Fighting Corporate Supermacy: Wendell Potter Takes on CIGNA

Greetings

This is a really, really interesting video (link is at the end) that I hope receives increasingly more attention. It's a link to an interview Bill Moyers had with a former executive at CIGNA, Wendell Potter.

Potter was moved by a health care fair in his home state of Tennessee, which proved to be more than what he envisioned. He saw the poor condition of people receiving health care treatment and was in disbelief that this could happen in these United States. After mulling over what to do and facing a difficult choice, Potter was inspired to do the right thing (i.e. rat out the insurance industry) especially after reading this quote: "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, maintain a neutrality."

That's an awesome line and personally reminds me about the battle between what's appealing in this duniya (in this case, money and power) and what's right (caring for those that are less fortunate and in some respects even oppressed when it comes to health care insurance!). It's also reminiscent of, O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well Acquainted with what you do [Quran; 4:135]. After all, what's right may not always be popular and what's popular may not always be what's right, right?

Consider that Potter comes from a background where for 15 years he's breathed and lived what I can only refer to as "corporate supremacy" or perhaps even "corporate survival"; basically the idea that the objectives of a corporation reign supreme to any other objective be it moral objectives or otherwise. And not only has he (and CIGNA) survived, but thrived! What else can you call a corporate man who takes private jets and is served lunch on a gold plate (again, check out the interview)? In this light, I have to get Mr. Potter his due credit for coming out and admitting just how manipulative and daunting the power the insurance industry is, which is to really say the power of money. I suppose you can say that you always "knew" that this goes on behind-the-scenes, but for a former exec to come out and confirm it and further offer additional insight into that world is another thing. Here's something else to consider; a quote from Potter from the interview:

WENDELL POTTER: The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you're heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.

What's amazing to listen to is how these corporate supremacists leverage their resources to further leverage their position in politics and life. I particularly found it interesting on how some mastermind working for an insurance company would send a memo for what buzz words or phrases to use and how that would trickle down to speeches given by senators. Opponents of public, accessible, free health care administered by the government argue that such a system places bureaucrats in between patients and doctors/physicians. Well, I'd rather have a publicly elected bureaucrat be the middle man than a corporate juggernaut who might be willing to cut my life line when it doesn't meet their bottom dollar. At least a public figure, while not necessarily any more perfect, is a lot more accountable to the people. So at least I would like to believe...

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html



Cheers