Wendell Potter

'How Everybody Exists' Doesn't Have to Be

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lobbying, Lobbyists, Public Opinion, Democracy, Sicko, Health Insurance, Michael Moore, Corporate America, Corporations, Ethics, Public Relations, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Spin, Universal Health Care, Apco Worldwide, Corporate Greed, Health Care, Business News

The surprising gem in an Inquirer piece was that APCO VP Bill Pierce agreed with me. He acknowledged that interest-funded pressure groups "are all over the place" in Washington. "That's how everybody exists here," Pierce said.

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Only a Pawn in Their Game

Paula Gordon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pawn in Their Game, Sponsors, Demagoguery, First Amendment, Boycott, Mitch McConnell, Securicrats, Howard Beale, Deadly Spin, Free Speech, Anthony Lewis, Wendell Potter, Fox, Boehner, Times v. Sullivan, Politics News

Spare me the shock. Violent talk inspires murderous rage. Tormented souls are precisely why such incendiary talk is so dangerous. And spare me the s...

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The Agenda: DC Comics, Holiday Horror, And Wendell Potter

Huffington Post | Anna Almendrala | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: DC Comics, David Haskell, Wendell Potter Deadly Spin, Black Christmas, Slidepollajax, Joseph Mahon, Wendell Potter, Silent Night Bloody Night, Henry Jacobs, LA Events, Los Angeles News

Indulge in childhood pleasures this evening with a panel on DC Comics (Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash) or a holiday horror double bill at the N...

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Must 'Ethical PR' Be an Oxymoron, Richard Edelman?

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Spin, Wendell Potter, Edelman, Healthcare Reform, Ethics, Public Relations, Media News

The reason only a handful of PR people use 'PR' in their titles these days is because PR itself has a PR problem -- and for good reason. That's a shame, because press relations is not inherently evil or manipulative.

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How Corporate America Is Pushing Us All Off a Cliff

Michael Moore | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Sicko, Cigna, Apco Worldwide, Michael Moore, Apco, Politics News

APCO, the health insurance industry's PR firm who said it wants to push me off a cliff, has now taken on its biggest challenge yet: leading a giant, multimillion dollar effort to help Wall Street "earn back the trust of the American people."

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They Said They Would Push Me "Off a Cliff"

Michael Moore | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wendell Potter, Cigna, Apco Worldwide, Michael Moore, Business News

Yesterday, on Democracy Now, the former Vice President of CIGNA, one of the nation's largest health insurance companies, revealed that CIGNA met with the other big health insurers to hatch a plan to "push" yours truly "off a cliff."

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Republicans Don't Trust Americans

Leo W. Gerard | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gop, Karl Rove, Cigna Corp., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Big Business, Usw, United Steelworkers, Citizens United, Center for American Progress, U.S. Supreme Court, American Crossroads Gps, Wall Street, Health Insurance Companies, Mel Sembler, Larry Bartels, American Future Fund, Wendell Potter, New York Times, Bruce Rastetter, Hawkeye Energy Holdings, Chicago Tribune, Attack Ads, Noam N. Levey, DISCLOSE Act, Health Insurance Reform, Politics News

Republican operatives want to shield voters from knowing who is actually paying for GOP attack ads. They fear the consequences if Americans know the truth.

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Filmmaker Goes Undercover to Expose Corporate Links to the Tea Party (VIDEO)

Kevin Grandia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Political News, Politics, Mark Crispin Miller, Tea Party Film, Mid-Term Election, Americans for Prosperity, Astroturf Wars, Obama News, Wendell Potter, Gop, Obama Election, Taki Oldham, Tea Party, Impact News

Taki Oldham examines the role corporate-funded grassroots groups (known as 'astroturf') have played in the recent health-care and climate debates and their central role in the tea party movement.

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Insurance Industry Already Finding Ways To Game New System

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Insurance Industry, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Health Reform Loopholes, Preexisting Conditions, Health Insurance, Health Care Loopholes, Business News

The insurance industry's attempt to weasel out of one of the few provisions of the new health care reform law that took effect immediately is a harbin...

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Weekly Pulse: Eric Massa Backs off Health Care Conspiracy, Glenn Beck Apologizes to the Entire Country

The Media Consortium | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Tapped, Eric Massa, The American Prospect, Dennis Kucinich, Washington Monthly, Rahm Emmanuel, Tpmdc, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, The Progressive, Glen Beck, Health Care, Alternet, Politics News

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) punked conservative talk show host Glenn Beck yesterday by recanting his...

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Dying for Health Insurance

Christal Smith | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Insurance, Cancer, Cigna, Wendell Potter, Health Net, Health Care, Bob Iritano, Los Angeles News

Bob Iritano's doctors told him he had an incurable form of cancer. But while fighting for his life, he ended up also having to fight his insurance carrier.

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Exclusive: MoveOn Whacks Finance Bill Hours Before Committee Vote

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Potter Ad Moveon, Senate Finance Committee, Moveon Senate Finance Bill, Reform Ads, Ad Wars, Moveon Ad Senate Finance, . Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Moveon Public Option, Moveon Potter, Video, Politics News

Just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is set to vote (and likely pass) its version of health care reform legislation, the liberal advocacy gr...

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Health Care Politiku

Susanna Speier | Posted 05.25.2011

Not at all surprising, when I sent out my Health Care Politiku submission query I was swamped with phenomenal submissions.

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Cigna CEO Hanway: Obstacle to Health Insurance Reform

Peter Dreier | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Business Roundtable, Edward Hanway, Health Care for America Now, Cigna, Lobbying, Hcan, Health Care Reform, Natalin Sarkisyan, Wendell Potter, America's Health Insurance Plans, Health Insurance Reform, Campaign Contributions, Politics News

Natalin Sarkisyan was a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., who had leukemia and needed a liver transplant. Cigna said the procedure was "too risky." In December 2007, Sarkisyan died.

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The Law of Unintended Consequences

Philip Lee Miller | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Howard Dean, Max Baucus, Upton Sinclair, Andrew Gelman, Eleanor Clift, Law-of-Unintended-Consequences, Bob Dole, Tom Daschle, Politics News

The president is spending too much political capital on this one issue, health care. It forces the issue. Either a landmark generational bill is passed or failure lurks.

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Wendell Potter: Public Option Essential, Baucus Plan An "Absolute Gift" To Health Care Industry (VIDEO)

Huffington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Baucus Plan, Video, Public Option, Max Baucus, Wendell Potter, Health Care, Wendell Potter Testimony, Health Care Public Option, Politics News

Speaking before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee Tuesday, former health insurance industry executive-turned-whistleblower Wendell Po...

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Standing for Meaningful Health Reform

Gerald McEntee | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama-Afl-Cio-Convention, Baucus Plan, Wendell Potter, Health Reform, Politics News

The Senate Finance Committee is preparing to debate a health care bill that doesn't meet the needs of America's working families. Nor does it meet the standards Obama laid out in his address to Congress.

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Wendell Potter and Health Insurance Industry Misinformation

Jake Whitney | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Congress, Cigna, Whistleblower, Death Panels, President Obama, Health Care Reform, Government Takeover, Wendell Potter, Democrats, Bureaucrat, Republicans, Politics News

Potter was vice president of corporate communications for Cigna, the fourth biggest health insurance company in America, when he decided to resign and become a public advocate for reform.

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Obama Needs To Become Our Whistleblower-In-Chief

Jamie Court | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Drug Companies, President Obama, Politics News

Wednesday's presidential address to Congress is the moment for President Obama to prove he is a real outsider, and the fate of genuine health care reform depends upon it.

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Max Baucus Celebrates Labor Day by Ruining Health Care Reform

Allison Kilkenny | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Plan Trigger, Public Option Trigger, Public Option, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Max Baucus, Universal Health Care, Health Insurance, Max Baucus Health Care, Health Care, Politics News

Baucus isn't proposing a reform solution that will benefit a majority of Americans. He's shifting the burden from the insurance companies to employers, and ultimately to employees.

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You May Need a Score Card for Health Care Reform

Scott Lilly | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Politics, Congress, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Stephen Hemsley, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Medicare, UnitedHealth Group, Health Insurance, Medicaid, Health Care, Ted Kennedy, Medical-Loss Ratio, Barack Obama, Business News

It's impossible to fashion a health care system that does not have doctors, medications, and hospitals -- but it is quite easy to imagine a system without private insurers. In fact, private insurers play little if any role in the health care systems of most countries in the world.

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Pollster Behind Controversial Public Option Poll Has Long Ties To Insurance Industry

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Cleinda Lake, Poll Public Option, Insurance Companies, Bill McInturff Change, Bill McInturff Ahip, Bill McInturff Research, Bill McInturff Polling, Bill McInturff Ahip Poll, Wendell Potter, Bill McInturff Wendell Potter, Bill Mcinturff, NBC/WSJ Poll, Politics News

The Republican half of the bipartisan team of pollsters behind a new, controversial poll on health care has longstanding ties to the health insurance ...

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I Am a Business Owner, and I Fully Support a Public Health Option

Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Big Pharma, Pharmaceutical Industry, Public Option, Tommy Thompson, Health, Pharma Films, Health Care Reform, Howard Dean, Wendell Potter, Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety, Pharma Movies, Health Care, Paul Ryan, Howard Dean Interview, Pharma, Big Pharma Health Care Reform, Public Health Option, Politics News

I am not an expert on health care reform. But I am an individual who is sick and tired of having one industry have so much control over my personal and business life.

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Ex-Insurance Exec: Industry "Playbook" At Work Against Health Reform

HuffingtonPost.com | Jeff Muskus | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Health Reform, Health Care, Louise Slaughter, Politics News

The latest wave of attacks on health care reform are straight from the insurance-company "playbook," a former industry vice president told reporters a...

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The Tyranny of Wall St.-Run Health Care: No CEO Left Behind

Michele Swenson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Corporate Bureaucrats, CEO Ron Williams, Wall St.-Run Health Care, Underinsured, Survival-of-the-Fittest Capitalism, Stock Options, Cigna, Corporate and Washington Entitlement, Congresspersons-Turned-Industry Lobbyists, CEO Karen Ignani, Medical Loss Ratios, Uninsured, Insurance Acquisitions and Mergers, Wellpoint, Shrinking Health Coverage Competition, Health Care Reform, Wendell Potter, Government-Run Health Care, Socialism, Aetna, Ahip, Privileged vs. Undeserving Underclass, William McGuire, Bill Moyers, Politics News

The insurance industry has shifted to selling so-called "consumer-driven" plans with very high deductibles that shift a great deal of health care cost from employers and insurers to individuals.

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