Thread by @wendellpotter

As a former health insurance exec who's seen terrible things, even I was stunned to see an aide to Sen Thom Tillis tell a woman that if a cancer patient doesn't have money or insurance for treatment, too bad. But there's an even bigger story here... (1/10)

The aide equated life-saving cancer care to buying a dress shirt: If you can't afford to buy them, why should you expect to get them? As I know first-hand, this is in line with how the insurance companies secretly think - and act. There's even a playbook. Let me explain: (2/10)

When I worked in the industry, we did all we could to avoid people with pre-existing conditions & "rescind" people's coverage when they got sick. Obamacare outlawed that, but insurers still do something called "lemon dropping" -getting rid of people who need expensive care (3/10)

They also do "purging," which means getting rid of unprofitable customers. Aetna installed a sophisticated software program to identify customers that had employees who got sick & needed more care than the insurers' bean-counters anticipated. (4/10)

Insurers "purge" those customers by jacking up premiums so high, many employers have no alternative but to stop offering coverage to their workers. This is one reason why fewer than 1/2 of employers now offer coverage to their workers. And it fits with Tillis' philosophy. (5/10)

Meanwhile, Sen. Tillis, who is a favorite of insurance and drug companies, is in a tight race to hold on to his Senate seat. In fact, Democrat Cal Cunningham has been leading in the polls, although some recent polls show Tillis closing the gap. (6/10)

Cunningham has been hammering Tillis for his coziness with the healthcare industry & his vote to repeal Obamacare (and its protections for cancer patients & others with pre-existing conditions). The bill Tillis supported fell just one vote short of passage. (7/10)

Before Obamacare, insurers often canceled policies of cancer patients to avoid paying for chemotherapy. One insurer even paid bonuses to employees who found the most policies to cancel. By canceling them, the insurer avoided paying millions that could've saved many lives. (8/10)

Obamacare banned that common practice in my old industry. If the bill Tillis voted for had passed, insurers once again would be able to cancel the policies of sick patients for no reason other than to boost profits. (9/10)

His opponent Cunningham opposes repeal & wants to expand Medicaid in NC (1 of 12 states that still hasn't expanded Medicaid to cover more low-income people).

There's a philosophical divide in this country. Vote like your life depends on it. For some it literally does. (/END.)