Health Insurance Company Behind Massive Rate Hikes Financed Gov. Katie Hobbs Ad
By Staff Reporter |
Gov. Katie Hobbs launched a new attack ad accusing Republican challenger Andy Biggs of driving up costs, but one of the ad’s top financial backers is an insurance company that has imposed significant premium increases and is seeking another double-digit rate hike.
The ad, “No Clue,” accuses Biggs of ignoring inflation and planning to raise sales taxes by 23%.
“Biggs does have a plan to raise prices 23% more, a sales tax on everything: gas, groceries, rent,” stated the ad.
The ad disclosed that much of its funding came from Elevance Health (branded as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield), an insurance company which has instituted massive rate hikes in recent years.
Elevance Health was one of the top single donors last year to the heavily indebted Arizona Democratic Party.
Elevance Health has not donated to the Arizona Republican Party.
Although Elevance Health’s headquarters is in Indiana and its political action committee is in Washington, D.C., the company used the address of its corporate office in Cincinnati, Ohio, to disclose donations to various Hobbs-affiliated entities.
Elevance Health raised its premium rates by up to 24% across its Affordable Care Act and Medicare plans, and is requesting another 17% increase for 2027, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Elevance Health also recently reported a raise to its annual profit forecast. They recently announced a second-quarter net income of more than $1.4 billion.
The company also reported a 1.5% decline in membership year-over-year, declining to less than 45 million members.
Elevance Health has also put more affordable health care options on the chopping block. The company is taking steps to exit Medicaid markets, starting with Washington, D.C., this summer.
The Navajo County Democratic Committee (NCDC) paid for the governor’s latest attack ad. Other top donors besides Elevance Health were Marcia Grand, former leader in the consumer technology publication industry, and Uber, the rideshare giant.
NCDC funds have been alleged to be unlawfully sourced from the millions derived from a commingled campaign funding scheme by Hobbs. This alleged scheme involved the political action committee Copper State Values, which serves as the largest single funding entity to Hobbs’ reelection campaign “Elect Katie Hobbs” and to which Elevance Health reported donating $40,000 last year.
Hobbs’ campaign reported that Copper State Values has contributed more than $400,000 in non-contribution income. The heavily indebted Arizona Democratic Party served as the single largest donor to Copper State Values, having given more than $1.7 million to the political action committee.
Though not identified as a top donor on this latest attack ad, another major contributor for Hobbs benefiting from rate hikes is Arizona Public Service (APS), the state’s largest electric utility.
APS is requesting to increase its rates by more than 14% for its residential customers and more than 45% for large load users like data centers and manufacturing companies. Its 31-day rate case hearing that concluded earlier this month is one of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s longest and more contentious hearings in recent commission history. Most rate case hearings conclude within two weeks.
Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the owner of APS, was a major donor to Hobbs’ highly scrutinized inaugural fund and secret litigation fund.
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