Influential Health Research Group Owned by Insurer

The Washington Post reported, "The political battle over healthcare reform is waged largely with numbers, and few number-crunchers have shaped the debate as much as the Lewin Group, a consulting firm whose research has been widely cited by opponents of a public insurance option." Both Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have cited the Lewin Group's numbers, the Post notes, but "generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers." In fact, "the Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data." Why is this not surprising?