Health Insurance Insider Wendell Potter to Appear on “Bill Moyers Journal”

PBS Program to air FRIDAY July 10, 2009 at 9 pm EDT

Wendell Potter, a former health insurance industry insider, will discuss what he calls the hijacking of health care by insurance companies and the obstacles they present to health care reform on “Bill Moyers Journal” at 9 pm EDT on Friday July 10, 2009.

Potter spent more than two decades watching insurance companies put profits before patients. Now he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are trying to influence health care reform.

Potter first spoke out against the industry last month in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee where he explained that "the industry's charm offensive, which is the most visible part of a duplicitous and well-financed PR and lobbying campaign, may well shape reform in a way that benefits Wall Street far more than average Americans."

Mr. Potter spent more than 20 years as a public relations executive for two large health insurers - Cigna and Humana - but left the industry after witnessing practices he felt harmed American health care consumers. To him, there was a heart-breaking discrepancy between Americans struggling to find affordable, comprehensive coverage and wealthy insurance executives who based their premium charges – and coverage decisions – on profits rather than people’s health care needs.

He will discuss how big, for-profit insurers have hijacked our health care system and turned it into a giant ATM for Wall Street investors and how the industry is using its massive wealth and influence to determine what is (and is not) included in the legislation currently before Congress.

WHO: Wendell Potter, Former Health Insurance Executive (Cigna and Humana Inc.) and Senior Fellow on Health Care with the Center for Media and Democracy, exposing the industry and telling America, “Don’t buy the hype.”