Ex-Medicare Chiefs Love PEU

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama enacted significant healthcare reform in their terms in office.  Bush added the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit known as Medicare Part D.  Bush's Medicare Chief Tom Scully stepped down after Congress passed Part D.

Obama enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  His White House Health Reformer Nancy-Ann Deparle was a former Medicare Chief under President Bill Clinton.  For a time Marilyn Tavenner and Andy Slavitt served as Obama's Medicare head.

What do these four individuals have in common?  Private equity underwriters (PEU).

Tom Scully - General Partner Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe (WCAS)
Nancy-Ann Deparle - Partner and co-founder Consonance Capital
Andy Slavitt - Founding Partner Town Hall Ventures
Marilyn Tavenner - Board of LifePoint Hospitals, an Apollo Global affiliate, and Board of  Select Medical, a WCAS affiliate

The Atlantic reported PPACA passed due to:

"compromises that led to the ACA, executed by Obama and his then–chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, are what staved off a full-scale medical-industry uprising against the bill."

PPACA was designed by for-profiteers for PEUs.  The greed and leverage boys have had a field day on citizen's wallets.  Surprise medical billing, thank Blackstone and KKR.

President Donald J. Trump's Medicare Chief Seema Verma:

"blasted "Medicare for All" even as some Democratic presidential candidates continue to propose the idea for healthcare reform. 

"I’m always very concerned that we’re hearing conversations about more government, more Medicare for All. I think those kinds of things are very scary to me,” she said. "We need to put patients in control of care, not the government."

Patients in control?  The only control I have is paying more and more out of pocket for the same limited care I access every year.

For that right I become an instrument in an algorithm.  Humana's Chief Strategy Officer said the company wants to be a healthcare company with elements of insurance:

"Part of predictive analytics is getting close to the member. We're partnering with organizations outside of healthcare where, with the member's consent, we can identify information they are sharing with us. Proximity is the key to predictive ability," 

Having my health insurer emulate the NSA?  That is very scary to me, as is the parade of PEU paid former Medicare Chiefs.

Healthcare is an absolute Gordian knot and it grows larger every year due to greed.

Around 45% of Americans said a major health-related expense could potentially lead to bankruptcy, according to a Gallup poll. Health care expenses can break the bank at any age, but they're especially detrimental to older Americans –- retirees in particular.

America's for-profit healthcare landscape is a trail of tears for many seniors who go bankrupt, even with health insurance coverage.

Two-thirds of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical issues as a key contributor to their financial downfall.

A new study from academic researchers found that 66.5 percent of all bankruptcies were tied to medical issues —either because of high costs for care or time out of work. An estimated 530,000 families turn to bankruptcy each year because of medical issues and bills, the research found.

Scully, Deparle, Slavitt and Tavenner don't have bankruptcy worries.  They count piles of cash from the very PEU healthcare profits breaking seniors bank accounts.

Former Medicare Chief Gail Wilensky sold ManorCare to The Carlyle Group as a board member.  Eleven years later Carlyle bankrupted the nursing home giant and Mrs. Wilensky had over a decade to grow her nearly $3.4 million in proceeds from ManorCare's PEU buyout.

Carlyle just added a huge insurance broker to its PEU family.  The Hilb Group offers health insurance.  Hilb's website states:

Like magic, you can increase benefits while reducing total costs. 

I work for a PEU affiliate and it has only reduced benefits, healthcare and otherwise.  Like evil magic I've seen coworkers disappear and service quality harmed.  This year I've had the highest out of pocket expenses in my lifetime for healthcare.  My employer states it emphasizes preventive care but I am unable to get a basic vaccination without having to drive several hours.

PEU greed and the for-profiteers who've commandeered the healthcare system are not looking out for my best interest.  They are looking out for theirs.

Update 12-12-19:  Andy Slavitt landed a board slot at Exact Sciences alongside Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's HHS Chief.  His background prior to serving as Acting Chief of Medicare/Medicaid included stints at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Currently Slavitt serves on the Board of Directors of United States of Care, a national non-profit health think-tank and advocacy organization, is co-chair of the Future of Healthcare Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Update 8-2-21:  One division of PEU Apollo will sell LifePoint to another.  The "arm's length" transaction provided a $1.6 billion gain. Now the credit division can look forward to buying back LifePoint debt for pennies on the dollar.  

Update 2-19-21:  Nancy Ann Deparle had a banner payday after Consonance Capital sold Enclara Healthcare to Humana in 2020.  Enclara is "one of the nation's largest hospice and benefit management providers."  Yet, Humana intends to spin off Kindred Hospice as it prefers a partnership model for end of life care.

Update 4-3-22:   The average health insurance premium more than tripled for a family plan since PPACA passed in 2010.  Cost curve bent but in the wrong direction.  Concave went convex.