Healthcare executives are already making news for donating to candidates in the 2016 presidential race. One of them has outspent Donald Trump.
Benjamín León Jr., chairman and founder of Miami-area ambulatory provider Leon Medical Centers, was mentioned in the New York Times this weekend for a $2.5 million donation made in support of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a fellow Cuban-American who is running for the GOP nomination for president. The contribution was made by León's horse stable, Besilu Stables, to the Conservative Solutions PAC, the “super” political action committee supporting Rubio, according to the Federal Election Commission's database.
His stable's donation beats out several notable figures, including Trump (who donated $1.8 million—to himself, of course), Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and billionaire philanthropist George Soros.
León was not immediately available for comment at the horse stables or at the corporate office of Leon Medical Centers. The FEC database shows that he also donated about $50,000 to Right to Rise USA, the super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida.
Leon Medical Centers, which was founded by León in 1996, has seven locations throughout Miami-Dade County offering primary, specialty, dental and eye care, as well as on-site pharmacies and laboratories. The company also has satellite locations at several area hospitals. It employs more than 2,300 healthcare professionals and serves 42,000 Medicare patients, according to its website.
León immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba when he was 16, according to the company's website. His father, Benjamín León Sr., founded Clínica Cubana, Miami's first prepaid medical center, in 1964, and León Jr. served as the clinic's first director of member services.
In 1970, León and his father founded Clínica Associón Cubana, which was granted the state's first HMO license three years later, according to the website. In 2005, León started Leon Medical Centers Health Plans, a Medicare Advantage HMO that was acquired two years later by HealthSpring, which is now owned by Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna Corp.
León had served on the HealthSpring's board of directors.
Raul Rodriguez, founder and executive chairman of Clinical Medical Services, a home health agency and equipment provider, also made the list at No. 32 for his donation of $1 million to Right to Rise USA, the Jeb Bush super PAC. He tied for that ranking at the bottom of the list with 32 other individuals and companies who donated a mere $1 million.
