Deadly Spin; An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans

New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Press, 2010. First U. S. Edition [stated], Fourth Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Good. x, 277, [1] pages. DJ has several small chips. Inscribed by the author. Inscription reads: To John, Thank you for your support. Wendell Potter, 4/13/11. Includes Foreword, Introduction, Acknowledgments, Notes, and Index. Topics covered include The Beginning; The Campaign Against Sicko; Perception Is Reality; Remote Area Medical in Wise County, Virginia; Health Care History, Reform, and Failure; Consumer-Driven Care; It's All About the Money; An End Too Soon; ERISA Stymies the Sarkisyans, and Us; A Victory of Sorts; The Playbook; and Spinning out of Control. Wendell Potter (born July 16, 1951) is an American advocate for health insurance payment reform, New York Times bestselling author, and former health insurance industry communications director. A critic of HMOs and the tactics used by health insurers, Potter is also a leading national advocate for major reforms of the health insurance industry, including Medicare for All and universal health care. Potter is the first and only "health insurance insider" to have publicly criticized the industry's stance on the Obama health care reforms. A supporter of the Affordable Care Act, Potter correctly predicted in 2010 the final version of the law would increase health insurance industry profits and argued they would find a way to "game the system." He became a vocal advocate for Medicare for All. In June 2009, he testified against the HMO industry in the US Senate to expose the health insurance industry's practices. He has served as senior analyst at the Center for Public Integrity and a fellow at the Center for Media and Democracy. This book lays bare the insurance industry, showing how a huge share of Americans' health care premiums bankrolls relentless propaganda and lobbying efforts focused on protecting one thing: Profits. This public relations onslaught drastically weakened health care reform in 2009, and it plays an insidious and often invisible role in our political process anywhere that corporate profits are at stake, from climate change to defense policy. Derived from a Kirkus review: A former health-care PR executive blows the whistle on the industry. Center for Media and Democracy senior fellow Potter was the first in his family to earn a college degree, after which he became an investigative reporter at a Memphis newspaper. A gig as a political lobbyist led him into the public-relations field, where he accepted a prestigious position at managed-care behemoth Humana. In 1993, he signed on with CIGNA, a highly respected, for-profit health insurer, earning a six-figure salary as a senior PR executive. But as Potter ascended the corporate ranks, disillusionment became commonplace alongside the pressures to increase profitability at any cost while callously disregarding the basic principles of ethics. His conscience buckled. The author recalls working on an aggressive, exorbitant campaign to discredit filmmaker Michael Moore, whose 2007 documentary Sicko detailed the dire state of American health care. Potter experienced firsthand the destitute situations of those without health care when he visited a "clinic day" on public fairgrounds in Virginia. The author backs up his claims with historical perspectives, industry dissection, consumer profiles and the hard evidence of documented Congressional investigations. An illuminating, up-to-the-minute testimonial sure to garner widespread attention and controversy.