NEW: As Iowans prepare to caucus tonight, this new story by @onesarahjones is a must-read about how a health insurance company harming Iowans is boosting Vice President Biden’s campaign as he opposes significant health care reform. Let me explain (1/12) cutt.ly/crOUVB1
Many have asked why Vice President Biden is so hostile to an idea supported by a large majority of Democrats and independents -- Medicare for All -- which would preserve the patient protections under the Affordable Care Act but eliminate insurance company profiteering (2/12)
The story looks at one of Biden’s biggest campaign bundlers: Michael Neidorff, CEO of Centene, a health insurer whose fortunes boomed since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. According to FEC data, Centene execs gave $70k to Biden’s campaign in the last 3 months. (3/12)
Centene is one of the nation's biggest sellers of Obamacare plans. It also sells Medicare Advantage plans, which are funded by the federal government, and has become a big player in prison health care programs. Almost all the money the company takes in comes from taxpayers (4/12)
On the day the ACA became law, Centene’s stock price was $6.06. Since then it soared more than 1000% to over $63 a share. As a big shareholder in the company, Neidorff has become very rich at taxpayers’ expense. He stands to lose A LOT of dough if the system gets reformed. (5/12)
Even though Centene is 1/7 the size of UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest for-profit insurer, Neidorff has become the industry’s highest paid CEO. In 2018, his total pay was more than $24 million, $8 million more than UnitedHealth Group’s CEO David Wichmann. (6/12)
Centene *was* a relatively obscure company when the ACA was passed. Now, largely through acquisitions & bids to manage the Medicaid programs of several states, it's grown to become the country’s 6th largest for-profit insurer. One of those states is Iowa (7/12)
In 2018, Iowa chose Centene as 1 of 3 for-profit insurers to manage its Medicaid program, despite what the Des Moines Register called a “troubled past.” It reportedly faced "serious charges of mismanagement resulting in $23.6 million in penalties” (8/12) desmoinesregister.com/story/news/inv…
A few months later, Centene relocated to one of the most expensive office spaces in Des Moines. Critics worried the high rent the company would be paying would “siphon the financial resources needed for the care of the state’s disabled and poor.” (9/12) desmoinesregister.com/story/money/bu…
Those worries appear to have been warranted. Last month, the state announced it was withholding $44 million from Centene’s Iowa subsidiary, Iowa Total Care, for failing to pay 106,000 claims to health care providers. (10/12)
Even though Neidorff is a big Biden bundler, he’s also working to preserve a GOP-led Senate to make it harder to pass real health care reform. Among the recipients of his money: Sen. Susan Collins, Lindsay Graham and David Purdue. He also gives to GOP & conservative PACs. (11/12)
So when Vice President Biden fights against significant reform to the health care system -- in opposition to most voters of his own party -- there may be a good reason for that. Someone who has his ear, and a lot of influence with him, brings a very different perspective. (12/12)
