(6 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, March 10, 2021
COVID Bill is a Windfall for Health Insurance Companies As a former health insurance exec who quit the business, let me tell you: No one will be more excited about the new COVID-19 package than my old friends in the corporate insurance industry.

(3 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Judge Amy Coney Barret's Laughable Thinking on Health Insurance Judge Amy Coney Barrett says she'd base rulings about health insurance on how "the founders" might have intended. This might make sense if health insurance companies actually existed then. As a former insurance executive, here's why her approach is laughable when it comes to health care.

(4 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, August 29, 2018
How big pharma buys goodwill: Set up a foundation, stage media events, please politicians 72,000 Americans died last year from drug overdoses. Many of them were young people, and most became addicted by using prescription opioids. Were it not for the business practices of some of the biggest corporations in America that profit from the manufacture and distribution of massive quantities of opioids, many of those we have lost likely would still be with us. How are those big corporations responding?

(1 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Is Crony Capitalism a Big Reason for America's Dental Health Care Crisis? For an example of how Big Money in politics is causing real harm to average Americans, look at the practice of dentistry in this country. The United States is facing a dental care crisis for a number of reasons. First, dental care has become so expensive many of us can't afford to go the dentist.

(14 comments) SHARE        Friday, June 26, 2015
Insurers' arguments key to Supreme Court decision It is clear from both the first paragraph and closing comments in the Supreme Court's decision upholding Obamacare subsidies that the justices listened more closely to the insurance industry than perhaps any other party.

SHARE        Monday, June 22, 2015
Industry lobbies hard to snuff out tax on medical devices Industry contributions and lobbying convince U.S. House to repeal tax on medical devices, endangering Obamacare.

(2 comments) SHARE        Saturday, June 20, 2015
For-profit hospitals mark up prices Commentary: huge markups are routine, and there's nothing to stop them

(17 comments) SHARE        Monday, June 1, 2015
The best health care system in the world? Nonsense! Americans spend more per capita on health care than people anywhere else in the world, yet outcomes in every other developed country are better on almost every measure, from infant mortality to life expectancy. A big reason for that is our collective gullibility. We continue to believe what many politicians tell us, despite evidence to the contrary: that we have the best health care system in the world.

(1 comments) SHARE        Monday, March 30, 2015
The enduring myth of cost shifting don't believe insurers line that fed cuts boosting costs

(4 comments) SHARE        Monday, March 23, 2015
Fed war on health care spending abuse needs to include Medicare Advantage Commentary: feds say they're catching health care crooks, but Center reporting showed that Medicare Advantage avoided scrutiny

(9 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Elimination of 'public option' threw consumers to the insurance wolves Lieberman worked with insurers to eliminate 'public option'.

(3 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Doing "As Much Harm As Possible' to Florida's Insured - Republicans continue to fight Obamacare in Sunshine State First do no harm. That's a tenet of medical ethics that future doctors worldwide are taught in medical school. If only the people we elect to represent us were required to take such an oath. Florida state lawmakers recently passed a law that will allow health insurance companies to gouge Floridians and will actually be required by law to mislead their Florida customers about why they're hiking their premiums.

SHARE        Tuesday, June 25, 2013
OPINION: Pro-industry amendments lard up Missouri insurance legislation Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is facing a dilemma. Should he sign a bill that was intended to help many state residents get coverage for cost-effective health care that insurers often refuse to pay for? Or veto the bill because it is loaded with amendments that will benefit insurers and force many Missourians to pay far more for medical care than they do now?

(2 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, June 18, 2013
An Outbreak of Sanity There is reason to be hopeful that our lawmakers can put aside their ideological differences every now and then and do what makes sense for constituents. In fact, last week some of the people we have elected to represent us--at least at the state level--even showed a willingness to put careers at risk by doing what they believe is the right thing.

SHARE        Tuesday, June 11, 2013
A Rare Bipartisan Idea to Improve Medicaid and Save Money Around the time the House of Representatives was voting for the 30-somethingth time to repeal Obamacare, two lawmakers from Texas -- Democrat Gene Green and Republican Joe Barton -- introduced legislation to fix a problem that most folks with private insurance know nothing about. That's because it only affects the poorest among us who are eligible for Medicaid.

(2 comments) SHARE        Sunday, May 26, 2013
Help Health Care Advocate Donna Smith Get the Care She Needs--And Pay the $855 Aetna is Demanding Donna Smith has worked tirelessly to gain healthcare for every American. Please help her now.

(4 comments) SHARE        Friday, April 5, 2013
Industry Pushes High-Deductible Insurance Plans Increasingly, employers of all sizes are eliminating choice and offering only high-deductible plans -- euphemistically referred to in the insurance world as consumer-directed health plans or HDHPs. Within the next few years, most Americans not only will find that the plans they've been enrolled in for years are no longer available, but that they will also have to pay much more out-of-pocket

(1 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Gaming Obamacare to Benefit the Few Insurance agents/brokers are working to pass laws in the states that would make it difficult, time consuming and expensive for consumer groups to serve as "navigators" to educate people about Obamacare and help them find Exchange insurance plans that meet their needs. They even hope to prevent people from buying coverage except through licensed agents/ brokers, which will also drive up costs by adding commissions.

(5 comments) SHARE        Thursday, February 7, 2013
Why Americans Pay So Much for Health Care: Friends in High Places (Just Not Your Friends) If you wonder why we spend more money on health care than any other country but have some of the worst health outcomes, you need look no further than the halls of Congress to figure out why that is.

(2 comments) SHARE        Monday, January 28, 2013
Getting young people to work against their own best interests: here's how it's done In my book, Deadly Spin, I described the PR playbook health insurers, tobacco companies and other special interests use to influence public policy, often by deceptive means. One tried-and-true tactic is to recruit third parties to help deliver your talking points -- hopefully, individuals and organizations that are held in higher regard by the public than your own company or industry.