by Billy House and Laura Litvan, Bloomberg with Insurance Business America
A huge blow for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton could derail her promises to beef up the country’s national health insurance program.
A State Department audit found Clinton’s use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state violated State Department rules, according to the agency’s Inspector General.
The audit by the State Department’s independent investigator found no evidence that she requested guidance or approval to conduct official business via personal e-mail on a private server -- and concluded the agency likely wouldn’t have granted the request. The Inspector General also faulted the State Department’s handling of electronic records and communications beyond Clinton’s tenure.
“Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State,” the report, which was delivered to Congress Wednesday, said.
Clinton used private e-mail to send or receive about 60,000 messages from 2009 to 2013. She and her aides said about half were work-related and turned over to the State Department. They have said the rest, which they deemed personal, were destroyed. Clinton added that she used the system as a matter of convenience, but said that in hindsight she should have used a government system.
The Inspector General’s report adds to Clinton’s political woes as she’s trying to wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination and campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who’s used the e-mail controversy as part of his line of attack. Clinton faces a separate FBI investigation and a conservative watchdog group has sued for access to her messages.
As these events take her campaign off-course, Trump could surge ahead in polls, which would dramatically affect the country’s health insurance landscape. Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act – a legislative action that has already been achieved with the current Congress – and replace it with a national market in which insurers may sell across state lines.
Clinton, meanwhile, has been supportive of the program and says she will advocate a $250 per month cap on out-of-pocket drug expenses – a provision that would have to be offered by health insurers.
She has also criticized major health insurance mergers, such as those between Anthem and Cigna, and Humana and Aetna.
The two blockbuster deals comprise nearly $100 billion and could potentially undermine competition in the health insurance space – and thus go against one of the major tenets of the Affordable Care Act, Clinton has maintained.
With a more competitive election between Clinton and Trump, the eventual fate of the healthcare legislation remains in the balance.
Bloomberg News
