Not Just Democrats Anymore. Republicans are Mounting a Crackdown on Big Health Insurers

There is a growing appetite among members of both parties to address how health insurance companies have consolidated power in ways that waste tax dollars, limit consumer choice and drive up costs.

For years, I’ve worked to expose the ways in which Big Insurance prioritizes profits over patients. And for years, I’ve seen firsthand that concern over corporate abuse in health care is not limited to any one political party.

In recent weeks, I’ve had meetings with multiple Republican and Democratic congressional offices in which lawmakers and their staff have expressed deep interest in tackling issues of waste, fraud, and abuse in the health insurance industry. These conversations are not theoretical — they are focused on concrete policy solutions to stop insurers from gaming regulations, overcharging taxpayers and undermining free-market competition through monopolistic behavior – namely through their private Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and their military and Veterans Health Administration businesses.

Washington can be deeply divided on many issues, but the evidence of Big Insurance’s excesses transcends party lines. Take Medicare Advantage, for example. For years, whistleblowers, independent researchers and journalists have exposed how insurers use deceptive risk-scoring tactics to siphon billions from taxpayers.

Now, even some of the program’s original champions, like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), are demanding accountability. Grassley recently sent a letter to UnitedHealth Group’s CEO, questioning the company’s role in overbilling Medicare. His willingness to investigate these abuses underscores a growing, bipartisan recognition that the program is not working as intended — and that reforms are necessary.

A third area where there is now strong bipartisan momentum is in the push to rein in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which are the insurance industry-owned drug middlemen that are squeezing independent pharmacies out of business. Republican lawmakers like Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri have linked up with Democratic colleagues to push legislation that would dismantle anti-competitive PBM practices, stop spread pricing and halt insurers from using their vertically integrated businesses to steer patients toward their own pharmacies.

All of these efforts align with broader concerns in Washington and the states about corporate consolidation and anti-competitive behavior in pharmaceuticals, big tech and trade. And to the fear of my former colleagues, I have never seen such bipartisan agreement on any issue related to health care like I’m seeing now. Republicans and Democrats alike are beginning to understand the multiple ways you middlemen have rigged the system to reward yourselves and your shareholders. Lawmakers have had enough.