In a Washington Post, an anonymous employee at the insurance company UnitedHealthcare leaked a video exhibiting company’s chief, Steve Nelson, bragging about how the corporation is doing all it can to undermine efforts to support the Medicare for All campaign in the United States.
In an effort to inform the public who they are up against towards universal and free healthcare, the whistle-blower told Jeff Stein of Washington Post that the video was recorded during an employee town hall in February.
Although the video was not included in the post, Stein reported that the CEO expressed strong opposition towards the idea of universal Medicare as it excludes the private sector, which, he believes, does a better job of practicing healthcare services than the government.
In the post, Stein explained that Nelson, in answering inquiries on how UnitedHealthcare responds to the Medicare for All movement, implied about well-thought backroom dealings.
The executive’s remarks were leaked just days after 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, introduced Medicare for All legislation that aims to advance healthcare as a right, eliminating the private insurance sector and providing a cheap healthcare system to every Americans. The bill was supported by 14 senators and 60 plus progressive organizations composed of different health practitioners, such as nurses and physicians.
With the leakage of the CEO’s remarks, Sanders is quick to respond via Twitter, saying that Nelson’s greed is sure to end once his team makes it to the Whitehouse. “We will end the disgrace of millions of people being denied health care while a single company earns $226 billion and its CEO makes $7.5 million in compensation,” he stated.
Up to this day, 17 developed countries, which includes Japan, United Kingdom, Norway, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, and many others have established single-payer systems, which the Medicare for All campaign advances for.
