American Morning
Health insurance 'insider' speaks out
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/02/acosta.insurance.insider.art.jpg caption="Wendell Potter is the former chief spokesman for health insurance giant Cigna."]
By CNN's Jim Acosta & Bonney Kapp
Last year, Wendell Potter stepped down from his post as the chief spokesman for the health insurance giant, Cigna. Potter tells CNN he is finished with defending an industry he calls “beholden to Wall Street.”
At a hearing last week before the Senate Commerce Committee, the former vice president of corporate communications at Cigna testified, “I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry."
The committee’s chairman, West Virginia’s democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller told Potter, “you are better than Russell Crowe on ‘The Insider,’” referring to the award-winning 1999 film about cigarette company executive Jeffrey Wigand who blew the lid on the tobacco industry’s practices.
In his testimony and in an interview with CNN, Potter described how underwriters at his former company would drive small businesses with expensive insurance claims to dump their Cigna policies. Industry executives refer to the practice as "purging," Potter said.
“When that business comes up for renewal the underwriters jack the rates up so much the employer has no choice but to drop insurance,” Potter said.
CNN obtained a transcript of a 2008 Cigna conference call with investors in which company executives use the term “purge.”
But in an email to CNN, Cigna spokesman Chris Curran denied the company engages in “purging.”
Confidential DoD memo outlines problems for wounded troops
From CNN’s Barbara Starr
While the military has instituted dozens of programs to help troubled soldiers with post traumatic stress, brain injuries, and other problems, a number of troops at Fort Hood have privately told the nation’s top military officer they feel they are treated poorly because they are wounded, ill or injured.
In an April 19 confidential memo to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, outlined a number of problems he observed during a trip to several military locations in Texas days before. CNN obtained the memo from a military source, and both the Army and Mullen staffers confirmed its authenticity.
During the visit Mullen met privately with about 30 wounded troops at Fort Hood. “The wounded expressed concern that, at Fort Hood, they were stigmatized and treated as lesser Soldiers (sic) for being wounded, ill, or injured.” The troops had previously been treated at Brooke Army Medical Center where they said they were a higher priority for that staff, than the Army staff at Fort Hood.
What’s on Tap – Thursday, July 02, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- New details on the Michael Jackson investigation. The DEA is now on the case. And now we know the “king of pop” may go out in front of a sold out arena after all. Plus, Michael Jackson’s will surfaces. It answers some questions... but raises a lot more, and pulls Diana Ross into the middle of the media circus.
- One of the first major military operations of the Obama Administration is underway right now in Afghanistan. U.S. troops have launched a major operation against Taliban fighters in the Helmand River valley. It's in the southwest corner of the country, a region that produces more opium than anywhere in the world. It's the first large scale test of the U.S. military's new counter-insurgency strategy. Some 4-thousand Marines are involved. There’s also word that the Taliban is holding a missing U.S. soldier. We’ll go live to the Pentagon for all the latest.
- “The FAA is a Very Sick Agency.” It’s a report you're only going to see on CNN. We've uncovered evidence that the Federal Aviation Administration, an agency that's supposed to keep you safe in while you fly, has ignored more than two-dozen problems flagged by whistleblowers. Some of them are even facing retaliation.
We Listen – Your comments 7/1/09
Editor's Note: Wednesday’s American Morning audience felt Michael Jackson’s nurse, Cherilyn Lee, was not credible and was “trying to make headlines” for herself.
- Tracy: I am very up set that this nurse Cherilyn is trying to make headlines. Are we forgetting that Michael had tons of plastic surgery and was most likely given that drug? The reason why he ask for the medication is because he remembered it put him out while going under the knife. He probably did not realize how dangerous the drug was and just wanted that same experience. Stop making it seem like someone administered that drug while he was in his home. Unless, she was able to get a hold of the drug and gave it to him and is trying to clear her name. She did say she went to the emergency room, did she some how steal the medication and give it to him? Now that’s a story. I don't think that a respectable doctor would administer that drug while in the home, they are not stupid and they know the seriousness of the drug.
- David: I don't believe the nurse claiming MJ called her for drugs. Her story doesn't add up.
- Jeff: the nurse that came forward is lying she said in her first interview Michael asked her for the medicine and he would pay her and then in another interview she said he wanted her to more else find a another person to give him the medicine .she came forward because she feels guilty about something they better investigate this woman hard.
What do you think of Cherilyn Lee’s comments about Michael Jackson’s demands for drugs? Was she telling the truth? Is she trying to make headlines for herself?
Nutritionist: Jackson begged for sedatives for insomnia
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) - Michael Jackson suffered from severe bouts of insomnia and pleaded for a powerful sedative despite knowing its harmful effects, a nutritionist who worked with the singer said Tuesday.
Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse and nurse practitioner who first met Jackson in January to treat his children for a common cold, said she rejected his requests for Diprivan and informed him of the side effects.
"I told him this medication is not safe," Lee said. "He said, 'I just want to get some sleep. You don't understand. I just want to be able to be knocked out and go to sleep.'"
"I told him - and it is so painful that I actually felt it in my whole spirit - 'If you take this you might not wake up.'"
According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, nurse practitioners "provide high-quality health care services similar to those of a doctor." They can also prescribe medications, according to the academy's Web site.
CNN could not independently verify whether Lee worked with Jackson.
Commentary: Bad idea for Honduran president to return
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/01/intv.casas.zamora.art.jpg caption="Former vice president of Costa Rica says Zelaya's return to Honduras would make the political situation there worse."]
Leaders from nations in North and South America are telling those behind the recent coup in Honduras to put their deposed president back in power. President José Manuel Zelaya is vowing to return. What does this mean for the future of Honduras and Central America?
Former vice president of Costa Rica and senior foreign policy fellow with the Brookings Institution, Kevin Casas-Zamora spoke to John Roberts Wednesday on CNN’s “American Morning.”
John Roberts: President Zelaya is vowing to return. Originally it was going to be tomorrow. Now it looks like he’s not going to be back until at least Saturday. But Roberto Micheletti who's assumed the presidency there says if he sets foot in Honduras, he's going to be arrested, tried and thrown in jail. He’s really playing hardball here.
Kevin Casas-Zamora: My sense is that President Zelaya's idea of returning to Honduras immediately is probably a bad idea and it’s likely to make a bad situation worse. I think that some groundwork needs to be laid out before that happens. By groundwork I mean that the return to Honduras of President Zelaya won't solve anything in and of itself. There's got to be some kind of political deal brokered before the underlying issue is tackled and the underlying issue is how to make Honduras governable. Because in the end, it was not governable when President Zelaya was in power and it is not governable now due to the immense international pressure that the new authorities in Honduras find themselves under.
John Roberts: Zelaya was seeking changes to the constitution. He was trying to write them himself. He wanted another term in power but he has pledged that he's not going to pursue that any longer. Do you think that might open the door for his return? Or is Micheletti hanging on so hard and fast to power that he's never going to even let him back in the door?
About this Show
Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
On Twitter
