Big government and big insurance win while patients lose

WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Congress finally hauled the nation’s insurance giants to Capitol Hill to explain why their profits have skyrocketed at taxpayer expense while their approval ratings with the American people have plummeted. The hearings were a necessary first step, but asking CEOs tough questions is a lot easier than passing policy reforms that would diminish their power and ability to capture vast sums of taxpayer dollars — that will take hard work.

For the better part of two decades now, Democrats who once wanted to destroy the health insurers have swung far in the other direction, embracing them in a hand-in-glove partnership to together exert control over the American healthcare system. Their partnership has served their mutual interests, but is driving up healthcare costs and squeezing patients dry. As premiums soar past $25,000 a year for families, real reform is desperately needed.

This alliance was on full display as Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, publicly assured health insurance executives that rising healthcare costs were “not your fault,” reinforcing a pattern of deference to the industry rather than accountability.

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