Who is Wendell Potter? Why listen to him? (and what to do next)

ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 08:17 AM
Original message

Who is Wendell Potter? Why listen to him? (and what to do next)

Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 08:22 AM by ProgrezivIndie

(sent out via my "undisclosed recipients list" -- also modified as necessary, and then sent to my Congressional Rep, Senators, and President Obama)...

Mr. Potter worked in the health industry for some twenty years. As Vice President of Corporate Communications at CIGNA, he was chief spokesperson. He was also a leading "attack dog" who worked to discredit Michael Moore's awarding winning documentary "SICKO" (a film exposing the much flawed American health care system). Mr Potter resigned from his position at CIGNA in 2008, and has transformed himself from being a champion of the blood-sucking health insurance industry to being a champion of much needed health care reform--while working at the Center for Media and Democracy.

At the bottom of this message are LINKS to documentation regarding the RIP-OFF health care which Americans now suffer through. It is bad now, and will only get worse, if there is not TRUE ALTERNATIVE COMPETITION... and, in all reality, a "public option" as part of health care reform is the ONLY way to provide such competition!

"Regulation" will not stop the FOR-PROFITS, it never has, and it never will, they always find a way around the intended regulations which are put forth in any "legislative language" (they actually WRITE the legislation... through their "lobbying & influential efforts" on which they spend MILLIONS of dollars each year). In fact; when the Obama administration embarked upon its present course toward REAL health care reform... the FOR-PROFITS began spending about $1.5-million each day, and they have hired an unprecedented number of former Congressional staffers and members of Congress... in order to influence the current legislation which is being drafted (and which is DOOMED to fail, if *we the people* DO NOT step up and make our voices heard).

I'll summarize here, a bit of what Wendell Potter has revealed about our current health care system... for which those Americans who can afford to, are paying far too much... while some 50 million Americans can NOT afford it, and another 25 million are woefully under-insured. Bottom-line? Even if you think that you now have "good health care insurance" -- you probably have inadequate coverage, and are very likely to be "dropped" as soon as you become sick. This is true for individuals and for small businesses (the VAST MAJORITY of working America). Read on, and don't forget to ACT on what you learn!

A summary of what Wendell Potter has disclosed about what the health care insurance industry has been doing FOR YEARS:

* they "cull the sick" ... dropping coverage when it begins to COST THEM in paying out claims

* they "deny coverage" ... to anyone for any reason

* they "under pay claims" ... consistently and with intention of so doing

* they kowtow to Wall Street ... putting "investors" above "customers" at every turn

* they make BILLIONS ... and your health & well-being mean little to them (regardless of what they tell you)

* they work hard to avoid "regulation" of their industry

* they organize, disseminate, and proliferate "misinformation" in order to scare the public into non-action

* they essentially BUY influence in Congress (and, in the past, even in the White House)

What you read here is obviously my opinion, and the conclusions which I have reached, after reading & hearing from Wendell Potter and from certain Congressional studies as well. You'll have to reach your own conclusions (and ACT upon them), after reading the collection of information presented below. It may take you an hour or two to READ this information, but don't think for one second that it is not *IMPORTANT* and *TRUTHFUL* and *URGENT* that you do so.

Members of Congress and President Obama are beginning to indicate that a "PUBLIC OPTION" will not be part of any planned health care reform. If they DROP that from this legislation, things will actually get WORSE than they are now... for you, for your children, and for all Americans that work for a living.

TEXT references containing the broader story (which I have summarized above) that ALL AMERICANS should KNOW & USE when they contact their Congressional Representatives & Senators and President, to *INSIST* that a "Public Option" be part of much needed Health Care Reform:

http://tinyurl.com/lavyg2
Interview with Wendell Potter on PBS Television's Bill Moyers' Journal

http://tinyurl.com/olph66
Testimony of Wendell Potter Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

http://tinyurl.com/m7rkls
Insurance Industry Whistleblower Wendell Potter: "Americans Need To Be Alert"

You can learn much more, from and about Wendell Potter, here (http://tinyurl.com/nq2oea) and here (http://tinyurl.com/lnntq9)... PLEASE DO SO!

http://tinyurl.com/cyr4m
Use the web form, at the above URL, when writing to President Obama
Use the telephone numbers listed below, to VOICE & FAX your comments to President Obama:
Comments: 202-456-1111 FAX: 202-456-2461

http://tinyurl.com/3a65z
How and Where to CONTACT your Congressional Representative and Senators -- PLEASE DO SO, again & again, until they pass health care reform with a PUBLIC OPTION!

P.S.

Please pass this information along to everyone that you care about (even to your enemies)... it is THAT important! Feel free EDIT as you deem necessary, to copy & paste it to your email address book, or to just send them a LINK to this topic.

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 08:33 AM
Response to Original message

1. Majority of Insurers Underpaying Claims

25 June 2009 -- Investigation Reveals Majority of Insurers Underpaying Claims

When American consumers purchase most products and services, they know up-front what the cost will be; clothing has price tags, grocery stores have shelf tags, and restaurant menus display their prices. But when it comes to health-care costs, consumers are left in the dark, unsure of how much their physician charges for services rendered and not knowing how much of those fees their insurance provider, if they have insurance at all, will cover. So how does a consumer know if they are getting the proper reimbursement?

The bottom line is: THEY DON�T, and a report out of U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller�s Commerce Committee shows that this lack of transparency has forced Americans to pay billions of dollars for medical bills that should have been covered by their insurance. �People don�t know what they�re buying, what they�re getting, why they�re getting underpaid, why they�re being forced to pay more of the difference,� Senator Rockefeller said as he opened a hearing on underpayments to consumers on Wednesday.

<...snip...>

source: http://tinyurl.com/l59szl (healthnews.com)

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mmonk

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Mon Aug-17-09 08:38 AM
Response to Original message

2. Recommended.

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mmonk

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Mon Aug-17-09 09:28 AM
Response to Original message

3. Here, you can see the whole press conference with Potter and Slaughter.

http://americancommentary.wordpress.com/

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 09:46 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. thanks for that addition!

I tried to stick with "TEXT COPY" (and that press TEXT is included, at least most of Wendell's commentary, in one of the links I have provided). The IMPACT which video can have on some people, is greater than what they might "read". But I wanted to provide them with TEXT that they could COPY&PASTE in their own "letter writing" campaign aimed at the "Washington-ians".

*a public option* let's git er done

...as I already said: thanks for the addition! :thumbsup:

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mmonk

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Mon Aug-17-09 10:06 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. Thank you for the thread.

It is very important for us to let the politicians know what we want and to let them know when we can see through the bull.

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 01:46 PM
Response to Original message

6. how health insurance industry SCREWS the working person (and their family)

Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 01:59 PM by ProgrezivIndie

note to DU moderators: this material is PUBLIC DOMAIN and is readily available in .PDF format at
commerce.senate.gov ( http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/PotterTestimonyConsumerHealthInsurance.pdf )

I am quoting only the last five paragraphs (much more info is in the .PDF document)... as it relates to FACINOROUS and ONGOING practices of the health insurance industry (which WILL NOT CHANGE unless & until a *PUBLIC OPTION* is passed as part of much needed health care reform). Read it and weep (actually read it and TAKE ACTION... do NOT wait for others to act on your behalf)!

Testimony of Wendell Potter Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

<...snip...>

An estimated 25 million Americans are now underinsured for two principle reasons.

First, the high deductible plans many of them have been forced to accept � like I was forced to accept at CIGNA � require them to pay more out of their own pockets for medical care, whether they can afford it or not. The trend toward these high-deductible plans alarms many health care experts and state insurance commissioners. As California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi told the Associated Press in 2005 when he was serving as the state�s insurance commissioner, the movement toward consumer-driven coverage will eventually result in a "death spiral" for managed care plans. This will happen, he said, as consumer-driven plans "cherry-pick" the youngest, healthiest and richest customers while forcing managed care plans to charge more to cover the sickest patients. The result, he predicted, will be more uninsured people.

In selling consumer-driven plans, insurers often try to persuade employers to go "full replacement," which means forcing all of their employees out of their current plans and into a consumer-driven plan. At least two of the biggest insurers have done just that, to the dismay of many employees who would have preferred to stay in their HMOs and PPOs. Those options were abruptly taken away from them.

Secondly, the number of uninsured people has increased as more have fallen victim to deceptive marketing practices and bought what essentially is fake insurance. The industry is insistent on being able to retain so-called "benefit design flexibility" so they can continue to market these kinds of often worthless policies. The big insurers have spent millions acquiring companies that specialize in what they call "limited-benefit" plans. An example of such a plan is marketed by one of the big insurers under the name of Starbridge Select. Not only are the benefits extremely limited but the underwriting criteria established by the insurer essentially guarantee big profits. Pre-existing conditions are not covered during the first six months, and the employer must have an annual employee turnover rate of 70 percent or more, so most of the workers don�t even stay on the payroll long enough to use their benefits. The average age of employees must not be higher than 40, and no more than 65 percent of the workforce can be female. Employers don�t pay any of the premiums�the employees pay for everything. As Consumer Reports noted in May, many people who buy limited-benefit policies, which often provide little or no hospitalization, are misled by marketing materials and think they are buying more comprehensive care. In many cases it is not until they actually try to use the policies that they find out they will get little help from the insurer in paying the bills.

The lack of candor and transparency is not limited to sales and marketing. Notices that insurers are required to send to policyholders�those explanation-of-benefit documents that are supposed to explain how the insurance company calculated its payments to providers and how much is left for the policyholder to pay�are notoriously incomprehensible. Insurers know that policyholders are so baffled by those notices they usually just ignore them or throw them away. And that�s exactly the point. If they were more understandable, more consumers might realize that they are being ripped off.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for beginning this conversation on transparency and for making this such a priority. S. 1050, your legislation to require insurance companies to be more honest and transparent in how they communicate with consumers, is essential. So, too, is S. 1278, the Consumers Choice Health Plan, which would create a strong public health insurance option as a benchmark in transparency and quality. Americans need and overwhelmingly support the option of obtaining coverage from a public plan. The industry and its backers are using fear tactics, as they did in 1994, to tar a transparent, publicly-accountable health care option as a "government-run system." But what we have today, Mr. Chairman, is a Wall Street-run system that has proven itself an untrustworthy partner to its customers, to the doctors and hospitals who deliver care, and to the state and federal governments that attempt to regulate it.

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 02:44 PM
Response to Original message

7. my letter to President Obama...

...there likely will be more of them, but in this one I tried to make positive and uplifting.

IMO: President Obama is at his best, when he comes out to inspire America... and I'm more than certain that he is getting a lot of ANGRY feedback (even if the message that he is ready to abandon a "public option" turns out to be untrue). If you have written to him already... please do so again... and make it as positive a message as you can muster-up, OK? Hell, we might even try that when we contact your congressional reps & senators, eh?

The above aside, here's what I just wrote to President Obama:

**********************************
**********************************

Mr. President,

During the 2008 presidential campaign, you inspired a nation to action, and they elected you to be their leader. Why? Because of your vision and straightforwardness with the electorate. Today you stand on the brink of realizing a great achievement for all Americans... a "public option" is essential to any health care reform legislation. It is the only way to CHANGE the system (from being one which is far more beholding to Wall Street, than it is to the consumer). The American consumer deserves better... we generally work hard, pay our taxes, contribute time and money to our communities... yet we are being buried by an ever rising cost for health insurance--while at the same time we are having our "insurance claims" to be intentionally under-paid, are paying more & more for services, and stand to be UNINSURED should we meet with some serious accident or illness.

In other words: the health insurance industry is the sole determiner as to WHOM they will insure, and also HOW much they will pay when presented with a CLAIM. They can not be managed through regulation, for they always find a way around same. They are NOT facing any competition having consolidated their forces (there are fewer players each year, as they buy each other out). The only way to get costs under control, treat the American people fairly, and get the attention of a runaway health insurance industry is to introduce "public option".

DO IT NOW (we can not afford to wait another year, another decade, or more likely "forever")! Make us proud of you, and of ourselves for having helped you to attain the White House... MAKE HISTORY, Mr. President... the majority of Americans are with you on this (and most of those who are not are simply misinformed by the MILLIONS of dollars being spent by the health insurance companies, and other within the health care industry, to keep them that way).

Thanks for listening, Mr. President -- and may goodness & mercy follow you all the days of you life!

Most sincerely,

**********************************
**********************************

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 03:59 PM
Response to Reply #7

8. ....just FYI to those who visit DU and plan to WRITE/EMAIL the President

Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 04:00 PM by ProgrezivIndie

I chose to write directly to the EMAIL ADDRESS: president@whitehouse.gov -- rather than using the "CONTACT US" form ( at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact ), because that WEB SERVER and the form itself have been reported as being sluggish, even non-responsive at times, by others here @ DU.

Anyway... I just received this REPLY from my earlier email to President Obama:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your message. On behalf of President Obama, we appreciate hearing from you. The President has promised the most transparent administration in history, and we're committed to listening to and responding to you.

In order to better handle the millions of electronic messages we're receiving and respond more quickly, we've implemented a new contact form on our website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Please note that this web form has replaced comments@whitehouse.gov. That email address is no longer monitored, so we encourage you to resubmit your message through the link above. Thank you for using the web form and helping us improve communications with you.

Sincerely,

The Presidential Correspondence Team

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ProgrezivIndie

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Mon Aug-17-09 08:27 PM
Response to Original message

9. It's Not Over Until You've Tried This, Mr. President

17 August 2009 -- It's Not Over Until You've Tried This, Mr. President

<...snip...>

1) find six middle-class people who have been dropped by their health insurance company. put them on stage behind you at your town hall meetings. finding them should take you roughly half an hour -- there are tens of millions of victims <...snip...>

2) find someone who is going to die because of the decisions made "by nameless bureaucrats" in the offices of aetna or cigna or any other for-profit health insurance corporation. place your arm around them. stand with them. <...snip...>

3) find a "health fair" event where huge crowds of americans are treated in tents, in open-air like animals. bring the cameras. show what non-insurance and underinsurance are doing to a once-proud country by dragging basic medical care down to third-world levels <...snip...>

4) notice that the insurance industry-funded opposition to reform is well-managed enough to not send shouters and swastika sign-wavers to the town halls you are scheduled to appear at. they seem to appear everywhere else, though,
creating a steady stream of video of mouthpieces <...snip...>

5) go on the offensive by getting the language right. medicare is a socialist program, just like the fire department. <...snip...>

6) stand with - and put a spotlight upon - persons of faith who will no longer let the christian right define faith-based public activism. <...snip...>

source: http://tinyurl.com/o4pbt6

I would like to add the following thoughts of my own:

Thank you Wendell Potter... for helping to educate (at least some of us) to things which we "suspected" but which are now being realized as factual! Why not ask to visit the White House "in person" and to stand beside President Obama, while repeating the many issues with which you are so very familiar. IOW: go VIRAL with your message... the MSM and talking-head programs can NOT ignore you, or your message... as a "public service" to Americans they are morally and duty bound to GET YOUR MESSAGE "out there" FRONT & CENTER! Lastly: I would love to see you on as many FAUX NOISE (Fox News) programs, as will allow you on the air... as a special guest for the entire program!

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