In Va. Beach, ex-insurance chief speaks on health care ...

By Amy Jeter
The Virginian-Pilot
? October 5, 2011

For almost two decades, Wendell Potter spoke for health insurers.

Now, he speaks out against them.

The former head of corporate communications for CIGNA says profits drive the insurance industry, and that its highly paid executives deceive and manipulate to put shareholders first - above the health needs of their members.

His eyes were opened, Potter said, by a trip to an annual free clinic in Wise County, Va., where thousands of uninsured people lined up to receive medical treatment from doctors and nurses in converted animal stalls.

"I was part of a big, ongoing effort to mislead you so thoroughly that you wouldn't even consider supporting a health care proposal that might hurt insurance company profits," he said in a Monday night presentation at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library in Virginia Beach.

After the Wise County event, Potter said, "I knew I could not in good conscience continue serving as a spokesman for the insurance industry - that's because I understood then and there that I was part of the problem."

Potter, who described his conversion in the 2010 book "Deadly Spin," spoke before an audience of about 60 at a forum sponsored by Virginia Organizing, Empower Hampton Roads and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

The groups' leaders said they organized the event to correct misinformation about last year's federal health care law. Del. Algie T. Howell Jr., D-Norfolk, said he wished more people had attended: "I would have loved to have seen 500 people here."

Potter has testified before Congress on the issue and now serves as a senior analyst at the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit investigative news organization.

In a presentation featuring music, photographs and animation, he listed misconceptions about the overhaul. There are no government "death panels." The law doesn't cut Medicare benefits, he said, and it doesn't call for a "government takeover" of health care.

"My colleagues and I came up with that term," Potter said, "to scare the heck out of people."

He went on to catalog aspects of the law that could help people. Insurers can no longer deny coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions. Young adults can stay on their parents' plans longer. Small businesses can get tax credits to help pay for employees' health premiums.

One audience member said he was dubious about that benefit.

"You can't make payroll with tax credits," said Wayne Perry, owner of Community Personal Care, a 360-employee Norfolk company.

Potter conceded that "tax credits are not the best way to try to bring more people to coverage if people work in small businesses." Providing health insurance for employees may not contribute to a company's bottom line, he said, but it might help attract desirable employees.

"The Affordable Care Act is not perfect," Potter said, "But repealing it and starting over is not a prudent way to move forward."

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/va-beach-exinsurance-chief-speaks-health-care

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