So the truth is gradually starting to dribble out. Insurers love Obamacare and are looking forward to its implementation, and privately worry about a Romney victory and its repeal.
major outfits such as UnitedHealth Group and BlueCross Blue Shield also stand to rake in billions of dollars from new customers who'll get health insurance under the law. The companies already have invested tens of millions to carry it out.
Were Romney elected, insurers would be in for months of uncertainty as his administration gets used to Washington and tries to make good on his promise repeal Obama's law.
Things could get grim for the industry if Republicans succeed in repealing the Affordable Care Act's subsidies and mandates, but leave standing its requirement that insurers cover people with health problems.
As usual, Romney is vague about how he would actually 'repeal' Obamacare on day one. It wouldn't surprise me if this, along with everything else he has had, is just pandering for votes and he has no intention of actually repealing it.
The Romney campaign isn't laying out specifics on how the candidate would carry out his repeal promise, other than to say the push would begin on his first day in office. Romney has hinted that he wants to help people with medical conditions, doesn't say what parts of the health care law he'd keep
So, there are 'good' Republicans who want Romney to win but are scared about how he would actually govern. (It seems Romney's constant position changes have given Republicans a bit of a concern).
Robert Laszewski, an industry consultant and blogger, says the tension is becoming unbearable.
"I spend a lot of time in executive offices and board rooms, and they are good Republicans who would like to see Romney win," said Laszewski. "But they are scared to death about what he's going to do."
The industry full well knows the ACA is a gravy train and they are salivating at the prospect of its implementation.
In contrast, Obama's law is starting to look more and more like a tangible business opportunity. In a little over a year, some 30 million uninsured people will start getting coverage through a mix of subsidized private insurance for middle-class households and expanded Medicaid for low-income people. Many of the new Medicaid recipients would get signed up in commercial managed care companies.
A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated the new markets would be worth $50 billion to $60 billion in premiums in 2014, and as much as $230 billion annually within seven years.
At a time when employer coverage has been eroding, government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and now Obama's law are becoming the growth engines for the industry's bottom line.
And this sounds like a conundrum, if not downright wishful thinking - hoping their chosen candidate doesn't actually make good on his promises.
"I think it's limited what they'll be able to accomplish in terms of repeal," said Coffina. "We have to remember that Romney implemented very similar legislation" as governor of Massachusetts.
And just like defense contractors, health insurance executives know exactly who is buttering their bread.
Industry executives "are Republicans in the sense that they're worried about the bottom line and they want to retain private sector involvement," said Hoagland, the former Cigna vice president. "But some of their bottom line is now driven by Medicare and Medicaid. So it's not like they're red or blue. It's more like purple."
real business people know the value of government to the success of their business, and that they didn't 'build that' without its help. So the only question is, will they publicly say they support Romney, but privately vote for the President on Election Day?