Until we arrive at the Medicare-for-all system that this country needs and deserves, we are stuck with sending huge portions of our salaries to the big-profit bloodsuckers at Aetna, CIGNA, Humana, et al.

And, as you know, once these horrible corporate citizens take our money, they don't provide us with health care, they provide us with health nightmares.

Luckily, Wendell Potter, a former CIGNA executive turned whistleblower, is now making himself available to help anyone stuck with a health insurance debacle, or just a vexing question:

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get an email from someone asking if I can help untangle a problem they’re having with a health insurer. That’s why I decided to include a resource guide in the about-to-be-released paperback edition of my book, Deadly Spin, An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out On How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans. The guide is a compilation of federal and state government agencies and nonprofit organizations that exist to help people find their way through the maze and haze that characterize the U.S. health insurance industry. But now — with a bit of nudging from my colleagues at the Center for Public Integrity — I’d like to attempt to assist in another way. If you have a health insurance related question — or are in the midst of a fight (or nightmare) with your insurer — and think I might be able to help, just “Ask Wendell.”



Have you been denied coverage for a doctor-ordered procedure? Let me know about it. Is your insurer telling you that an important benefit, which you thought was included in your policy, is not available after all or has been eliminated? Let me know and I’ll see if I can find out why. Has your insurer cancelled or rescinded your coverage without justification? I want to hear from you.

Thanks, Wendell, for your help! And let's make sure that the Daily Kos community continues to support each other as we tangle with the bloodsuckers, too -- if there's a diary about someone having a problem with Aetna or CIGNA, a few hundred phone calls from Kossacks could help to turn the tide.

Here's exactly how you can "Ask Wendell":

I won’t be able to help everyone who contacts me, and I cannot address every inquiry. But I’ll do my best to answer questions, provide guidance and even do some troubleshooting. You can contact me by emailing askwendell@iwatchnews.org or by posting your queries as comments at the bottom of my columns. I'm also on Twitter, so feel free to tweet your questions to @wendellpotter using the hashtag #AskWendell.

As an FYI, Wendell will be away until September 15th, but he is encouraging Americans being screwed by their big-profit insurers to start contacting him NOW.

I'm sure the bloodsuckers are not going to enjoy this new "Ask Wendell" support system...not one bit.

UPDATE: Many thanks for the REC list placement! And, of course, thanks again to Wendell Potter!