Sanders, Wyden demand hearings with health insurance CEOs

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

04/02/26 9:15 AM ET


Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are calling on Republican committee leaders to hold hearings with the chief executives of top health insurers in the U.S. as they “continue to get rich” during a time when health care access and affordability are of top concern.

Sanders and Wyden wrote to Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chairs of the Senate Health and Finance committees respectively, asking that they bring in the health care CEOS to testify.

“The American public deserves to know why the big insurance executives that testified before the House earlier this year continue to get rich, as over one-third of people with health insurance have been forced to skip or delay getting the care they need because of the outrageous cost,” the duo wrote in a letter seen first by The Hill.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a similar hearing earlier this year with the CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Elevance Health, the Cigna Group, Ascendiun and TnK Health and Nutrition. Sanders and Wyden noted in their letter that several of these companies have reported billions in profit and that several, like Cigna and Aetna, have spent a significant amount of money in stock buybacks,. The senators noted how both Cassidy and Crapo have criticized health insurance companies for policies that make plans unaffordable for patients.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5812523-sanders-wyden-health-insurance-ceo-hearings-affordability/

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Link to Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pension) Committee Democrats PRESS RELEASE - NEWS: Sanders, Wyden Demand Senate Hearings to Hold Insurance CEOs Accountable for their Greed amid Growing Health Care Crisis

Link to LETTER (request for hearings) (PDF) - here

[LiberalArkie]

1. There are many that are "non-profit" However that does not they are any different.

Just raise the executive compensation way high to capture those income gains and they become non profit. Or they have no profit to tax..

Essentially like any other big business.

The growth of employer-sponsored health insurance played a significant role in the development of the current for-profit healthcare insurance system in America, which emerged largely due to federally mandated wage freezes during and after World War II. Companies faced severe labor shortages and discovered that they could attract workers by offering health insurance instead. The commercialization of American health care began in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressive Party endorsed social insurance as part of their platform. In 1937, Group Health Cooperative in Washington, DC, was a non-profit cooperative of Federal Home Loan Bank employees with salaried physicians. The US health care system has been a for-profit industry for a long time, with the government’s social safety net not being a priority. In 1994, after state directors rebelled, the Blues’ board allowed member plans to become for-profit insurers, shifting the industry’s focus from profits to the social purpose of keeping Americans as healthy as possible. For-profit health plans act differently than not-for-profit plans in terms of performance, efficiency, and contribution to the safety net.

https://insuranceinformant.com/when-health-insurance-was-not-for-profit-in-usa.html#google_vignette