Arkansas Democratic Party Chair Vince Insalaco wants U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton to answer some questions about work he did as a private consultant for McKinsey and Co., one of the world’s biggest and most influential consulting groups. There’ve been hints the work included work for the insurance industry.

Does that background explain Cotton’s support for turning Medicare into a voucher system? This idea would further expand profits for the insurance industry, by making Medicare wholly a “private option” program rather than predominantly a single-payer government insurance program. Republicans like the private option and profits it generates for middle men. Said Insalaco:

Advertisement

“Turning Medicare into a voucher program would mean billions in profits for private insurers and it would leave hundreds of thousands of Arkansans without the guaranteed security of Medicare. Arkansans deserve to know what Congressman Cotton was doing for insurance companies when he worked as a Washington insider, and why he voted to send them billions instead of looking out for Arkansas seniors.”

Health care isn’t just lucrative for insurance companies, it’s lucrative for McKinsey. I wrote a while back about the some  40 million McKinsey has coined doing consulting work on insurance for Arkansas. They’ve had people on the ground here, forever. We’re one of their single biggest customers. 

Be a part of something bigger

As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know we’re dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 50 years, we've been fighting the good fight in Little Rock and beyond – with your support, we can do even more. By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Join us in the fight for truth.

Previous article Nothing today on Medicaid expansion in Arkansas House Next article Bailin, Criswell and Peters in “Disparate Acts” at ASU