Hanging with Insurance Companies and Their Lobbyists

A few weeks ago, the California Nurses Association asked me if I'd be willing to attend the insurance industry's version of Netroots Nation (AHIP) and do what I do... capture bad guys being deceitful, bad and ugly.

I, of course, leaped at the chance. (Shout out to nyceve -- without her, I wouldn't have gotten the gig.)

To get to San Francisco, I had to fly from my home in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 7 hours spent in cramp-inducing airplane/airport seats surely contributed to a key issue that comes up later in this narrative.

So I arrived Wednesday afternoon and met up with nyceve, the activist crew of CNA, and all the nurses that flew in from hospitals around the country. We had a nice dinner buffet and heard from several people that have really been screwed by health bottom-line care corporations. Nataline Sarkisyan's mother and cousin spoke; the cousin left us all speechless and teary.

The next day marked the centerpiece of our efforts: Bill Frist, John Breaux and Tommy Thompson were to speak on a panel regarding health corporate-bottom-line-care in 2009. Frist, whose family owns HCA, was particularly targeted because nurses are in negotiations with the company right now. He had a book signing after the panel; I decided to see if I could capture the moment to video.

One problem. AHIP isn't stoooo-pid. They banned all recording equipment from the event; even cameras were forbidden.

Well, as a law student, I know the difference between rules and laws. They can ask me not to record and they can tell me it's against the rules... but it isn't against the law...

And ya know what? Screw their rules.

Because Nataline Sarkisyan played by their rules, and look what that got her. I happen to think that denying Nataline a liver broke some pretty fundamental rules. She had paid her premiums; her doctors wanted to give her a chance. But her insurance company changed the rules when it came time for them to hold up their end of the bargain.

So, yeah... screw AHIP and their anti-transparency rules. I decided to smuggle a camcorder into the event.

Before I even got close to the doors of the convention center, I was surrounded by a sea of red. Nurses were picketing and chanting anti-Frist slogans. I took out my camcorder and began recording. It was kind of funny, because one of the protestors (I think it was a San Fran native -- CNA had run ads in the local papers inviting people to join the protest and this woman didn't have a CNA shirt on) came up to me and began grilling me about why I was filming. I kinda teased her a little bit; the imp in me sometimes needs to be let out of its cage. I told her I was trying to capture as many faces as I could in case I needed to match them up in a database later on. Then I winked at her and told her that I was a protester also; that I was making a video of the event before going inside. We laughed together and she went back to chanting.

By now, it was almost time for the Frist/Breaux/Thompson panel, so I went inside and got myself a primo seat. This place ran on military time -- everything was cued to the minute. I had arrived about 20 minutes early, so I had to sit through the chamber music they played. I don't know how to describe the music except to say that it was creepily Orwellian. If music could ever make a person feel watched, this was it. If you've ever read that Vonnegut short story about a society in which everyone is dehumanized, well... the music they played in that room while we waited would be the score to a movie version of that story.

You know what? It was Murder-By-Spreadsheet music!

Anyway, right on time, the panel started. Frist, Thompson and Breaux each talked for a bit, then the moderator asked each a few questions. At the end, there remained enough time for questions from the audience. As it turned out, they only had time for three questions. I was number three.

I couldn't afford to risk being kicked out, so I had to ask my question as a concern troll. You can listen to the audio of the question (and the panelists' answers) in the video below, but in the interest of economy, I'll provide a rough transcript:

Hi. My name is Mike; I'm a law student with an interest in health care policy. I have two questions.

First, we've all been beaten over the head with statistics comparing how much we spend on health care in this country and what we get in return. It turns out we're remarkably inefficient. Meanwhile, we've also seen how the government-run health programs are much more efficient than private-sector providers. Administrative costs are much lower in the government programs. So my first question is: what is the government doing right? What can we learn from them?

Second, Senator Frist talked a little bit about the fundamental choice we have before us. In your presentation, you suggest that the choice is individual responsibility versus socialized mandate for care. We've got hundreds of nurses marching around outside saying that the choice is "every man for himself" versus "we're all in this together," and I think they win that debate. Furthermore, every couple of months the national media tells us about another health care company denying a young girl a liver...

So my question is this: how do we preserve a space for ourselves in the political debate?

The panelists each took a crack at the first question; not surprisingly, they each either skirted the issue or gave misleading answers. The moderator then took up my baton and pressed them on my second question. Again, the panelists jibber-jabbered the question to death without addressing its substance.

The Institute will be releasing the video in two weeks; it should be very interesting, indeed, to see if they include the Q&A portion of the panel.

My next mission was to videotape Frist talking to the mix of executives, lobbyists and other health bottom-line care professionals at the book signing. Here, I was a little bit less successful.

At a couple of points, I was surprised. If I didn't know any better, I'd guess that some real people had somehow found their way to his table. Two women asked Frist to support their organizing efforts at his hospitals. A little later, two more asked him to forgo political contributions from the health bottom-line care industry if he decided to run for governor. They followed up by providing him with a report card on his performance as a politician with regards to health care. I wish I had something exciting to share with you, but Frist, the reptile that he is, never seemed to break a sweat. Also, because I had to do film on the sly, I was not able to get close enough to capture the sound clearly.

And this is when AHIP got wise to me. They shut down my camera and threw me out of the conference. Fortunately, I had the foresight to have used my cell phone to call home where I had my recorder turned on. I was able to capture the audio of the exchange I had with the AHIP PR protection squad.

Again, it was AHIP that asked me to leave, not the facility management. So... The lawyer in me told me that if I were to return, I wouldn't be trespassing. But... I've cut my hair into a crew-cut; my appearance was pretty distinctive. I didn't want to be picked out of the crowd right away, so I decided to go purchase a disguise -- starting with a wig... I also, for reasons I cannot explain here, needed a specialized replacement battery pack for my video camera.

To make a long story short, I spent the rest of the day traipsing up and down the hills of San Francisco looking for a costume shop and for the camera part. When I finally found a costume shop, I felt ridiculous in the wig. All they had were rock-star/beatnik wigs; everything looked silly. And I couldn't find the battery pack I needed anywhere. Finally, at around 6 PM, I gave up on everything and went back to the hotel.

If I were younger and prettier... If I wasn't already married with two kids... Well, I'd probably be too embarrassed to share what follows. But... after all that has come to pass, and this is a diary about health care in America, so... snicker away at my expense; god knows I'd have a chuckle if it were anyone else but me.

Friday morning, the dehydration from Thursday's walk, combined with the long plane trip, produced on my ass the biggest hemorrhoid west of the Mississippi (yes -- it was even bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger.) In all seriousness, it was 4 inches long and 2 inches tall. My butt-cheeks couldn't close around it. And it was a couple of clicks past excruciating on the pain dial.

So I called my insurance company. Could I see a doctor?

Nope.

I was out of network. Emergency room or nothing.

This was an emergency, but I couldn't sit in an emergency room for hours on end. Plus, the next morning, I was due to fly back to Virginia -- another 6 hours on a plane.

I found an Urgent Care center, made an appointment and got some pain meds.

I flew home early Saturday morning and went straight to another Urgent Care Center. They did emergency surgery and pulled blood clots out of my ass that were as big as a house. (OK, a very tiny model house, but hell... they were big. I've got pictures. Wanna see?)

Anyway, I'm fighting my insurance company as we speak. My premiums were paid; I was in serious pain as a result of a serious condition and I did the responsible thing by avoiding the Emergency Room -- medicine's most expensive mode of care.

Unfortunately, my medical adventure kept me from attending any of the Friday events. I had high hopes -- I wanted to engage the profit worshippers and interview them with regards to how they plan on combating a Democratic Senate, House and President. It would have been interesting, I'm sure, to have heard some of these people -- who must know that they are the blood-suckers leaching the life out of our health-care system -- share with us their thoughts on reform.

Maybe next year.

Comments

[Shortyfuse]

If Bill Frist, John Breaux, and Tommy Thompson (all ex senators who passed laws in favor of the insurance companies) are involved lets stop calling them " insurance companies " and start calling them what they are 'PROTECTION RACKETS'
RICO the bastards.
Here in my state they have made car insurance manditory and it is gone up 70 percent in fifteen years. Hang them all.

[dadw5boys]

NOW BUSH HAS HARD RIGHT WING JUDGES APPOINTED TO LIFETIME POST ON ALL THE APPEALS COURTS SO NO LAW SUIT WILL EVERY BE HEARD PAST THE APPEAL COURT AGAINST ANY BUSINESS.

[Sundialsvc4]

"Well, if they are going to die then they had better do it, and rid the world of its surplus population ..."

The root cause of th problem in the medical industry is not just "insurance companies," but the very thing which makes the Frist family so rich: they can charge whatever-they-like for whatever services they perform. The folks who can afford to pay are put up in concierge-type rooms with wooden floors and servants; the folks who can't are dumped out into the street. Literally. Like every other industry, the medical industry seeks Almighty Profit.

Users of the medical industry, however, seek Standards of Care. They want people to be able to go to a hospital and to be taken care of. This could only be done if health care were a not-for-profit industry ... and Ebenezer Frist did not get to be a bezillionaire (or a Senator) by considering any such thing.

So, "the rich will live and the poor will die." Welcome to America. You'd be better-off moving to Iceland.

[neoprimordial]

MIKE STARK FOR ELECTED OFFICE. Any one you want to run for, I'm there with you. You are the best, a serious trooper, and candid where it counts (and where it doesn't, but thanks for sharing). I'm so sorry for your physical troubles, and for the fact that it looks like only a handful of people have seen this--really, many more people should see this. Let's just look at it for now as the calm before the storm--reform is inevitable. Please do keep up the good fight, and take care.

[moAb]

Hilarious tale and with an unusual end so to speak. Frist hangs with the likes of Phil "you're all mental" Gramm and similar nabobs. Uhm...medicine guy and a finance/econ/lobbying kinda guy. The interface between medicine and finance (big money) belongs to the elite. Yet the few that dwell in that category make policy decisions overtly or covertly that effect millions of lives. Sadly they do so in a way that all to often leaves one breathless at their audacity, arrogance, and greed. Just one among many aspects of modern US healthcare that has to change.

[hopeless277]

Any new laws governing the health care industry will be ignored. All subpeonas to appear in front of congress will be ignored. Any law regulating the industry will be nullified by the Republicans in congress. Bottom line-the Jackels have learned from their masters, if they ignore government and the laws it enacts, nothing will happen to them. Bush/Cheney have taught them well.