Saturday, July 1, 2017

Health Exchange Sale Bagged Gephardt $1.2 Million


The Intercept reported:

The mere prospect of single payer, however, has elicited swift derision from some corners of the party, with Dick Gephardt, the former Democratic House minority leader, laughing off the idea at a health insurance conference earlier this month.

Not in my lifetime,” scoffed Gephardt, when asked if the United States will ever adopt such a system.

Gephardt, who serves as a Democratic “superdelegate” responsible for choosing the party’s presidential nominee, was asked about the possibility of single payer at the Centene Corporation annual investor day conference at The Pierre, a ritzy five-star hotel in New York City.
Prior to serving on the board of health insurer Centene Dick Gephardt was on the board of Extend Health.  Gephardt grossed $1.2 million from his Extend Health stock holdings when Towers Watson purchased the company in 2012. Targeted markets for Extend Health's exchanges included:


  • Retirees with Employer-Sponsored Healthcare Coverage
  • Retirees without Employer-Sponsored Healthcare Coverage
  • Employees with Employer-Sponsored Healthcare Coverage
  • Employees without Employer-Sponsored Healthcare Coverage
(Source Extend Health S-1/A) 

Gephardt may well be expressing his gratitude for being personally enriched by the byzantine health insurance system Democrats foisted on the public, one that eats up more disposable income each year.  Both Extend Health and Centene put millions into Gephardt's pocketbook.  He has blatant conflicts of interest on this issue

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.