Thread by @wendellpotter

Democrats are not yet on the same page about what health care reform proposals to include in their infrastructure bill. As a former health insurance executive, I’ve got a suggestion: lower deductibles and co-pays. And do it fast.

Some Democrats seem to be turning a blind eye to the fact millions of Americans WITH INSURANCE can’t use it anymore.

A favorite campaign talking point last year was that 150 million Americans have private insurance and don’t want to lose it. What most politicians avoided saying is that more and more of those Americans can’t use their insurance.

That’s because insurance companies like the ones I used to work for are now making people pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before they’ll pay a dime.

NEWS FLASH: The main reason voters ranked health care so high last year was not because 29 million of us are still uninsured. It’s because voters are seeing big insurers make record profits while they can’t even afford to pick up their prescriptions.

So here’s a new talking point for you: IT’S THE DEDUCTIBLES, STUPID! They have gotten sky high, and are going higher and higher every year.

As Vox’s Dylan Scott reported this week, research shows that “even small out-of-pocket costs, as little as $10, can lead patients to postpone lifesaving medical treatment.”

vox.com/policy-and-pol…

And a brand new study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, found that when Medicare beneficiaries were charged just $10.40 more for a prescription, their monthly mortality rates increased NEARLY 33%.

ama-assn.org/delivering-car…

Other studies have found that people in private plans are in similar dire straits. So I ask you: is it an exaggeration to say that politicians are letting insurers get away with murder by allowing payers to jack up deductibles to the point Americans are dying?

As @POTUS considers how to structure his health care reform proposals, one thing is clear: Washington must reduce what all working Americans pay in co-pays and deductibles.

Anything less may have dire consequences for Democrats at the ballot box.

Here's hoping the next story @JStein_WaPo writes will be about what Dems plan to do to help middle-class Americans actually use their health insurance.

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021…