A Must-Read!
"Wendell Potter is a straight-shooter– and he hits the bull's-eye here with an exposé of corporate power that reveals why real health care reform didn't happen, can't happen, and won't happen until that power is contained." Bill Moyers
Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans, by Wendell Potter
Bill Moyers interviewed Mr. Potter on July 10, 2009, and again on March 5, 2010. This is the place to start. Learn why and how health insurers/corporations are skewing our beliefs and perceptions about health care through ruthless PR campaigns funded with their (our) member's premium dollars, all while protecting their Wall Street investor profits and mind-bogglingly high executive compensation packages. Watch Michael Moore's Sicko, if you haven't yet done so. Get Deadly Spin. The truth is out there. We Citizens need to dig to find it!
The Center for Media and Democracy at prwatch.org is a great source. The insurers are cutting spending on care and dropping unprofitable members while racking up third-quarter profits of $3.4 BILLION. All this while Republicans are aiming to kill consumer protections by repealing the new law.
"The insurance companies are jacking up rates and selling lousy coverage without regard to the devastating impact on real people's financial security and their health," said HCAN (Health Care for America Now) Executive Director Ethan Rome. "Their behavior is offensive, and it's outrageous that the Republicans in Congress want to give control of our health care back to the insurance companies by repealing the Affordable Care Act. We need the law and the protections it provides."Wendell Potter states on his website, "Since I walked away as head of communications at a top health insurance company in May of 2008, I've worked tirelessly as an outspoken critic of corporate PR and the distortion and fear manufactured by America’s health insurance industry. It is a PR juggernaut that is bankrolled by millions of dollars, rivaling lobbying budgets and underwriting many "non-partisan" and "grassroots" organizations."
"The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." Alex CareyWe must be vigilant. We must inform ourselves of the truth, however difficult it is to unearth.