Guy Who Made Tons Of Money In Insurance Industry Wants Democrats To Push Single Payer

Of course, Wendell Potter doesn’t call it single payer, but uses the Democrats buzz phrase of Medicare For All

Take it from me, tweaks won’t fix health care. Democrats should focus on Medicare for All.

Democrats have secured a 40-seat flip of the House of Representatives, based largely on a nationwide call for health care reform. Many Democrats, led by Brian Higgins of New York, are planning to use their newfound control of the House to work on a Medicare buy-in bill.

I spent 20 years as a health insurance executive before leaving my job as a vice president at Cigna. I can tell you firsthand that by focusing on a half-baked measure like a Medicare buy-in, Democrats would hand a huge gift to the private insurance industry while doing less than the bare minimum to help struggling businesses, workers, families and patients.

When the next Congress starts in January, House Democrats should use their new majority introduce, debate and vote on significant legislation that would assure universal coverage, protect taxpayers, and dramatically transform our health care system: Medicare for All. (snip)

It’s time for Democrats to stop proposing health care reform that relies on insurance companies to play fair. After two decades in the for-profit health insurance industry, I can assure you they never will. They have no interest in doing anything that might in any way jeopardize profits. Their only interest is delivering profits to their shareholders. From that perspective, the status quo is very profitable. For everyone else, not so much.

So, he made oodles of money in his position as a VP at a for profit health insurance company, but now has an issue with that model. Why is it so wrong for companies to make a profit in Liberal World? Could insurance companies do better by their clients? Oh hell yes. But putting government in charge of our health insurance and health care is not the outcome people should be looking for.

Business owners are struggling to provide health insurance to their employees, workers’ take-home pay is shrinking as their premiums go up, patients are literally begging for their lives on fundraising platforms like GoFundMe, doctors and hospitals are drowning in paperwork dealing with insurance claims departments, and more than 80 million people lack adequate health insurance.  That number is increasing every year. Reform is desperately needed.

Democrats have the chance to be the champions of that reform if they don’t waste their energy on half-measures. Instead of thinking about how they can make small tweaks to the health care system, they should start thinking about how to enact dramatic reforms that will assure universal coverage while reducing costs and encouraging economic growth. Voters and taxpayers are asking for Medicare for All. It’s time to listen.

He forgets to mention how to pay for it. Because it won’t be free. And it will see take-home pay shrink.

It’s interesting, though, that Obamacare caused that increase in paperwork and was supposed to fix things like premiums and make it so people had adequate health insurance. Of course, using it is something else. Obamacare made deductibles virtually un-affordable, while single payer makes it difficult to use as waiting times and denials due to age and such spike.