Whistleblower, Top Insurance Executive, Speaks Out Against Health Care Industry

[Guest guest]

With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter

saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits

before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are

standing in the way of health care reform.

_More about Wendell Potter and the health insurance industry._

(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/profile.html)

 

Watch a video of the interview, or read the transcript at:

_http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html_

(http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html)

 

===

 

 

Actions for Single-Payer:

 

AfterDowningStreet.org

 

_We're on Facebook_ (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52265396400)

and _Youtube_ (http://www.youtube.com/afterdowningstreet) and _Twitter_

(http://twitter.com/afterdowningst)

Call Now for Single-Payer Healthcare Vote

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D., N.Y.) has introduced an amendment in the

House Energy and Commerce Committee that would replace the convoluted

please-the-public-and-the-insurance-companies-at-the-same-time healthcare bill

with the single-payer plan found in HR 676 and backed by 86 members of

Congress. The vote has been delayed beyond Wednesday, support for the measure

is

growing, people are phoning in constantly, and a _whip count is being kept

online_ (http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip) .

Please help make a few phone calls now:

_http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip_

(http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip)

An amendment introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D, Ohio) was passed

last week by the House Education and Labor Committee that will allow

states to create single-payer systems if the federal government does not. So,

if

Weiner's amendment fails, we could still achieve single-payer state by

state, and eventually nationally, if we are able to persuade congressional

leadership not to strip Kucinich's amendment out behind the closed doors of a

conference committee.

But it is entirely possible that Weiner's amendment will pass, and even if

it does not pass the support it musters will nonetheless serve to improve

the bill and maintain a useful public option. Weiner is a supporter of the

existing bill and the public option, but clearly sees a value in pushing for

something better both as a bargaining position and as an attempt to

achieve a solution that we can be more confident would really solve our

healthcare crisis. Weiner's _column in the Politico today_

(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25226.html) is worth reading in its

entirety. After

reading that, please come back here and _watch this video_

(

) of Weiner addressing the concerns

of Republicans

in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

While Weiner doesn't say this, I will: Everybody now knows that Republicans

will oppose any healthcare bill. Worsening a bill in order to win over a

few of them provides not a single person with better healthcare. Republicans

are not needed and have nothing to add. But of course to pass healthcare

reform you do have to win over all of the Democrats. And are you more likely

to do that with a bill that wastes public dollars on an inefficient

for-profit system, or with a bill like HR 676 that guarantees significant

savings? While HR 676 is an approach that forces congress members to go against

the wishes of health insurance and drug companies, the mixed-bad approach

allows legitimate criticism of wasting money, and the insurance and drug

companies still hate it.

Whichever approach you favor, we're going to be better off with a

significant show of support for single-payer. With it, a useful public option

becomes a compromise. Without it, the compromise to win over the worst

Democrats

has to begin with the current bill and move down from there. So _keep the

phones ringing_ (http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip) .

Please help make a few phone calls now:

_http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip_

(http://democrats.com/single-payer-committee-whip)

Americans _consistently tell pollsters_ (http://tr.im/sENL) that they

want single-payer. And this is true in Blue Dog districts and Republican

districts too. Single-payer is not a tough sell with the public, only with

certain Congress members.

Other nations that have public health coverage (government spending on

private or public healthcare) provide their people with better care. The U.S.

system is ranked 37th by the World Health Organization. The United States is

24th in life expectancy and 29th in reducing infant mortality. Infants who

do not survive the U.S. system do not get a chance to enjoy the free

market and glory in the absence of socialism.

A single-payer system would cover everyone at all times with no exceptions,

allow completely free choice of doctors, invest in preventive care, allow

patients and doctors to make their own decisions free of insurance company

restrictions, reduce the 30 percent waste in the current system to the 3

percent overhead in Medicare, and create a net gain of _2.6 million jobs,

$317 billion in business revenue, and $100 billion in wages_

(http://tr.im/sETE) . Single-payer is a real economic stimulus, something

Washington has

been looking for in all the wrong places. Imagine being able to make that

argument. We can if we pass Congressman Weiner's amendment.

 

 

 

 

**************What's for dinner tonight? Find quick and easy dinner ideas

for any occasion.

(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?ncid=emlcntusfood00000009)