Health Insurance Insider Tells it Like it Is

Sometimes, the existing order melts away when its defenders' cognitive dissonance reaches deafening levels and they defect to the revolutionaries. Read this Bill Moyers interview with Wendell Potter -- money quote:

BILL MOYERS: Why is public insurance, a public option, so fiercely opposed by the industry?

WENDELL POTTER: The industry doesn't want to have any competitor. In fact, over the course of the last few years, has been shrinking the number of competitors through a lot of acquisitions and mergers. So first of all, they don't want any more competition period. They certainly don't want it from a government plan that might be operating more efficiently than they are, that they operate. The Medicare program that we have here is a government-run program that has administrative expenses that are like three percent or so.

BILL MOYERS: Compared to the industry's--

WENDELL POTTER: They spend about 20 cents of every premium dollar on overhead, which is administrative expense or profit. So they don't want to compete against a more efficient competitor.

The health insurance industry is driving down the same road that led to the financial industry's implosion. Except in this case, the casualties aren't balance sheets, it's us, our familes, and our children.