Sanders, Wyden demand hearings with health insurance CEOs

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Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are calling on Republican committee leaders to hold hearings with the chief executives of top health insurers in the U.S. as they “continue to get rich” during a time when health care access and affordability are of top concern.

Sanders and Wyden wrote to Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chairs of the Senate Health and Finance committees respectively, asking that they bring in the health care CEOS to testify.

“The American public deserves to know why the big insurance executives that testified before the House earlier this year continue to get rich, as over one-third of people with health insurance have been forced to skip or delay getting the care they need because of the outrageous cost,” the duo wrote in a letter seen first by The Hill.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a similar hearing earlier this year with the CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Elevance Health, the Cigna Group, Ascendiun and TnK Health and Nutrition.

Sanders and Wyden noted in their letter that several of these companies have reported billions in profit and that several, like Cigna and Aetna, have spent a significant amount of money in stock buybacks,.

The senators noted how both Cassidy and Crapo have criticized health insurance companies for policies that make plans unaffordable for patients.

The letter cites recent KFF polling, which found U.S. voters are more concerned about being able to afford health care than other expenses like food, rent or fuel.

Gallup polling released this week similarly found that the “availability and affordability of healthcare” is the top domestic concern for Americans for the first time since 2020, with people expressing greater worries about this issue than others like the economy.

“We agree,” the senators continued. “It is time for our committees to hold the chief executives of the major health insurance companies accountable for their greed and to address the health care crisis in America, as our colleagues in the House did earlier this year on a bipartisan basis.”

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