WASHINGTON – The Public Campaign Action Fund has named Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as "insurance puppets" for their stances on healthcare reform.

The nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog said it is providing information on members of Congress who are resisting healthcare reform and are paid the most in campaign donations by the health insurance industry or its supporters. The group said it is using the information in an online advertising campaign targeting the lawmakers' constituencies.

The Action Fund said it will name a fourth "insurance puppet" on Friday.

"Senator Grassley has done all he can to derail passage of meaningful healthcare reform this year," said David Donnelly, the group's national campaigns director. "The nearly half a million dollars he's received in campaign cash from health insurance interests and his close family ties to the industry certainly help explain his opposition to reform."

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, another nonpartisan group, the health insurance industry has donated $17.7 million in campaign contributions to senators taking part in the current healthcare reform debate.

Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has argued against what he calls Democratic "closed door" changes to the current Senate version of healthcare reform bill. He has pushed for the proposed bill to require that Senate leadership and committee staff get their insurance through the same exchanges that would be created for the rest of the country under the proposed legislation.

A Grassley amendment adopted by the Senate Finance Committee in September proposed that requirement for all Congressional staff, along with members of Congress, but the requirement was dropped.

“This creates a double standard. It’s inexcusable,” Grassley said.

Grassley said he plans to offer an amendment to restore his amendment, which he said the Senate Finance Committee accepted without objection.