News Stories Poke Holes in Insurers' PR and Spin

by LAS

News stories galore are popping up all over the internet and inside consumer watchdog newsletters. Over the summer, we have been treated to the ultimate whistleblower, Wendell Potter, the former insurance exec who now reveals all the dirty secrets of the industry's program to wrangle the most favorable legislation from our Congress.

This week a slew of similar stories have deflated industry puffery. The New York Times has admitted that it gave the public option short shrift in a one-sided editorial. The editorial went to great lengths to list every objection to the public option without listing even one benefit espoused by its proponents. The media watchdog FAIR received about 1,000 complaints about the editorial. You can read the admittedly short admission on the pages of FAIR dot org here: www.fair.org/index.php?page=3926

Slate carried an article earlier this week bu Robert Reich, who exulted over the way that insurers' have boxed themselves into a corner while trying to fight the prospect of reforms and/or the public option. The intriguing title is “The Audacity of Greed: How Private Health Insurers Just Blew Their Cover.” Reich wrote: “The only reason these costs can be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums is because there's not enough competition among private insurers to force them to absorb the costs by becoming more efficient. Get it? Health insurers have just made the best argument yet about why a public insurance option is necessary.” You can read that article now on his blog, at: http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/10/audacity-of-greed-how-private-health.html

Then an AP story today, Thu, carried the headline “FACT CHECK: Health insurers cherry-pick facts.” The headline is not at all surprising; most of us are aware that every industry will put forth its views with the most selective data supporting its position. However, it is unusual that the major media will announce such spin-doctoring while the battle rages on. This article points out that a recent industry ad misleads seniors into thinking that cuts are being made to basic Medicare. It is not; what is being cut is Medicare Advantage, the low-cost alternative that is most similar to an HMO. Costs to administer this program have risen much faster than first projected. Yahoo News has the full article which you can read here: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_go_co/us_health_insurers_fact_check;_ylt=Aol4ud6iH0FiULm5ZbK19E8iANEA;_ylu=X3oDMTMwaGJzOTAwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMDE1L3VzX2hlYWx0aF9pbnN1cmVyc19mYWN0X2NoZWNrBGNwb3MDNwRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2ZhY3RjaGVja2hlYQ--

In a related matter, PR Watch has written a good article titled: “Put out the FIRE on Capitol Hill with a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.” Do we need yet another government agency? Yes, if we are to curb the abuses committed by the current generation of banks and other financial institutions. Will we get an agency with teeth, if we set up such a watchdog? It is in doubt whether such an agency will see the light of day. Take a look at the political contributions dispensed to certain key members of Congress, to make them more receptive to the industry's views on reforms and oversight.

To quote: “Take Congresswoman Melissa Bean (D-IL), for instance, she is the top recipient on the committee of FIRE campaign finance dollars in 2009. She is also one of the biggest threats to meaningful reform. Evidently, Bean's take away from the financial crisis – which threw 7 million Americans out of work and cost taxpayers $3 trillion – is that consumers need less protection not more. According to watchdogs at Public Citizen, Bean is planning to introduce an amendment to the CFPA bill tomorrow which would take away the right of states to protect consumers more aggressively than the feds.”

This is serious business, folks. You need to voice your support of a financial watchdog agency WITH TEETH so that more Americans do not suffer for the crimes of our financial system.