Healthcare Costs, Insurance Giants, and Their Impact

Photo: AP/Andrew Harnik

For 35 years, I have dedicated my life to caring for patients. Now, as a physician-legislator in Congress, I am taking on the most powerful lobby in Washington, health insurers.

In 2025, the seven largest for-profit health insurance companies generated nearly $1.7 trillion in total revenues, with profits exceeding $54 billion. Their ability to manipulate and obscure financial figures likely makes real profits much higher. While profit itself is not inherently negative, as a capitalist, I believe in responsible financial practices. However, these insurers heavily depend on taxpayer money. For instance, UnitedHealthcare gets over 77% of its revenues from government programs, despite covering far more individuals under commercial plans.

This reliance highlights why insurers ardently lobbied to maintain ObamaCare subsidies. Since 2015, the top seven firms have spent over $137 billion purchasing their own shares. This practice inflates share prices, benefiting executives with increased pay, and conceals financial issues. Share buybacks were largely illegal in the 20th century due to their classification as market manipulation.

While generating profits for shareholders is expected, these corporations choose buybacks over reducing insurance premiums, escalating financial distress for patients struggling with healthcare expenses. Presently, an oligopoly extracts nearly $2 trillion annually from Americans while denying care increasingly needed.

With profits rising, patients face dense webs of pre-authorizations, denials, and out-of-network conflicts that hinder access to necessary care. Measures enrich executives and shareholders, driving up costs and limiting access. Vertical integration’s development aligns with ObamaCare, legislation favoring insurers. Personally, I propose dismantling these giants and ending for-profit health insurance structures.

American patients cannot sustain this cumbersome bureaucracy. Emergency room visits, cancer therapies, or essential medicines should not be priced beyond reach. By addressing American medicine’s challenges, any sector complicating patient care will face scrutiny.

Blame is widespread, but health insurance firms’ greedy practices lead the charge. Americans are increasingly aware; even Congress takes note. Greg Murphy represents North Carolina’s 3rd District as co-chair of the Congressional Doctors Caucus.