In a move generally ignored by most media outlets, the Biden administration this week made the shareholders of a small number of for-profit health insurers much richer. As I’ve noted many times in recent years, insurers’ new cash cow is the federal government’s Medicare program, which has become increasingly privatized...
In last week’s speech by President Biden, something stood out to me that was overlooked by many pundits: the president spoke of the NEED to fix sky-high health insurance deductibles immediately. It's not the sexiest topic, but here's why it matters. Many think that...
The only reason you’re reading this essay by me is because of a man named Stan Brock, – whose work inspired me to leave my old job as an insurance executive. Few people in my life have been as consequential as Stan. And he’s been even more...
As millions of Americans celebrated President Biden’s inauguration, some of my former colleagues in the health insurance industry were quietly celebrating some news of their own: their most profitable year ever. That’s right: insurance companies made a fortune during a pandemic.
Still unvaccinated? There's an increasingly pressing reason – beyond the threat to the health of you and your loved ones – to get the shot against COVID-19: many health insurance companies are no longer waiving out-of-pocket costs for COVID treatment. A new study has found 5% of privately insured COVID-19...
Congrats, America! Earlier this month you passed an annual milestone: Two days after Tax Day, you made it to... Deductible Relief Day! What's that? It’s the day where the average person with employer-based health insurance has spent enough on health expenses to finally meet their deductible.
Just days after a Commonwealth Fund report showed that American families are sending health insurance companies more and more of their income every year even as their deductibles skyrocket, the country’s biggest insurer reported massive 2021 profits and told investors to expect even higher profits in 2022. UnitedHealth on Wednesday...
The Chamber of Commerce brand is synonymous with small town pride and locally-owned businesses, but a new report reveals that these business organizations are really working for the corporate health insurance industry. The report from the Campaign for New York Health and the New...
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. It would funnel $48 billion of taxpayer money to them,...
Tarbell was founded on the premise that healthcare was too expensive and inaccessible for millions of Americans. This underserved population needed an advocate to advance the notion of affordable and quality healthcare for all citizens. The nature of this mission obviously lends itself to those individuals, organizations and political...
10 years ago today, on the first anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I wrote about the good things the law did, but stressed that we needed to view it as only the starting point of a journey toward needed reform. Unfortunately, we have not made...
I’m not in the habit of wishing bad things to happen to anybody, but yesterday, when I was at the pharmacy counter, I was wishing every member of Congress would have to experience the same insanity I was experiencing. If they did, they just might do something to fix...
I’d like you to meet Jill Eicher and Ron Tanner, two people who inspired me to launch the Lower Out-of-Pockets NOW coalition. Launched last September, the coalition now comprises more than 50 organizations and businesses with a single mission: ending the uniquely American crisis of financially crippling out-of-pocket health...
I’d like to introduce you to a couple of former colleagues of mine who played key roles in making sure you pay a lot out of your own pocket before your coverage kicks in. Meet David Cordani, CEO of Cigna, and Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, which now owns...
The most recent Potter Report in which I wrote about the high cost of breathing for many Americans, including me, prompted calls and emails and turned out to be more timely than I expected. As I noted, my Medicare Part D pharmacy plan required me to pay $606.00 for a...
If there was ever any dispute that the U.S. government has become the biggest and most reliable cash cow for America’s for-profit health insurers, UnitedHealth Group’s first-quarter 2022 earnings report put that dispute to rest. Over the past 10 years, United, America’s biggest health insurer, has seen its profits more than...
Here’s what you need to know about Anthem–the giant for-profit health insurer that owns several Blue Cross plans across the country–that no one else seems to be paying attention to: Anthem, one of the Big Six health insurers, has gone from a company that just 10 years ago took...