the attitude with arnie arnesen the Wed edition noon to 1pm EST Nov 5

[Arnie Arnesen]

The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen

opening thoughts: I dedicate this to the thousands of Medicare Advantage Ads that flood my cable tv, my social media feeds

 producers: Dave Scott and Stephanie Collins

Chloé LaCasse (the best of the attitude)

streaming live at wnhnfm.org noon&7pm EST on the dial-94.7FM Concord NH

podcasts available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179

opening thoughts:

I am not a fan of Medicare Advantage (that is an understatement) look at these numbers from the article attached but read the whole thing: https://www.juancole.com/.../deceptive-marketing...

BURGEONING PROFITS IN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY:

Health advocate Wendall Potter found that the seven biggest publicly traded health insurance companies collectively made $71.3 billion in profits, up more than half a billion dollars from 2023. Huge strides in privatizing both Medicare and Medicaid have been made. More than 90% of health-plan revenues at three of the health industry companies come from government programs as they continue to privatize both Medicare and Medicaid, through Medicare Advantage in particular. Enrollment in government-funded programs increased by 261% in 10 years.

What has changed dramatically over the decade is that the big insurers are now getting far more of their revenues from Medicare, Medicaid and from taxpayers as they have moved aggressively into government programs. This is especially true of Humana, Centene, and Molina, which now get, respectively, 85%, 88%, and 94% of their health-plan revenues from government programs.

For-profit private health insurance now controls more than 70% of the Medicare Advantage market.

In 2022, Big Insurance revenues reached $1.25 trillion and profits soared to $69.3 billion.That’s a 300% increase in revenue and a 287% increase in profits from 2012, when revenue was $412.9 billion and profits were $24 billion. https://www.juancole.com/2025/11/deceptive-marketing-practices.html

Arnie Arnesen

I like how the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) sum things up nicely:

Medicare Advantage represents the worst of private insurance coming to take over the best system of health care that America has to offer. Insurers in MA prey on some of the most vulnerable among us, luring them in with false promises of superior coverage and low costs only to make every effort possible to prevent them from accessing necessary health care, all while siphoning billions of dollars from taxpayers. The more MA is allowed to expand, the more harm will come to patients, physicians, hospitals, mental health care professsionals and the health care system writ large. More patients will die waiting for care to be approved, more doctors will face tremendous burdens trying to prevent this outcome, and more hospitals in areas of critical need will close as MA plans refuse to pay for their services.

The money that goes to profit-driven insurers in MA should instead be used to improve Traditional Medicare, including by adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage as well as establishing an out-of-pocket spending cap. Traditional Medicare follows the original spirit of the program, one that was created to serve all Americans without the perverse incentives that come from a profit motive. This is the model we should be following in our health system, instead of devoting more dollars to the failed experiments of managed care. We must eliminate out-of-control profit seeking in Medicare and beyond, both by reining in the abuses of insurers via executive action and legislation, and by greatly expanding our public health insurance programs. It’s time to take Medicare back for the people.

part one: a conversation with Adam Finkel

bio: Dr. Adam M. Finkel is a Clinical Professor of Environmental Health Sciences

(Adjunct) at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and is also an expert
witness specializing in plaintiffs’ exposure to toxicants in the workplace and general
environment. From 2009 to 2017, he was Executive Director of the Penn Program on
Regulation, where he was also a Senior Fellow at the Penn Law School. From 2004 to 2009,he was a Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow WilsonSchool at Princeton University, and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the UMDNJ School of Public Health. 

topics:

1) Trump's demands for "viewpoint diversity" at universities give them a golden opportunity to (re)state what their mission is and what they will not tolerate: "everyone should understand there is no Che Guevara Professor of Marxism at the business school, and so the Kennedy School should not admit, hire, or honor people who think Jan 6 2021 was a "lovefest" or who want public servants to 'feel trauma' "

2) Mamdani as a breath of fresh air, even if he doesn't accomplish all his NYC goals, and if AIPAC and the fragile Jews are apoplectic, that's a feature not a bug IMO

3) the need for respirators (N95) in all healthcare settings so long as Covid is circulating: surgical masks are like typewriters and should be phased out completely.

part two:

How Donald Trump broke the American mind Trumpism's real threat isn't political chaos. It's cognitive collapse https://www.salon.com/2025/11/03/how-donald-trump-broke-the-american-mind/

Sophia A. McClennen is Professor of International Affairs and Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University. She writes on the intersections between culture, politics, and society. Her latest book is "Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn't.

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KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN'T RISE TO THE TOP -  Anonymous 

D. ARNIE ARNESEN
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Host of "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen"

Award Winning Public Affairs Show (NHAB 2018)

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