Sununu’s Lobbying Background Casts Shadow on Senate Campaign
John Sununu, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate and former senator from New Hampshire, faces scrutiny over his connections to the health insurance sector, potentially affecting his election prospects.
Sununu, who served in the Senate from 2003 to 2009, is vying for his old seat as health care costs emerge as a pivotal campaign issue. After his Senate tenure, Sununu joined Akin Gump, a lobbying firm, where he spent nine years advising clients primarily in financial services. During this period, Akin Gump also represented major health insurers like Liberty Mutual and Alameda Health Alliance.
A report by ProPublica in 2023 highlighted Akin Gump’s lobbying efforts for AHIP, a trade group for health insurers, against a proposed mandate to disclose the frequency of claim denials. This rule was eventually withdrawn under President Trump’s administration.
Among Akin Gump’s clientele during Sununu’s time was UnitedHealth Group, a leading health care entity. The firm assisted UnitedHealth Group in significant mergers and acquisitions, as noted in a 2013 press release. The release detailed UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of three health plans valued at approximately $4 billion, following a congressional investigation revealing that top insurers, including UnitedHealth, had denied coverage to 651,000 individuals over two years.
In recent developments, UnitedHealth Group faced allegations of high claim denial rates due to an AI model with a 90% error rate, according to a CBS News report.
Throughout his career, Sununu has supported legislative measures favoring the health insurance sector. In a 2017 op-ed for CNBC, he advocated for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%, contributing an estimated $1.5 trillion to the national deficit by 2034. UnitedHealth Group reported a $1.2 billion non-cash revaluation benefit from this legislation in 2018.
Sununu also backed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, extending the 21% corporate tax rate indefinitely. This extension includes Medicaid cuts potentially affecting up to 29,000 New Hampshire residents’ health insurance. Both the OBBB and TCJA were enacted with Republican support and signed by Trump.
In 2008, Sununu co-sponsored a bill allowing insurers to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions. Currently, he is contesting against Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas, who leads by five points in a New York Times/Siena University poll.
The post Sununu’s health insurance ties follow him into Senate race appeared first on American Journal News.
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