Wendell Potter's Blog, page 18

Message-Maven Culture Killing Compromise in Washington

Public relations techniques rule as dialogue gives way to talking points.  Former congressional staffer Scott Lilly, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, testified at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week that lawmakers might be able to reach a bipartisan consensus on how to improve the congressional budget process if Washington [...]

Obamacare-Driven Competition Lowering Rates in Some States

Participants would be wise to shop around. Candidates who had planned to run against Obamacare this fall and use skyrocketing rate increases as an “I-told-you-so” talking point may not have as much to work with as they had hoped. While health insurers in some states will indeed increase the cost of their policies, early evidence [...]

Attack Ads May Actually Be Benefiting Obamacare Enrollment

Positive or negative, publicity seems to be increasing awareness. It’s encouraging that something positive can come from something so unrelentingly negative. Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, its opponents have spent an estimated $450 million on political ads attacking the law, according to Kantar Media’s CMAG, which analyzes spending on advertising.  [...]

Praise for UK-Style Health System Vindicates Spurned Nominee

Former Medicare-Medicaid chief fan of single-payer option. In April 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Donald Berwick, a widely respected physician and health policy expert, to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Despite having broad support among other health care leaders and a long history of patient advocacy, most Republican senators were adamantly [...]

Health Insurance Lobby Keeps Medicare Advantage Overpayments Flowing

Center series documented abuses, but don’t expect action from Congress. A year-long investigation by the Center for Public Integrity has revealed that health insurers may have fleeced taxpayers out of $70 billion in just five years. You would think members of Congress in both parties would be so outraged they’d be launching their own investigation [...]

Skyrocketing Salaries for Health Insurance CEOs

If they’re making millions, should the rest of us have to pay higher premiums? If health insurance companies announce big premium increases on policies for 2015, I hope regulators, lawmakers and the media will look closely at whether they are justified, especially in light of recent disclosures of better-than-expected profits in 2013, rosy outlooks for [...]

Shameful Coverage of Obamacare’s Real Impacts

Journalism that focuses on political sniping does public a disservice. If you read my column last week about a Senate hearing that showed how Obamacare has affected Americans, you might have wondered if I was in the same room with reporters who presumably covered the event. The disparity goes a long way toward explaining why [...]

Forcing Health Insurers to Do What’s Right

Obamacare’s ‘medical loss ratio’ rule has benefited consumers. The first time I blew the whistle on health insurance companies was during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in June 2009. Last Wednesday, almost five years later, I appeared before that committee again to give a progress report on how Americans have been benefiting since Congress enacted [...]

Dem Ad Slays Obamacare-Hating Republican

No-holds-barred TV ad explains why DC legislators like John Kline make health insurance executives want to throw a dance party. Unless you unplugged your TV back in 2010 and never plugged it back in, you no doubt have seen a ton of ads attacking Obamacare. Chances are not nearly as great that you’ve seen any [...]

A Different Way of Thinking About Health Care

The Canadian system isn’t perfect, but no one up north wants to trade. A Charleston, South Carolina man who thought he had pretty good health insurance may miss work today, as he has several times already this year, because of a hernia. He’s in constant pain and needs surgery, but he has been postponing it.  [...]