Kucinich hearing: Insurance Impact on Medical Care
Jacki Schechner, formerly of CNN, and now the communications director for the non-profit group "Health Care for America Now" blogs away:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich is heading up a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the impact of private health insurance companies on patients' medical care right now. He and Representative Conyers and Representative Kennedy are slaughtering private health insurance company executives. Conyers is particularly fantastic - and not just because he has cited Health Care for America Now and our reports on market consolidation, big insurance profits, and CEO compensation.
The private insurance executives are doing an excellent job of shrugging their shoulders and feigning ignorance. If you take their word (or lack of word) for it, they apparently know a whole lot of nothing about anything related health insurance reform.
CSPAN's coverage of the hearings, which I'll have to watch tonight.
Update: I'm watching over lunch. It is actually a subcommittee hearing, as Kucinich noted when recognizing full Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY), who spoke after Kucinich and ranking Republican member Jim Jordan (R-OH). Elijah Cummings complained about denied claimaints "waiting 'til they die", followed by John Tierney (D-MA) asking about the Medical Cost Ratio rising faster than inflation, before the first witness was questioned. Several members questioned the practice of rescission.
Witnesses:
Richard Collins - United Health Care & other posts in health and life insurance "We are already highly regulated."
Brian Sassi - Wellpoint Inc & Blue Cross CA "Changing how we finance health care without changing how we deliver health care would be incomplete reform at best."
Patricia Farrell - Aetna "Health care costs drive insurance premiums, not the other way around."
James Bloem - Humana (money man) Claimed Humana has the lowest refusal rate, while Medicare was #5.
Thomas Richards - Cigna Supports health care reform (they all support health care reform.)
Colleen Reitan - Healthcare Service Corp formerly CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield MN
Questioning starts at about the one hour mark.
Fantastic!
I thought it important to ask the big questions outlining the problems before debating a health care reform act. Some of these would have been "How effective/productive is our present 'health insurance based' system of delivery? What problems does it present? How do you fix it? Do we need insurance at all if we are going to be providing universal health care?"
Instead we are told right out of the box that single payer will not be allowed even for discussion purposes. We are then told that a public option is not allowed because the insurance companies could not compete. And so it became apparent that we were not serious about health care reform, but rather were all about taking care of the health insurance industry.
September 18, 2009 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
See, if the Left is properly prepared, it can embarrass the shite out of these crooks.
There is no response. Unless the repubs simply throw up their hands and say:
YOU ARE JUST FOMENTING CLASS WARFARE.
September 18, 2009 6:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are absolutely right DDay. But it is telling that the so-called Dem "leadership" has avoided the obvious; conveniently overlooked the fact that the insurance industry is a HUGE part of the problem in today's health care system. They certainly are NOT the solution, regardless of the Dem's bastard proposals that seem to argue that an effective system starts with healthy profits for the insurance industry.
We will never get our government back from the whores and their corporate johns until we figure out some way to shut down the whorehouse. There's gotta be some way to realize effective campaign finance reform, and the future of this Republic depends upon it.
September 18, 2009 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
They ARE the problem.
September 18, 2009 7:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
WellPoint is testifying for the insurance industry in the House while their former VP for Public Policy and External Affairs writes the Baucus bill in the Senate (she also “played a key role” in negotiating the Medicare D prescription drug program in 2005). That’s rich.
Pelosi promised Kucinich that his single-payer proposal would get a vote (soon?). It will be interesting to see who will at least cast a sympathy vote.
September 18, 2009 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink