As a former health insurance exec, I can tell you my old colleagues are gearing up for the mother of all propaganda campaigns to keep @JoeBiden & Congress from enacting a public option (or any reform for that matter). Don’t believe me? Let's take a trip down memory lane... (1/7)
When I was an insurance industry spin doctor, I helped plan & execute the playbook to keep much-needed reforms from seeing the light of day. The playbook is old, but it works like new. In the 1990s, we kept the Clinton reform plan from even getting a final vote in Congress. (2/7)
Our disinformation campaign weaponized terms like “government-run healthcare” & “socialized medicine” to scare Americans about the Clinton plan. In 2001, we deployed similar tactics to kill the bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights Act. (3/7)
Why? It would’ve enabled Americans to sue insurers for refusing to pay for care their doctors say they need. We won that fight too. My old industry was 2-0. (4/7)
By 2008, insurers had a proven recipe for success. In an effort to stymie the Affordable Care Act, the industry's trade group America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) funneled $100 Mil+ to the US Chamber of Commerce to finance the Chamber's anti-ACA fear-mongering campaign. (5/7)
And now at the end of 2020, the new front group protecting health insurer profits (The Partnership for America's Health Care Future) is resurrecting the same time-tested fear-mongering tactics against reforms that @JoeBiden & most Americans support. (6/7)
President-elect @JoeBiden, 12 million+ Americans have lost their employer-sponsored health coverage since #COVID19 began. Don't let health insurance industry BS (aka, malarkey) stop Washington from doing what is right.

The American people are depending on you. (/END)

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More from @wendellpotter

22 Dec
Many are asking my view on the “surprise billing” fix that Congress passed last night. There are many details to review, but put it this way: The stock price of most of the big insurers dropped big-time yesterday. If their shareholders are upset, that's good news! (1/7)
As a former health insurance exec, I know my old colleagues & Wall Street worked hard to make sure this legislation boosted their bottom line. But it appears lawmakers changed it just enough at the last minute to dash the insurers’ hopes of windfall profits. Here’s how: (2/7)
If a previous version of this bill had passed, it would have let insurers slash payment to thousands of doctors in independent practice. This would have sent more physician practices into the arms of big hospital systems. How would this affect patients & consumers? Read on. (3/7)
Read 7 tweets
15 Oct
Judge Barrett says she'd base rulings about health insurance on how "the founders" might have intended. This might make sense if health insurance companies actually existed then. As a former insurance exec, here's why her approach is laughable when it comes to healthcare: (1/10)
A huge part of the ACA is the rule that bars insurance companies from dumping Americans with "preexisting conditions." Well, in 1787, our founders were not thinking about this. Why? The term didn't exist yet, and neither did the insurance companies to refuse to cover them. (2/10)
My old company, Cigna, started in 1792, but wouldn't get into health insurance until the 1900s. Ben Franklin was one of the founders - but Ben knew little about health insurance. Why? In his day, the company insured ships & later got into the fire insurance business.  (3/10)
Read 10 tweets
2 Oct
Here’s an interesting irony: Everyone around Trump who gets #COVID19 may be in big trouble if they get their wish & gut Obamacare. Why? In the future, COVID will likely be classified by private insurers as a pre-existing condition. I'd know - I used to be an insurance exec. (1/8)
I sincerely hope & pray the President, First Lady & those around them who've contracted COVID get well. I hope & pray the same for all people, here & around the world. Now here's my concern about what they're doing to Obamacare & how it will affect those with COVID: (2/8)
I know firsthand that before the ACA, insurers kept a list of 400+ conditions they used to either reject applicants, or charge them more than they could afford to pay for coverage. If I were Hope Hicks, I might be concerned that my boss wants to go back to that system. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
28 Sep
For the first @realDonaldTrump and @JoeBiden debate tomorrow, we asked 3,200 business leaders at @BusinessM4A what they wanted to hear from the 2 candidates. What they said will probably stun the political & media establishment (1/9)
Businesses are worried. They don't see a federal plan to defeat #COVID19. Many remain partially shut down from the pandemic. They've laid off or furloughed workers while still paying for health insurance. Many are broke-or almost there (2/9)
They're desperate for leadership, solutions & answers. They want to know about the PLANS to fight #COVID19, fix our broken health care system & restart an economy that is mired in high unemployment, low wages & workers without health care (3/9)
Read 9 tweets
24 Sep
Over the last few days, I’ve been asked many times: If a new Supreme Court overturns Obamacare, what would that mean for most Americans? As a former health insurance executive, here’s the scary truth: (1/12)
Some of my former colleagues are licking their chops. If the Supreme Court guts protections for pre-existing conditions, folks with asthma, diabetes or COVID-19 will be kicked off plans. That’s because they’re expensive to cover & insurers care about one thing: profit (2/12)
Millions of children will lose health coverage & seniors will lose Rx drug discounts. I’m particularly concerned about seniors because they're more likely to get sick. And those are the customers insurers want to avoid at all costs (literally). This reminds me of a story: (3/12)
Read 12 tweets
10 Sep
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)
Read 10 tweets

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