including Liberty Mutual and Alameda Health Alliance, during the same period. A 2023 ProPublica report highlighted lobbying efforts by AHIP, an insurance trade group represented by Akin Gump, against an Obama-era proposal for insurers to disclose claim denial rates. The rule was retracted during Donald Trump’s presidency.
UnitedHealth Group, another client of Akin Gump during Sununu’s tenure, was advised on mergers and acquisitions. A 2013 Akin Gump press release highlighted their role in facilitating UnitedHealth’s acquisitions worth approximately $4 billion. This followed a congressional probe revealing that UnitedHealth and other insurers had denied coverage to 651,000 individuals over two years.
In recent years, UnitedHealth faced allegations of high claim denial rates linked to an AI system with a 90% error rate, as reported by CBS News.
Sununu’s legislative track record also reflects support for the health insurance industry. In 2017, he advocated for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in a CNBC op-ed, a law that reduced the corporate tax rate to 21%, potentially adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit by 2034. UnitedHealth reported a favorable $1.2 billion tax revaluation due to this law.
Additionally, Sununu endorsed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) last year, which extended the 21% tax rate and included $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, potentially affecting up to 29,000 New Hampshire residents.
Previously, Sununu cosponsored a 2008 bill that would have allowed insurers to deny coverage for preexisting conditions. His Democratic challenger, Rep. Chris Pappas, leads in recent polls by a five-point margin, according to a New York Times/Siena University survey.
The post Sununu’s health insurance ties follow him into Senate race appeared first on American Journal News.
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