Bill Moyers and Insurance Industry...Michael Moore and Sicko

"I thought that he hit the nail on the head with his movie." – Wendell Potter, former Head of Corporate Communications at CIGNA referring to Michael Moore and his documentary, SICKO

Bill Moyers (Friday, June 10th, PBS) interviews former health insurance industry executive Wendell Potter, who left his position at Cigna Insurance after almost 20 years in the industry to become a health reform advocate.

Potter admits that Michael Moore was right on with his documentary SICKO and the industry went to great lengths to discredit Moore and insurance lobbyist used their skills to intimidate Congress. They had done the same thing to kill the Clinton plan in the early 1990s.

How well I identify with Cigna as they insured me for nearly five years under a group plan through the Authors Guild at the cost of nearly $15,000 a year (one person) and then I was constantly battling with them over minor coverage.

Luckily, I went on Medicare and AARP supplemental in 2007, one month before I had serious medical problems, two serious surgeries, skilled nursing facility for three months and 14 months of paid physical therapy and it cost me $185 dollars. Yes, that is all (other than the Medicare premium and AARP premium which was nothing compared to private insurance premiums). I was told I would not have had the good care: 100 days of skilled nursing facility, 6 days a week of physical therapy, usually 3-4 hours, and then out patient therapy (2 or 3 times a week) for another 11 months. I also did not have an HMO so I had my choice of doctors and I found a top surgeon.

Listen to what Wendell Potter has to say....

And if you’ve not seen SICKO you might want to consider doing so. It is well done, and should be an eye-opener for everyone as we face this ongoing medical insurance crisis.

Linda