Memo on Your Health Insurance Industry

I’m usually not one to indulge in Schadenfreude. When I feel pleasure in the misfortunes of others I normally suppress such feelings, acquiescing to the pang of shame that normally follows.

One of the exceptions to this is when I go to a UNR basketball game and see a Boise State player get his shot stuffed back down his throat. This is usually followed by a thunder of Wolf Pack fans chanting “you-got-swat-ted” and the subsequent sound of 5 melodious claps. One can’t help but bask gloriously in the shame of his defeat.

Similarly, when I saw the healthcare insurance industry ― in particular America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)― fall flat on their face following their October release of a report performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), I was unabashedly beaming with satisfaction.

This report analyzed four features of the healthcare bill that was in the Senate Finance Committee using a worst-case-scenario model, and completely disregarded any of the price-reducing provisions that were a part of the legislation.

It offered only a cursory sentence or two on page 1 confessing the fact that there are cost-lowering “provisions that [they] have not included in this analysis…that would offset some of the impacts [they] have estimated”.

PWC simply cherry picked what they wanted from the legislation in an effort to mislead people about the impact of this bill. It is a one-dimensional and quite honestly, half- assed, attempt by the healthcare insurance companies at scaring politicians and Americans into opposing the healthcare legislation in Congress right now.

I’m not upset at insurance companies for presenting their viewpoint, but I am angry that they are trying to present an entirely flawed study as fact.

I’m angry that while CEOs of health insurance companies enjoy their 10 million dollar plus annual salary, tens of millions of Americans lack even the most basic forms of healthcare.

I’m angry they’re doing everything they can to keep things the way they are. This includes a healthcare status quo of denying health insurance to those who need it most and fighting their customers tooth and nail so they can deny them care and maximize profits.

I’m angry that if the health insurance companies have their way, healthcare in our country will continue to evolve around the dollar sign and not the well being of Americans.

When I see Karen Ignagni (current CEO of AHIP) and her army of lobbyists flounder desperately in an attempt to regain their footing in Washington DC, I am candidly celebrating, grinning from ear to ear.

And for this I have no shame and offer no apologies.

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