No Matter How Crappy - or suffer a tax penalty!

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Wendell Potter on Profits Before Patients

July 10, 2009 Last month, testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation by a former health insurance insider named Wendell Potter made news even before it occurred: CBS NEWS headlined: "Cigna Whistleblower to Testify." After Potter's testimony the industry scrambled to do damage control: "Insurers defend rescissions, take heat for lack of transparency." In his first extended television interview since leaving the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter tells Bill Moyers why he left his successful career as the head of Public Relations for CIGNA, one of the nation's largest insurers, and decided to speak out against the industry. "I didn't intend to [speak out], until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they've used over the years, and particularly back in the early '90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan." Potter began his trip from health care spokesperson to reform advocate while back home in Tennessee. Potter attended a "health care expedition," a makeshift health clinic set up at a fairgrounds, and he tells Bill Moyers, "It was absolutely stunning. When I walked through the fairground gates, I saw hundreds of people lined up, in the rain. It was raining that day. Lined up, waiting to get care, in animal stalls. Animal stalls." Looking back over his long career, Potter sees an industry corrupted by Wall Street expectations and greed. According to Potter, insurers have every incentive to deny coverage — every dollar they don't pay out to a claim is a dollar they can add to their profits, and Wall Street investors demand they pay out less every year. Under these conditions, Potter says, "You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations." You can view Wendel Potter's congressional testimony online or read the text. You can learn more about Remote Area Medical, the organization that put on the "health care expedition" here. Strategy Memos During the interview, Bill Moyers read from confidential documents drafted by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) in May and June of 2007. The documents outline a unified strategy for AHIP members to prepare for the release of Michael Moore's documentary, SICKO on June 29, 2007. You can download and read the full AHIP documents by clicking here and here (PDFs). The Language of Health Care 2009 (PDF) The Frank Luntz memo strategizing opposition to health care reform Bill Moyers mentions in the interview. GOP Health Care Strategy (PDF) Strategy memo by Alex Castellanos dated July 7, 2009. Red-Flagging and Rescission Among the other testimony heard by the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation was that of Robin Beaton. It reflected some of the insurance company tactics condemned by Potter. It was a nightmare scenario. The day before she was scheduled to undergo a double mastectomy for invasive breast cancer, Robin Beaton's health insurance company informed her that she was "red flagged" and they wouldn't pay for her surgery. The hospital wanted a $30,000 deposit before they would move forward. Beaton had no choice but to forgo the life-saving surgery. Beaton had dutifully signed up for individual insurance when she retired from nursing to start a small business. She had never missed a payment, but that didn't matter. Blue Cross cited two earlier, unrelated conditions that she hadn't reported to them when signing up — acne and a fast beating heart — and rescinded her policy. Beaton pleaded with the company and had her doctors write letters on her behalf to no avail. It was not until Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) personally called Blue Cross that her policy was reinstated and she could undergo surgery. In that year, Beaton's tumor doubled in size, leading to further complications necessitating the removal of her lymph glands as well. >>Watch Robin Beaton's testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The practice is called "rescission" and Beaton's is not an isolated case. The House Energy and Commerce Committee found that the major private health insurers had rescinded the policies of approximately 20,000 people in a five year period, to avoid paying out approximately $300 million in benefit claims. Appearing before the same committee, CEOs of the major health insurance companies stated that they would continue to use rescission, arguing that it is a necessary protection against fraud and abuse. >>Watch the health care CEOs appear before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Wendell Potter Wendell Potter has served since May 2009 as the Center for Media and Democracy in Madison, Wisconsin's senior fellow on health care. After a 20-year career as a corporate public relations executive, last year he left his job as head of communications for one of the nation's largest health insurers to try his hand at helping socially responsible organizations — including those advocating for meaningful health care reform — achieve their goals. Based in Philadelphia, Potter provides strategic communications counsel and planning services as an independent consultant. He also speaks out on both the need for a fundamental overhaul of the American health care system and on the dangers to American democracy and society of the decline of the media as watchdog, which has contributed to the growing and increasingly unchecked influence of corporate PR. Before his switch, Potter held a variety of positions at CIGNA Corporation over 15 years, serving most recently as head of corporate communications and as the company's chief corporate spokesman. Prior to joining CIGNA, Potter headed communications at Humana Inc., another large for-profit health insurer and was director of public relations and advertising for The Baptist Health System of East Tennessee. He also has been a partner in an Atlanta public relations firm, a press secretary to a Democratic nominee for governor of Tennessee and a lobbyist in Washington for the organizers of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn. Wendell Potter first worked as a journalist. When fresh out of college, he worked for Scripps-Howard's afternoon paper in Memphis. He wrote about Memphis businesses and local government before being sent to Nashville to cover the governor's office and state legislature. Two years later he was promoted to the Scripps-Howard News Bureau in Washington where he covered Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court and wrote a weekly political column. Wendell Potter is a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he received a B.A. degree in communications and did postgraduate work in journalism and public relations. He holds an APR, which means he is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America, and is still a dues-paying member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club in Washington. WENDELL POTTER --> With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform. WENDELL POTTER'S TESTIMONY MONEY, POLITICS AND HEALTH Trace campaign contributions, ad spending and the revolving door between industry and government. HEALTHCARE REFORM ON THE TABLE Public option, single payer, free market — what are the options now under discussion? America's Health Insurance Plans Memos: here and here (PDFs). Frank Luntz Memo (PDF) The Frank Luntz memo strategizing opposition to health care reform Bill Moyers mentions in the interview. "Health insurers refuse to limit rescission of coverage" By Lisa Girion, LA TIMES, June 17, 2009. "Insured, but Bankrupted by Health Crises " By Reed Abelson, THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 30, 2009. "Terminations of Individual Health Policies by Insurance Companies" Read testimony by Robin Beaton and others who've lost coverage, as well as from insurance company executives. Hearing held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, June 16, 2009. Wendell Potter Wendell Potter's biography on PR Watch.org Wendell Potter's blog.

BILL MOYERS: Wendell Potter joins us now. Welcome to the Journal.

WENDELL POTTER: Thank you very much for having me here.

BILL MOYERS: You worked for CIGNA 15 years and left last year.

WENDELL POTTER: I did.

BILL MOYERS: Were you pushed out?

WENDELL POTTER: I was not. I left-- it was my decision to leave, and my decision to leave when I did.

BILL MOYERS: Were you passed over for a promotion?

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely not. No.

BILL MOYERS: Had you been well-paid and rewarded by the company?

WENDELL POTTER: Very well-paid. And I, over the years, had many job opportunities, many bonuses, salary increases. So no, I was not. And in fact, there was no further place for me to go in the company. I was head of corporate communications and that was the ultimate PR job.

BILL MOYERS: Did you like your boss and the people you work with?

WENDELL POTTER: I did, and still do. I still respect them.

BILL MOYERS: And they gave you a terrific party when you left?

WENDELL POTTER: They sure did, yeah.

BILL MOYERS: So why are you speaking out now?

WENDELL POTTER: I didn't intend to, until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they've used over the years, and particularly back in the early '90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan.

BILL MOYERS: But during this 15 years you were there, did you go to them and say, "You know, I think we're on the wrong side. I think we're fighting the wrong people here."

WENDELL POTTER: You know, I didn't, because for most of the time I was there, I felt that what we were doing was the right thing. And that I was playing on a team that was honorable. I just didn't really get it all that much until toward the end of my tenure at Cigna.

BILL MOYERS: What did you see?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, I was beginning to question what I was doing as the industry shifted from selling primarily managed care plans, to what they refer to as consumer-driven plans. And they're really plans that have very high deductibles, meaning that they're shifting a lot of the cost off health care from employers and insurers, insurance companies, to individuals. And a lot of people can't even afford to make their co-payments when they go get care, as a result of this. But it really took a trip back home to Tennessee for me to see exactly what is happening to so many Americans. I--

BILL MOYERS: When was this?

WENDELL POTTER: This was in July of 2007.

BILL MOYERS: You were still working for Cigna?

WENDELL POTTER: I was. I went home, to visit relatives. And I picked up the local newspaper and I saw that a health care expedition was being held a few miles up the road, in Wise, Virginia. And I was intrigued.

BILL MOYERS: So you drove there?

WENDELL POTTER: I did. I borrowed my dad's car and drove up 50 miles up the road to Wise, Virginia. It was being held at a Wise County Fairground. I took my camera. I took some pictures. It was a very cloudy, misty day, it was raining that day, and I walked through the fairground gates. And I didn't know what to expect. I just assumed that it would be, you know, like a health-- booths set up and people just getting their blood pressure checked and things like that.

But what I saw were doctors who were set up to provide care in animal stalls. Or they'd erected tents, to care for people. I mean, there was no privacy. In some cases-- and I've got some pictures of people being treated on gurneys, on rain-soaked pavement.

And I saw people lined up, standing in line or sitting in these long, long lines, waiting to get care. People drove from South Carolina and Georgia and Kentucky, Tennessee-- all over the region, because they knew that this was being done. A lot of them heard about it from word of mouth.

There could have been people and probably were people that I had grown up with. They could have been people who grew up at the house down the road, in the house down the road from me. And that made it real to me.

BILL MOYERS: What did you think?

WENDELL POTTER: It was absolutely stunning. It was like being hit by lightning. It was almost-- what country am I in? I just it just didn't seem to be a possibility that I was in the United States. It was like a lightning bolt had hit me.

BILL MOYERS: People are going to say, "How can Wendell Potter sit here and say he was just finding out that there were a lot of Americans who didn't have adequate insurance and needed health care? He'd been in the industry for over 15 years."

WENDELL POTTER: And that was my problem. I had been in the industry and I'd risen up in the ranks. And I had a great job. And I had a terrific office in a high-rise building in Philadelphia. I was insulated. I didn't really see what was going on. I saw the data. I knew that 47 million people were uninsured, but I didn't put faces with that number.

Just a few weeks later though, I was back in Philadelphia and I would often fly on a corporate aircraft to go to meetings.

And I just thought that was a great way to travel. It is a great way to travel. You're sitting in a luxurious corporate jet, leather seats, very spacious. And I was served my lunch by a flight attendant who brought my lunch on a gold-rimmed plate. And she handed me gold-plated silverware to eat it with. And then I remembered the people that I had seen in Wise County. Undoubtedly, they had no idea that this went on, at the corporate levels of health insurance companies.

BILL MOYERS: But you had, all these years, seen premiums rising. People purged from the rolls, people who couldn't afford the health care that Cigna and other companies were offering. This is the first time you came face to face with it?

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah, it was. You know, certainly, I knew people, and I talked to people who were uninsured. But when you're in the executive offices, when you're getting prepared for a call with an analyst, in the financial medium, what you think about are the numbers. You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations. That's what you think about, at that level. And it helps to think that way. That's why you-- that enables you to stay there, if you don't really think that you're talking about and dealing with real human beings.

BILL MOYERS: Did you go back to corporate headquarters and tell them what you had seen?

WENDELL POTTER: I went back to corporate headquarters. I was trying to process all this, and trying to figure out what I should do. I did tell many of them about the experience I had. And the trip. I showed them some pictures I took while I was down there. But I didn't know exactly what I should do.

You know, I had bills of my own. And it was hard to just figure out. How do I step away from this? What do I do? And this was one of those things that made me decide, "Okay, I can't do this. I can't keep-- I can't." One of the books I read as I was trying to make up my mind here was President Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage."

And in the forward, Robert Kennedy said that one of the president's, one of his favorite quotes was a Dante quote that, "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, maintain a neutrality." And when I read that, I said, "Oh, jeez, I-- you know. I'm headed for that hottest place in hell, unless I say something."

BILL MOYERS: Your own resume says, and I'm quoting. "With the chief medical officer and his staff, Potter developed rapid response mechanisms for handling media inquiries pertaining to complaints." Direct quote. "This was highly successful in keeping most such inquiries from becoming news stories, at a time when managed care horror stories abounded." I mean, you knew there were horror stories out there.

WENDELL POTTER: I did. I did.

BILL MOYERS: You put these techniques to work, representing Cigna doing the Nataline Sarkisyan case, right?

WENDELL POTTER: That's right.

BILL MOYERS: And that was a public relations nightmare, you called it. Right?

WENDELL POTTER: It was. It was just the most difficult. We call them high profile cases, when you have a case like that — a family or a patient goes to the news media and complains about having some coverage denied that a doctor had recommended. In this case, Nataline Sarkisyan's doctors at UCLA had recommended that she have a liver transplant. But when the coverage request was reviewed at Cigna, the decision was made to deny it.

It was around that time, also, that the family had gone to the media, had sought out help from the California Nurses Association and some others to really bring pressure to bear on Cigna. And they were very successful in getting a lot of media attention, and nothing like I had ever seen before.

PROTESTERS: Shame on Cigna! Shame on Cigna!

WENDELL POTTER: It got everyone's attention. Everyone was focused on that in the corporate offices.

BILL MOYERS: You were also involved in the campaign by the industry to discredit Michael Moore and his film "Sicko" in 2007. In that film Moore went to several countries around the world, and reported that their health care system was better than our health care system, in particular, Canada and England. Take a look at this.

MICHAEL MOORE: I went across the city to a crowded hospital waiting room. How long did you have to wait here to get help?

CANADIAN WOMAN #1: 20 minutes

CANADIAN WOMAN #2: 45 minutes

CANADIAN MAN #2: I got helped right away.

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: You can see how crowded this is. They really do an amazing job.

MICHAEL MOORE: Did you have to get anyone's permission to come to this hospital?

CANADIAN MAN #2: No.

CANADIAN MAN #3: No.

CANADIAN WOMAN #1: No.

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: We can go anywhere we want.

MICHAEL MOORE: You don't have to get pre-approved?

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: No, no. You just--

MICHAEL MOORE: By your own insurance company?

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: Oh no, oh heavens no.

MICHAEL MOORE: Can you choose your own doctor?

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: Oh sure. Oh yes.

MICHAEL MOORE: What's your deductible?

CANADIAN MAN #1: Nothing.

CANADIAN WOMAN #1: I don't think we have any.

CANADIAN MAN #2: I don't know. I don't think there's any as far as I know.

CANADIAN WOMAN #3: It's really a fabulous system for making sure that the least of us and the best of us are taken care of.

BRITISH WOMAN #1: Oh, really it's not like that in the US? No. Not at all, no.

MICHAEL MOORE: So what do you pay to stay here?

BRITISH WOMAN #1: No one pays. They're asking, "How do people pay?" And I said, well there isn't, you don't, you just leave.

BRITISH MAN #1: It's just the insurance. There's no bill at the end of it, as it were.

MICHAEL MOORE: Even with insurance, there's bound to be a bill somewhere. So where's the billing department?

BRITISH WOMAN #1: There isn't really a billing department.

BRITISH WOMAN #2: There's no such thing as a billing department.

MICHAEL MOORE: What did they charge you for that baby?

BRITISH WOMAN #3: Sorry?

MICHAEL MOORE: You've got to pay before you can get out of here, right?

BRITISH WOMAN #3: No.

BRITISH MAN #1: No, no, no. Everything's on NHS.

BRITISH WOMAN #3: This is NHS.

BRITISH MAN #1: You know, it's not America.

BILL MOYERS: So what did you think when you saw that film?

WENDELL POTTER: I thought that he hit the nail on the head with his movie. But the industry, from the moment that the industry learned that Michael Moore was taking on the health care industry, it was really concerned.

BILL MOYERS: What were they afraid of?

WENDELL POTTER: They were afraid that people would believe Michael Moore.

BILL MOYERS: We obtained a copy of the game plan that was adopted by the industry's trade association, AHIP. And it spells out the industry strategies in gold letters. It says, "Highlight horror stories of government-run systems." What was that about?

[Note: You can download the documents by clicking here and here (PDFs)]

WENDELL POTTER: The industry has always tried to make Americans think that government-run systems are the worst thing that could possibly happen to them, that if you even consider that, you're heading down on the slippery slope towards socialism. So they have used scare tactics for years and years and years, to keep that from happening. If there were a broader program like our Medicare program, it could potentially reduce the profits of these big companies. So that is their biggest concern.

BILL MOYERS: And there was a political strategy. "Position Sicko as a threat to Democrats' larger agenda." What does that mean?

WENDELL POTTER: That means that part of the effort to discredit this film was to use lobbyists and their own staff to go onto Capitol Hill and say, "Look, you don't want to believe this movie. You don't want to talk about it. You don't want to endorse it. And if you do, we can make things tough for you."

BILL MOYERS: How?

WENDELL POTTER: By running ads, commercials in your home district when you're running for reelection, not contributing to your campaigns again, or contributing to your competitor.

BILL MOYERS: This is fascinating. You know, "Build awareness among centrist Democratic policy organizations--"

WENDELL POTTER: Right.

BILL MOYERS: "--including the Democratic Leadership Council."

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: Then it says, "Message to Democratic insiders. Embracing Moore is one-way ticket back to minority party status."

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: Now, that's exactly what they did, didn't they? They--

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: --radicalized Moore, so that his message was discredited because the messenger was seen to be radical.

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely. In memos that would go back within the industry — he was never, by the way, mentioned by name in any memos, because we didn't want to inadvertently write something that would wind up in his hands. So the memos would usually-- the subject line would be-- the emails would be, "Hollywood." And as we would do the media training, we would always have someone refer to him as Hollywood entertainer or Hollywood moviemaker Michael Moore.

BILL MOYERS: Why?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, just to-- Hollywood, I think people think that's entertainment, that's movie-making. That's not real documentary. They don't want you to think that it was a documentary that had some truth. They would want you to see this as just some fantasy that a Hollywood filmmaker had come up with. That's part of the strategy.

BILL MOYERS: So you would actually hear politicians mouth the talking points that had been circulated by the industry to discredit Michael Moore.

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: You'd hear ordinary people talking that. And politicians as well, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: So your plan worked.

WENDELL POTTER: It worked beautifully.

BILL MOYERS: The film was blunted, right?

WENDELL POTTER: The film was blunted. It--

BILL MOYERS: Was it true? Did you think it contained a great truth?

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely did.

BILL MOYERS: What was it?

WENDELL POTTER: That we shouldn't fear government involvement in our health care system. That there is an appropriate role for government, and it's been proven in the countries that were in that movie.

You know, we have more people who are uninsured in this country than the entire population of Canada. And that if you include the people who are underinsured, more people than in the United Kingdom. We have huge numbers of people who are also just a lay-off away from joining the ranks of the uninsured, or being purged by their insurance company, and winding up there.

And another thing is that the advocates of reform or the opponents of reform are those who are saying that we need to be careful about what we do here, because we don't want the government to take away your choice of a health plan. It's more likely that your employer and your insurer is going to switch you from a plan that you're in now to one that you don't want. You might be in the plan you like now.

But chances are, pretty soon, you're going to be enrolled in one of these high deductible plans in which you're going to find that much more of the cost is being shifted to you than you ever imagined.

BILL MOYERS: I have a memo, from Frank Luntz. I have a memo written by Frank Luntz. He's the Republican strategist who we discovered, in the spring, has written the script for opponents of health care reform. "First," he says, "you have to pretend to support it. Then use phrases like, "government takeover," "delayed care is denied care," "consequences of rationing," "bureaucrats, not doctors prescribing medicine." That was a memo, by Frank Luntz, to the opponents of health care reform in this debate. Now watch this clip.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER: The forthcoming plan from Democratic leaders will make health care more expensive, limit treatments, ration care, and put bureaucrats in charge of medical decisions rather than patients and doctors.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: Americans need to realize that when someone says "government option," what could really occur is a government takeover that soon could lead to government bureaucrats denying and delaying care, and telling Americans what kind of care they can have.

SEN. JON KYL: Washington run healthcare would diminish access to quality care, leading to denials, shortages and long delays for treatment.

REP. JOE WILSON: How will a government run health plan not lead to the same rationing of care that we have seen in other countries?

REP. TOM PRICE: We don't want to put the government, we don't want to put bureaucrats between a doctor and a patient.

BILL MOYERS: Why do politicians puppet messages like that?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, they are ideologically aligned with the industry. They want to believe that the free market system can and should work in this country, like it does in other industries. So they don't understand from an insider's perspective like I have, what that actually means, and the consequences of that to Americans.

They parrot those comments, without really realizing what the real situation is.

I was watching MSNBC one afternoon. And I saw Congressman Zach Wamp from Tennessee. He's just down the road from where I grew up, in Chattanooga. And he was talking-- he was asked a question about health care reform. I think it was just a day or two after the president's first-- health care reform summit. And he was one of the ones Republicans put on the tube.

And he was saying that, you know, the health care problem is not necessarily as bad as we think. That of the uninsured people, half of them are that way because they want to "go naked."

REP. ZACH WAMP: Half the people that are uninsured today choose to remain uninsured. Half of them don't have any choice but half of them choose to, what's called, go naked, and just take the chance of getting sick. They end up in the emergency room costing you and me a whole lot more money.

WENDELL POTTER: He used the word naked. It's an industry term for those who, presumably, choose not to buy insurance, because they don't want to. They don't want to pay the premiums. So he was saying that half... Well, first of all, it's nothing like that. It was an absolutely ridiculous comment. But it's an example of a member of Congress buying what the insurance industry is peddling.

BILL MOYERS: Back in 1993, the Republican propagandist, William Kristol, urged his party to block any health care proposal, in order to prevent the Democrats from being seen as the quote, "generous protector of the middle class." But today, you've got some Democrats who are going along with the industry.

Max Baucus, the senator from Montana, for example, the most important figure right now in this health care legislation that's being written in the Senate. He's resisted including a public insurance option in the reform bill, right?

WENDELL POTTER: That's right.

BILL MOYERS: Why is the industry so powerful on both sides of the aisle?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, money and relationships, ideology. The relationships-- an insurance company can hire and does hire many different lobbying firms. And they hire firms that are predominantly Republican and predominantly Democrat. And they do this because they know they need to reach influential members of Congress like Max Baucus. So there are people who used to work for Max Baucus who are in lobbying firms or on the staff of companies like Cigna or the association itself.

BILL MOYERS: Yeah, I just read the other day, in THE WASHINGTON POST, that Max Baucus's staff met with a group of lobbyists. Two of them had been Baucus's former chiefs of staff.

WENDELL POTTER: Right.

BILL MOYERS: I mean, they left the government. They go to work for the industry. Now they're back with an insider status. They get an access, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Oh, they do, they do. And these lobbyists' ability to raise money for these folks also is very important as well.

Lobbyists, many of the big lobbyists contributed a lot of money themselves. One of the lobbyists for one of the big health insurance company is Heather Podesta, the Podesta Group, and she's married to Tony Podesta, who's a brother of John Podesta.

BILL MOYERS: Who used to be the White House chief of staff.

WENDELL POTTER: Right. Right. And they're Democrats. And my executives wanted to meet with — and when I say my, the people I used to work for--

BILL MOYERS: At Cigna.

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah, wanted to meet with Hillary Clinton, when she was still in the Senate and still a candidate for president. Well, that's hard to do. That's hard to pull off, but she did. That just shows you that you can, through the relationships that are formed and that the insurance industry pays for, by hiring these lobbyists, you can your foot in the door. You can get your messages across to these people, in ways that the average American couldn't possibly.

BILL MOYERS: So it's money that can buy access to have their arguments heard, right?

WENDELL POTTER: That's right.

BILL MOYERS: When ordinary citizens cannot be heard.

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely right. It's the way the American system has evolved, the political system. But it does offend me, that the vested special interests, who are so profitable and so powerful, are able to influence public policy in the way that they have, and the way that they've done over the years. And the insurance industry has been one of the most successful, in beating back any kinds of legislation that would hinder or affect the profitability of the companies.

BILL MOYERS: Why is public insurance, a public option, so fiercely opposed by the industry?

WENDELL POTTER: The industry doesn't want to have any competitor. In fact, over the course of the last few years, has been shrinking the number of competitors through a lot of acquisitions and mergers. So first of all, they don't want any more competition period. They certainly don't want it from a government plan that might be operating more efficiently than they are, that they operate. The Medicare program that we have here is a government-run program that has administrative expenses that are like three percent or so.

BILL MOYERS: Compared to the industry's--

WENDELL POTTER: They spend about 20 cents of every premium dollar on overhead, which is administrative expense or profit. So they don't want to compete against a more efficient competitor.

BILL MOYERS: You told Congress that the industry has hijacked our health care system and turned it into a giant ATM for Wall Street. You said, "I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick, all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors." How do they satisfy their Wall Street investors?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, there's a measure of profitability that investors look to, and it's called a medical loss ratio. And it's unique to the health insurance industry. And by medical loss ratio, I mean that it's a measure that tells investors or anyone else how much of a premium dollar is used by the insurance company to actually pay medical claims. And that has been shrinking, over the years, since the industry's been dominated by, or become dominated by for-profit insurance companies. Back in the early '90s, or back during the time that the Clinton plan was being debated, 95 cents out of every dollar was sent, you know, on average was used by the insurance companies to pay claims. Last year, it was down to just slightly above 80 percent.

So, investors want that to keep shrinking. And if they see that an insurance company has not done what they think meets their expectations with the medical loss ratio, they'll punish them. Investors will start leaving in droves.

I've seen a company stock price fall 20 percent in a single day, when it did not meet Wall Street's expectations with this medical loss ratio.

For example, if one company's medical loss ratio was 77.9 percent, for example, in one quarter, and the next quarter, it was 78.2 percent. It seems like a small movement. But investors will think that's ridiculous. And it's horrible.

BILL MOYERS: That they're spending more money for medical claims.

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: And less money on profits?

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And they think that this company has not done a good job of managing medical expenses. It has not denied enough claims. It has not kicked enough people off the rolls. And that's what-- that is what happens, what these companies do, to make sure that they satisfy Wall Street's expectations with the medical loss ratio.

BILL MOYERS: And they do what to make sure that they keep diminishing the medical loss ratio?

WENDELL POTTER: Rescission is one thing. Denying claims is another. Being, you know, really careful as they review claims, particularly for things like liver transplants, to make sure, from their point of view, that it really is medically necessary and not experimental. That's one thing. And that was that issue in the Nataline Sarkisyan case.

But another way is to purge employer accounts, that-- if a small business has an employee, for example, who suddenly has have a lot of treatment, or is in an accident. And medical bills are piling up, and this employee is filing claims with the insurance company. That'll be noticed by the insurance company.

And when that business is up for renewal, and it typically is up, once a year, up for renewal, the underwriters will look at that. And they'll say, "We need to jack up the rates here, because the experience was," when I say experience, the claim experience, the number of claims filed was more than we anticipated. So we need to jack up the price. Jack up the premiums. Often they'll do this, knowing that the employer will have no alternative but to leave. And that happens all the time.

They'll resort to things like the rescissions that we saw earlier. Or dumping, actually dumping employer groups from the rolls. So the more of my premium that goes to my health claims, pays for my medical coverage, the less money the company makes.

BILL MOYERS: So, the more of my premium that goes to my health claims, pays for my medical coverage, the less money the company makes.

WENDELL POTTER: That's right. Exactly right.

BILL MOYERS: So they want to reverse that. They don't want my premium to go for my health care, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly right. They--

BILL MOYERS: Where does it go?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, a big chunk of it goes into shareholders' pockets. It's returned to them as part of the investment to them. It goes into the exorbitant salaries that a lot of the executives make. It goes into paying sales, marketing, and underwriting expenses. So a lot of it goes to pay those kinds of administrative functions. Overhead.

BILL MOYERS: When a member of Congress asked the three executives who appeared before the committee-- if they would end the practice of canceling policies for sick enrollees, they refused. Why did they refuse?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, they were talking to Wall Street at that moment. They were saying that because-- I guess they might have to spend some additional dollars to be more vigilant, to make sure that they were not rescinding a policy inappropriately. It makes no sense. The only reason they would have said that is to cover themselves. And to send a signal to Wall Street that you know, we're going to continue business as usual here.

You know, I've been around a long time. And I have to say, I just don't get this. I just don't understand how the corporations can oppose a plan that gives the unhealthy people a chance to be covered. And they don't want to do it themselves.

Well, keep in mind, what they want to do is enhance their profits. Enhance shareholder value. That's number one. And the way that the business that they're in is health care, certainly. But their primary motivation is to reward their shareholders.

Most of the shareholders are large, institutional investors and hedge funds. Hedge fund managers are the ones who look at the stock. And investors for large organizations. It's not mom and pop investor.

BILL MOYERS: You wrote a column with the headline, "Obama's false friends of health reform." You use as a prime example a man named Ron Williams, who is at the top of the list of insurance executives in terms of their compensation. We actually saw Ron Williams at President Obama's Town Hall meeting .

RON WILLIAMS: I would commend the president for the commitment he's made to really try to get and keep everyone covered. And I think as a health insurance company we are committed to that.

BILL MOYERS: Who is Ron Williams, and why do you use him as the example of what Wall Street expects and wants from the insurance companies?

WENDELL POTTER: He has, apparently, had a seat at the table of health care discussion. He was recruited by Aetna from WellPoint. Aetna had gone on a buying binge. There's been an enormous amount of consolidation in the health insurance industry over the last several years. Aetna bought a lot of competitors.

It reached 21 million members. And, but what it realized and what investors began to see is that a lot of the businesses that it had bought were not all that profitable. So they were in Aetna was in a pickle. And they saw their stock price starting to plummet. So they brought-- among the things they did was bring Ron Williams in. And Williams, among the first thing he did was order a revamp of the IT system, so that--

BILL MOYERS: The information technology system--

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly, so that the company could determine more about which accounts were not profitable or margining profitable. So with that new system, he was able, and the other executives to identify the accounts that they wanted to get rid of. And over the course of a very few years, they shed eight million members.

BILL MOYERS: Eight million policy holders?

WENDELL POTTER: Eight million people, men, women, and children, yes.

Some of them were shed by intention. Some, I'm sure, probably walked because the-- or left for whatever other reason, but they intentionally had this program to purge these accounts. Eight million fewer people were enrolled in Aetna's plans. Many of them undoubtedly joined the ranks of the uninsured, because their employers had been purged.

BILL MOYERS: So what happened to Aetna's stock?

WENDELL POTTER: Went up. And it has--

BILL MOYERS: And so did Ron's--

WENDELL POTTER: And--

BILL MOYERS: --compensation, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Ron's compensation and his stock on Wall Street.

RON WILLIAMS: And so I think in the context of thinking about a government plan, what we say is, let's identify the problem we're trying to solve. Let's work collaboratively with physicians, hospitals, and other health care professionals, and make certain that we solve the problem, as opposed to introduce a new competitor who has the rulemaking ability that government would have.

BILL MOYERS: You know, there's an irony, because you hear the companies and their trade groups talking about how we don't want a public option that would put a bureaucrat between a patient and his doctor. But you've just described a situation in which a CEO is actually between a doctor and the patient,

WENDELL POTTER: It's true. And that same thing happened, in the Nataline Sarkisyan case. You had a corporate bureaucrat making a decision on coverage. So, they are trying to make you worry. And fear a government bureaucrat being between you and your doctor. What you have now is a corporate bureaucrat between you and your doctor.

BILL MOYERS: Whose motive is profit. Understandably, naturally, profit.

WENDELL POTTER: Right.

BILL MOYERS: But companies, any company is in business to make a profit, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Oh, absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: So how can you object? How can we object when an insurance company wants to increase its profits? That's a serious question. I mean, it sounds like a set-up but it's a serious question.

WENDELL POTTER: It's a very serious question. And I think that people who are strong advocates of our health care system remaining as it is, very much a free market health care system, fail to realize that we're really talking about human beings here. And it doesn't work as well as they would like it to. Yeah, there's nothing wrong. And I'm a capitalist as well. I think it's a wonderful thing that companies can make a profit. But when you do it in such a way that you are creating a situation in which these companies are adding to the number of people who are uninsured and creating a problem of the underinsured then that's when we have a problem with it, or at least I do.

BILL MOYERS: This is the key question for me. Can health reform that includes a public plan actually rid our system of the financial incentive on the part of the insurance industry to provide less for more?

WENDELL POTTER: It will help. It would help. Would it rid it? No, I don't think it would, because of the for-profit structure that is now dominant in this country. But the public plan would do a lot to keep them honest, because it would have to offer a standard benefit plan. It would have to operate more efficiently, as does the Medicare program. It would be structured, I'm certain on a level playing field, so that it wouldn't be unfair advantage to the private insurance companies. But because it could be administered more efficiently, then the private insurers, they would have to operate more efficiently. And that 20 cents in that medical loss ratio we talked about earlier might get narrower. And they don't want that.

BILL MOYERS: As this debate unfolds in the next month, into the fall, what should we be watching for? Tell us as an insider what to look for that is more than meets the eye?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, what happens is they will continue this charm offensive, until there's actual legislative language. And what that means, of course, is that right now, you're not really seeing the bills before the House and the Senate that will actually be voted on. When we see the actual legislation, when there's something before Congress, and it will happen, presumably, within the next few weeks, you'll start seeing a lot more criticism of it.

And the special interests will be attacking this or that. The AMA will be upset about something. The pharmaceutical industry will be upset about something. The insurance industry will not like this or that. It's, you know, a lot of money is made in this country off sick people. And then you'll start seeing a lot more of the behind-the-scenes attacks on this legislation, in an attempt to kill it. The status quo is what would work best for these industries.

BILL MOYERS: In other words, if the industry is able to kill reform, or the Democrats and the Republicans can't agree on a proposal, that's what the industry really wants.

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And it happened in '93 and '94. And just about every time there has been significant legislation before Congress, the industry has been able to kill it. Yeah, the status quo works for them. They don't like to have any regulation forced on them or laws forced on them. They don't want to have any competition from the federal government, or any additional regulation from the federal government. They say they will accept it. But the behavior is that they will not-- you know, they'll not do anything after say this plan fails.

Say nothing happens. They're saying now what they did in '93, '94. "We think preexisting conditions is a bad thing," for example. Let's watch and see if they really take the initiative to do anything constructive. I bet you won't see it. They didn't then.

BILL MOYERS: Well, on the basis of the past performance, and on the basis of your own experience in the industry, can we believe them when they say they will do these things voluntarily?

WENDELL POTTER: I don't think you can. I think that they will implement things that make them more efficient. And that enhance shareholder value. And if what they do contributes to that, maybe so. But now, they do say, they are in favor of an individual mandate. They want us all to be insured.

BILL MOYERS: For the government to require every one of us to have some policy.

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And that sounds great. It is an important thing that everyone be enrolled in some kind of a benefit plan. They don't want a public plan. They want all the uninsured to have to be enrolled in a private insurance plan. They want-- they see those 50 million people as potentially 50 million new customers. So they're in favor of that. They see this as a way to essentially lock them into the system, and ensure their profitability in the future. The strategy is as it was in 1993 and '94, to conduct this charm offensive on the surface. But behind the scenes, to use front groups and third-party advocates and ideological allies. And those on Capitol Hill who are aligned with them, philosophically, to do the dirty work. To demean and scare people about a government-run plan, try to make people not even remember that Medicare, their Medicare program, is a government-run plan that has operated a lot more efficiently.

And also, the people who are enrolled in our Medicare plan like it better. The satisfaction ratings are higher in our Medicare program, a government-run program, than in private insurance. But they don't want you to remember that or to know that, and they want to scare you into thinking that through the anecdotes they tell you, that any government-run system, particularly those in Canada, and UK, and France that the people are very unhappy.

And that these people will have to wait in long lines to get care, or wait a long time to get care. I'd like to take them down to Wise County. I'd like the president to come down to Wise County, and see some real lines of Americans, standing in line to get their care.

BILL MOYERS: Wendell Potter thank you very much for being with me on the Journal

WENDELL POTTER: Thank you for inviting me.

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1. Skype
A simple saver of time and money, Skype is a free Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Increasingly adopted by small businesses, you’ll find many freelancers and world travelers on this free phone service. You can also share your screen.

2. Wiki
A Qtask-supported wiki, which allows you to access all the productivity advantages of internal crowdsourcing with none of the downside – because someone else is maintaining it.

3. Qtask Discussions
Nothing wastes time like the “You said” “No, you said..” back and forths – it’s like productivity kryptonite. Discussions is a permanent and easily searchable record of all project based communications, allowing easy resolution of any such issues.

4. Wufoo
A simple form-based feedback system, so your staff or clients can communicate where your productivity problems are.

5. Meebo
Don’t install ten different resource-sucking chat clients – use one to stay in touch with everyone.

6. TimeBridge
Save the stupid time-loss of back-and-forth e-mails on “I can’t make it Wednesday, but Linda can only do afternoons.” TimeBridge automatically schedules meetings and lets everyone know where to be.

7. Yammer
Twitter’s in the office, Yammer can keep everyone in touch with what others are doing.

8. Dabbleboard
A picture is worth a thousand words, and takes much less time – show people on the phone exactly what you’re thinking of with this shared webspace for scribbling.

9. TokBox
Online conferences without productivity-crippling installs, extra software, or even needing a desktop.

10. Twiddla
Excellent and innovative, you can host an online meeting “on” any other site in the web – and make comments and record plans based on it!

Communications

11. SpinVox
Actually sitting and listening consumes so much time. Convert your voicemails to fast text files with this service.

12. Dial Zero
When you’ve been held up by a breakdown, you don’t want to waste more time battling through automated phone menus. Dial Zero is a database that will directly connect you to a real person at hundreds of major support companies.

13. FreeConferenceCall
Extra communications, extra productivity, for no cost at all.

14. Fring
Never delay that vital call until you’re on a company phone again – Fring enables your iPhone for VoIP, meaning free calls whenever and wherever.

Computer

15. Launchy
Customize your computer to launch your favorite programs faster and easier with this hotkey program.

16. AutoHotKey
If you’re doing anything more than once, the computer should be doing it for you – this macro recorder can copy any set of actions to a single keypress.

File Management

17. DilbertFiles
Trying to send a huge file can waste up to a half a day – or even longer, if you’re still mailing DVDs. Save your time for more productive work with an established large file host.

18. Box.net
Combine file storage with social messaging – sounds useless, until you realize you can share files with your team and get instant, productive feedback.

19. Workspace
If you work with Word, you need Workspace – Microsoft’s online archiving and search tool for Word users.

Finances

20. iXpenseit
An excellent web-based task tool, tracking your expenses as you go so you don’t waste the last evening of any business trip totaling your receipts.

21. Bloomberg Anywhere
Essential for the investors, have the latest in a rapid app rather than booting up an entire computer just to check the stocks.

22. Shoebox
Don’t let financial make-work get in the way of the real job – let Shoebox deal with all your expense receipts for you.

23. Wesabe
An instant overview of your accounts anytime, no matter how many you have.

Information Management

24. BlogLines
Manage your incoming information feeds with this simple and effective system.

Internet

25. AdBlock
Speed up research by blocking wasteful internet advertisements in Mozilla Firefox.

26. SpamAssassin
Nothing annoys like clicking a real-looking mail and finding spam instead – this program saves that time and stress.

Media

27. TemplateMonster
Why do what’s already been done? This site is an archive of design templates, allowing you to tune the details without reinventing the basic design wheel.

28. ScanR
The worst wasted time in the world is running around looking for a working scanner – or worse, trying to install drivers for a fax machine instead of getting on with it. Scan, fax or e-mail from your camera with this tool.

29. ACTPrinter
Printing, picking up, scrabbling in your briefcase for the right piece of paper – hardcopy is so inefficient. “Print” any file to your phone for instant access with this app.

30. Free OCR
Another productivity booster, as no online project manager should ever waste time retyping. This app automatically scans documents and converts to text.

31. iSpring
Nothing makes a productive project manager look amateur like PowerPoint file format problems. Avoid them all (and get going faster) by converting them into flash animations for use anywhere, any time. Because wasting project meeting time installing extra software shoots the kneecaps off productivity.

32. Jing
It isn’t productive to repeat yourself. It is productive to record a tutorial once and let every new staff member watch it instead.

33. Readdledocs
“No program is associated with this file” – because sometimes collaborators send things in odd formats, and you can’t waste time asking for a new one or installing new software. Readdledocs is a wide-ranging document opener.

34. EditGrid
A fast and free number-cruncher when you need some quickly shareable calculations but don’t want to fiddle with files.

35. SlideRocket
Fast effective presentations without requiring special software or intense editing.

Mobile

36. iQtask
Mobile management meaning you can power your productivity planning on the go.

37. Air Sharing
Another essential timesaver – turn your smartphone into a super slick portable drive, so no more searching for USB sockets instead of getting things done.

38. BeamMe
Productivity is in the little details, the thousands of time-wasting activities you no longer need to do – replace business cards with beams from your smartphone with Beam Me. No more designing, printing, or searching in your pocket – and you look smart with it.

39. MojoPac
Work on any machine without wasting time searching for applications by copying your desktop layout into mobile form.

Multi-Purpose Tools

40. BackPack
Generalized document and schedule tracking system.

41. LifeTango
An assortment of brainstorming and productivity-boosting apps, tips and tricks.

42. DIYPlanner
An odd writer’s website, but the planning templates are useful for everyone.

43. PageOnce
A digital assistant and online account manager all-in-one – no more alt+tabbing between facebook and LinkedIn.

44. Organized
An all-in-one organizer widget combining several simple, vital apps in one place – saving you the trouble of tabbing from one to the other.

Networking

45. LinkedIn
Productivity means not just doing things yourselves, but having professionals to do it for you – LinkedIn can keep you in touch with them.

46. Twitter
Dangerous but useful – the anti-productivity if misused, but an excellent information stream if you use it right.

47. Twinkle
If you’ve integrated Twitter into your workstyle, Twinkle will make it even easier than before.

48. Keepm
An essential addition for the conference crowd, instantly add and organize business cards of potentially productive new faces.

Note Taking

49. SyncNotes
A WAP-capable sticky-note system, a virtual yellow note system accessible anywhere there’s signal.

50. BrainCast
An always-on recorder for thoughts, meetings or brainstorming sessions. Just speak while the ideas are flowing and access it all later.

51. Scratchpad
Fast, permanent records of rough ideas accessible from almost any device.

52. Mindomo
Innovative productivity-planning, Mindomo lets you map out an idea-in-progress until you can see how you’ll get it all done.

53. MindMeister
Make your productivity ideas clear by using MindMeister, a collaborative mind-mapping web-based task tool. If you haven’t tried it, do so at least once!

54. iTalk Recorder
The modern dictaphone, meaning you’ll never waste time wondering what that idea was, you know, you were thinking of it just now, but it’s forgotten.

55. Jott
Automatic transcription of notes you record for yourself – no more searching for pens or forgetting important ideas.

56. EverNote
Turn your iPhone into a yellow sticky pad that you’ll never lose and can copy and paste from.

Outsourcing

57. Assistu
An assistant helps you save time, and a virtual assistant saves you even having to hire a real one.

Project Management

58. Gantt Charts
You can’t be productive if you’re waiting for others to finish – Gantt charts highlight project interdependencies, giving early warning of possible productivity-preventing bottlenecks.

Reminders

59. Oh Don’t Forget
Quick and free SMS-serving reminder system. No account needed, just enter the reminder on the web page.

Reporting

60. Intelligent Reporting Tools
Project Manager offers automatic tools to print pie charts, bar graphs, and anything else you might need for a PowerPoint presentation.

Resource Management

61. Stuffopolis
Never search down the back of the sofa again – Stuffopolis is the first virtual “actual object” tracker, and sometimes you just need to know where the backups/print cartridges/August invoices are kept now.

Security

62. eWallet
Never waste work time with verification e-mails ever again, using a secure storage service for your passwords.

63. Spybot Search & Destroy
An online project manager’s nightmare is losing time, data or work because your computer is corrupted. Defend yourself against infection and slowdown with this software.

Synchronization Tools

64. GooSync
For those already using Google Calendar, sync to your smartphone speedily.

Systems

65. Getting Things Done
The name just screams productivity, and for good reason – an expert-designed approach to productivity at both the individual and team level, enabled by a full support organization.

Team Management

66. Compliance
Attempting to pilot project progress without incoming information is impossible, even for the best online project manager in the world. Compliance is a web-based task tool which automates quick surveys for staff, tracking progress and identifying problems early.

Task Management

67. To Do Lists
The power of a good task management solution can’t be overstated in any organization. Qtask Task lists lets you assign tasks and requires acceptance of the task for added accountability.

68. Remember The Milk
Internet accessible task-list for fast paced personal task management.

69. Nutshell
An odd but innovative online combination of browsing and To Do lists. If that’s where you get your ideas, this could be for you.

70. Checkser
Checklists save some time, having checklists already written for you saves more – use this checklist database to get a head start on task lists.

71. ListPool
Communal listing site, for everything from task lists to shopping lists.

72. OmniFocus
Getting Things Done integrated Mac and iPhone-style.

Time Management

73. TimeLeft
Productivity isn’t just getting things done, it’s getting them done on schedule – this desktop timer can help you divide time on a deadline.

74. Calendar
The Qtask Calendar saves time and speeds productivity by synchronizing with other web services to keep you automatically informed (and aware of incoming due dates!)

75. iPhone Timer
Operating out of the office is no excuse for taking too long – in fact, it usually means fast action is more important. This mobile timer can keep your productivity on track , an essential for any online project manager.

76. Visual TimeAnalyzer
Spotting a productivity problem is the first step in solving it – the Visual TimeAnalyzer lets you see how things are going in a new way.

77. Procrastinator’s Clock
To be productive it’s important for online project managers to know their own flaws – this clock will force you to be early instead of late!

78. Days Since
Keep up with productive but forgettable regular tasks with “Days Since”, which reminds you of how long it’s been since you checked the accounts/project/cleared the office recycling bin.

79. Activity Tracker
Excellent application for the self-checking modern worker, this tool tracks how you spend your time – and lets you see how you could more productively use your time.

80. Time Commander
Not Doctor Who’s boss, but another way of taking charge of your use of time.

Travel

81. Milo
Avoid wasted trips by checking if the store has what you need before sending someone to get it.

82. Yahoo! Trip Planner
Plan and share your trip itinerary with your team, that is, if you care to let them know where you are going to be.

Additional Online Reading

83. 43 Folders
We aren’t Terminators, and not every improvement is in the technology. Productivity pro Merlin Mann gives daily advice on increasing your achievements.

84. Web Worker Daily
Daily tips on making the web work for you – picking up one a day avoids you being swamped, but over time things improve a lot!

85. Dumb Little Man
The only time he lied was choosing his name – intelligent advice for improving your work day and your down time all in one place.

86. Life Clever
The writer’s a designer, but his advice is for everyone – learn to juggle responsibility, relaxation and the demands of a creative profession from someone who had to figure it out for himself.

87. Cranking Widgets
An assortment of advice, applications, and other people sharing their thoughts. Other people with the same problems as you, providing a great mixed bag of info and assistance.

88. Make Use Of
Daily apps and sites that you never suspected – you don’t know what you’ll find each time you visit, but it’s always useful for someone. And the ones that are useful will save you jobs you didn’t even think you could automate.

89. The Unclutterer
Look at your desk (or desktop). The Unclutterer assists you against entropy itself, battling the way things just mount up and get in your way. Productivity might not always need a clean desk , but it usually helps.

90. Dave Cheong
One man’s mission: to make you productive every day, because your brain is the most important, and often underused, part of productivity.

91. Business Hackers
Nothing motivates productivity like stories of success, and info on how they did it can help. This site features hacks, helpers and interviews with other entrepreneurs and online project managers.

92. Zen Habits
Productivity from a simple, zen-like perspective. Cross your legs, say “Om” and get productive!

93. Life Hacker
For the geek in all of us, LifeHacker.com will help you tame technology to help make you a more productive techie.

94. Life Dev
For all of you creative types, this resource is aimed directly at you.

95. Life Optimizer
This resource is geared towards personal development and productivity.

96. Did I Get Things Done
Did you get things done today? This blog is focused on productivity from a GTD (Getting Things Done) perspective.

Books

97. Ready For Anything
Productivity isn’t just a few seconds saved in the office, it’s an entire attitude. Learn more while commuting (or in the washroom) with this book.

98. The Great Big Book Of Personal Productivity
Does exactly what it says!

99. The Instant Productivity Toolkit
More immediate than the above books, more about “what to do NOW” than the general attitude.

100. Organizing Your Work Space
An on-hand guide to making everything around you more conducive to productivity.

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Riding lessons for life #14

No shortcuts!

While teaching a lesson last night, my student and I were discussing how riding just takes practice, practice, practice!  My student commented that in each lesson she could feel her body growing more and more used to performing all of the particular demands of riding.  She  stated that nothing else made her a better rider besides riding!  Becoming a better requires climbing in the saddle and riding, riding, riding!  There are no shortcuts and no tricks that can expedite the process.

Afterward, I realized that most things in life should be approached like learning to ride.  Reaching lofty goals, like learning to ride a horse, require a long journey to accomplish it.  It’s like Malcolm Gladwell’s rule of 10,000 hours.  The world’s most successful individuals, like The Beatles, Bill Gates, and world class athletes, did not become great by happenstance, or by taking a shortcuts, or by tricking anyone.  They logged in over 10,000 hours of practice, practice, practice before “catching their big break.”

I am not telling you this to scare you off from accomplishing your goals; 10,000 hours does seem a bit daunting, doesn’t it?  I am telling you this so you can be excited about accomplishing your goals! It can be done! You already have the passion for it or you wouldn’t be pursuing this goal in the first place, now you just have to remain positive and persistent and you WILL reach your goal!

Maintaining a positive outlook is key.  The journey is long, but it is meant to be enjoyed!  Take pleasure in the process, in each step along the way and be happy that there are no shortcuts.  Whether you are going to back to school to get a degree, building a new home, or pursuing an athletic goal, relish in each triumph along the way. 

All of the tiny steps along the way do add up!

Enjoy the long journey in life. 

Your big dreams WILL come true when you keep a positive mental outlook and practice, practice, practice!

Claire Affleck
Claire Affleck Training website
Email me

Aug 25th, 2009

Heading off to college can be one of the most exciting times of a young person’s life, but it can also be one of the most stressful. Fortunately, there are some tools out there on the web that can help students stay organized, keep in touch with their families, and get on the right track for success in all aspects of this new stage in life. Here are a just a few that we think are worth the time to bookmark before heading off to class this year.

Preparing

These tools will help you do everything from learning how to finance your education to getting the best deals on the books for your classes.

1. Book Finder: Use this free tool to search through several online sites to find the best prices on the books you’ll need for classes, saving you money and making sure you’re ready for school when it starts.
2. Bookmooch: If you really want to go cheap, use this online tool to find students to swap textbooks with.
3. RateMyProfessors: Find out what you can expect from the professors you’re signed up with using this tool.
4. AnswerU: Have some questions about your school? Ask them on this site and get answers from students already going there.
5. FinAid.org: Find funding for your education on this site.
6. Chegg: If you don’t want to buy your books you may be able to save money by renting them on this site.
7. BigWords: Use this site to search through the biggest book retailers online for the lowest prices on your texts.
8. BookBurro: This extension for Firefox will let you easily look up the best price of books by right clicking on any book name on a webpage.
9. Bartleby.com: You may not even need to pay for your books if you can find them for free in this public domain collection.
10. TuitionCoach: Get a basic education on how to pay for your college education through this site.

Note Taking

A big part of doing well in your college classes is taking notes. These applications and tools will let you easily take notes and organize, share, and store them.

1. NoteMesh: This site allows students who are in the same classes to share notes and collaborate easily with one another.
2. Notely: Notely can help you get all your school stuff together, with schedules, calendars, note-taking tools and even a homework planner.
3. Notesake: Organize all of your notes with this online application.
4. Evernote: With this app you can take your notes with you anywhere, even sync them up with your cell phone for notes on the go.
5. MyStickies: If you’re browsing the web you can leave little notes for yourself with this helpful sticky app.
6. NoteCentric: This social networking site lets users put up and share their notes from classes at school.
7. University Notes: Check out this social site to share and read notes from courses at your school and those around the nation.
8. UberNote: Not only can you take notes with this tool but add tasks into them as well.
9. Webnote: This online tool is a pretty basic way to take notes online.
10. ShareNotes: Use this site to find notes and share your own for study purposes.

Studying and Homework

These tools can help you study more effectively and get better grades on your homework.

1. Cramster: This site is a great place to seek out answers to homework questions you need help with, find practice exams and a whole lot more.
2. CollegeRuled: Here you can keep up with your courses, create class schedules and maintain to-do lists so you can remember your important assignments.
3. Quizlet: Use this tool to make your own quizzes to study or find those that others have made.
4. Mathway: Want to check your math skills to make sure you’re on the right track? This tool can help.
5. CollegeCram: This site is all about social learning and is a great place to find other students to study with.
6. Graphing Calculator: You don’t need to invest in an expensive graphing calculator– just use this free online version instead.

Writing and Research

If you want to make writing papers easier and get a leg up on researching, try out these tools.

1. EasyBib: Make creating a bibliography much easier with this free online tool.
2. Ottobib: Ensure that your bibliography or works cited pages are done correctly with this tool. Enter in the information about the text and the type of format you want it in and the program does the rest.
3. GoogleDocs: Want to be able to work on your paper or project no matter where you are? Even if you don’t have a laptop, GoogleDocs gives you access to all your files right from a Gmail account, making it easy to keep homework mobile.
4. Wikipedia: While you should never use Wikipedia as a source on your paper, it can often be a great starting point for research on a project and can point you in the direction of the books and resources you should be looking for.
5. Google Scholar: Ensure that the sources you’re searching for on the web are reliable by using this helpful academic-only search engine from Google.
6. BibMe: Whether you need ALA, MLA, or Chicago Manual of Style, this free bibliography tool can help you out.
7. SparkNotes: If you’re having a tough time understanding the classic lit you’re reading, give these free study questions and notes.
8. CiteULike: Use this tool to search for, sort and cite scholarly research sources.
9. Footnote: Go to the source and get access to original historical documents on this site that you can use in your research.
10. Dictionary.com: Chances are pretty good that when you’re doing your reading you’ll come across words you don’t know. Look them up on this site, find synonyms, get translations and play educational games as well.
11. YourDraft: Here you can type and store your paper so that you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection.

Presentations and Collaboration

Inevitably, you’ll have to give a presentation and work with others on a project. These tools will make it a little easier and help you get the grade you want.

1. Zoho Show: If you need to give a presentation and don’t have Microsoft PowerPoint you can easily create one using this fully-featured and free alternative.
2. bubbl.us: Check out this tool to make working in groups a little easier. You can map out your ideas and thoughts for the project and easily email it to anyone you choose.
3. Thinkature: Here you’ll be able to engage in real-time collaboration, with voice, text and visual elements.
4. MeetWithApproval: This site can help you arrange a meeting or event at a time that works for everyone in your group.
5. ProBoards: Create a board through this site so all members of your group can post and work together easily online.
6. TimetoMeet: Set up an account with this site to make it a little easier to meet up with those you’re working with, especially if there are several people in your group.
7. Goplan: This app isn’t totally free, but you can use if for 30 days for free which is more than likely more than enough time for you to work with others collaboratively on a project using it.
8. Clipmarks: This application will let you store, share and comment on the information you find on the web, making collaborative research easier.
9. Lazybase: Check out this site to make a database where you and others you’re working with can edit and add-to information.

Organization

These helpful online tools can make sure you keep track of your assignments, fun activities, and just about everything else.

1. MyNoteIT: This application comes with just about everything you’ll need to stay organized at school, from a calendar to a simply way to store and share notes for all your courses.
2. Delicious: While you can bookmark just about anything you like with this tool, it can be incredibly useful for keeping track of the websites for your courses, syllabi and other important school information. Better yet, you can access it no matter where you are or what computer you’re on.
3. Zotero: This Firefox tool makes it easy to organize, store, cite and use your research sources right from your browser.
4. Mindomo: Help yourself get your thoughts in order with this free mind mapping tool.
5. Diigo: Use this tool to organize your web world, with functions that let you highlight, create sticky notes and email information.
6. MySchoolog: Get everything in your school life organized through this online tool.
7. TracksLife: Whether you want to track what you eat, your progress in a project or your budget you can do it with this tool.
8. Backpack: While designed for business, this tool can help you organize all of your big, semester-long projects.
9. Presdo: If you have a busy social schedule, this application can help you track all of your outings in one place.
10. NetVibes: Check out this site to keep all your social networking, chat and frequently visited sites in one place so you won’t have to run all over the place to use them.
11. Shoshiku: This online tool makes it simple to keep track of all your assignments and projects so you’ll never forget something important.

Scheduling

Whether you need a great calendar or an easy way to keep track of what you need to get done, these tools will help you stay on top of everything when you’re at school.

1. TaDa List: If you’re the sort of person who can memorize all the capitals of Africa but who can’t remember all the errands you’re supposed to run, this application may come in handy. You’ll be able to keep track of homework, work, projects and more from one easy list.
2. Remember the Milk: Help yourself remember the milk or just about anything else with this to-do app.
3. Google Calendar: One of the best free calendars out there, Google Calendar can keep you on track with all your tasks and even makes it simple to send out invites to fun events as well.
4. 30 Boxes: This simply designed calendar will help you keep all your important events organized.
5. Jotlet: If you want to be able to share your schedule with family and friends, sign up for this free calendar service.
6. WhichTime: With loads of widgets available to customize it, this calendar is a totally personal way to keep track of tasks.
7. My 50: Keep track of the big picture with this tool that lets you track and organize your life goals.
8. Toodledo: Check out this tool to keep a to-do list that does it all, including analyzing your dates, priorities, and time estimates to create a customized schedule for your needs.
9. bitBomb: If you want to take your to-dos on the go, try out this application. You’ll get reminders to your cell phone of what you need to get done.
10. Nozbe: With functions that help you keep to-do lists, manage projects and tasks, get reminders, share with others, and even access from your mobile phone, this app does it all.
11. HipCal: Created by college students, this application will let you create your own calendar or one that can be shared by a group and create to-do lists as well.
12. LifeTango: Keep track of all your personal goals whether for the short or long term on this site, a great way to track your progress throughout the year.

Communication

Whether you’re homesick or just want to make sure you stay in touch, these tools offer you a lot of options for communicating with everyone important to you.

1. Meebo: No matter what IM service your friends and family use you can chat with them using Meebo. With a Meebo account you’ll be able to access your accounts on everything from Gtalk to AOL at once.
2. Gmail: This free webmail application is generally considered among the best, partly because of what a great job it does of filtering out junk mail. It is full of other features as well, and can make it easy to keep in touch with friends and relatives.
3. Facebook: There aren’t too many college students out there today without a Facebook account, so sign up to keep in touch and share what you’re doing.
4. Skype: While not all services from Skype are free, calls from computer to computer generally are, letting you talk with those you love without breaking your budget.
5. Twitter: Let your friends and family read short messages about what you’re up to on this site you can update from anywhere– even your phone.
6. ooVoo: Similar to Skype, this site offers free video conferencing and chat.
7. WordPress: What better way to let others know what you’re up to than with a blog? With WordPress you can set up a free site and post updates and pictures to your account.
8. CampusBug: Meet other students going to your school and find out about groups you might be interested in with this social networking site.
9. Campfire: This site may have been created for business use, but it can also be a great way to work with others can keep in touch and share files with family members.
10. GroupLoop: If you’re heading up a group you can keep all members in the group on the same page with this free, web-based software.

Finance

For many students, college will be the first time to manage a large part of their own finances. Since most students are on a tight budget, these tools can help make it a little easier to have fun, but live within their means.

1. Wesabe: This tool provides a great way to track your finances and get support and help from an online community as well.
2. Mint: Link up your accounts with this site and you’ll get weekly reports about your standings and a whole lot more.
3. Buxfer: Get a better picture of your financial standings by using this free tool.
4. MoneyTrackin’: Make sure you’re staying within your budget with this helpful financial site.
5. Geezeo: You can track all of your accounts on this site and tag spending with categories so you can see where your money is going.
6. Student Advantage: Through this site, you can find out what kind of discounts you qualify for as a student at your university.
7. Coupons.com: Help yourself get discounts on just about everything with the coupons found on this site.
8. iOWEYOU: Keep track of debts with friends and roommates with this helpful online tool.

Fun Stuff

Don’t be all work and no fun– these sites allow you to listen to music, read blogs, share photos and more.

1. Google Reader: Whether you read the latest news or keep up with celebrity gossip, this tool will let you do so quickly and efficiently.
2. FoxyTunes: If you like to listen to music while browsing or studying, this Firefox tool lets you control just about any media player right from your browser.
3. last.fm: Find new music and share the music you love with this site, popular with college students and adults alike.
4. College Mailer: This site can help make it easy to send out mail and memos to all the people in your clubs and organizations.
5. Flickr: Store and share your photos with both family and friends using this site.
6. MeetUp: If you’re trying to make friends in a new place, this site can help you find organizations, clubs and fun things to do no matter your interests.

Miscellaneous Tools

This assortment of tools offer students a variety of options from free courses to supplement your learning to the ability to store and access files online.

1. Schoolr: This search engine combines several of the most useful searches, Wikipedia, Google, Dictionary.com, and more, into one page.
2. Craigslist: Whether you want to sell your books or find cheap furniture for your dorm room, you can find deals on this classifieds site.
3. DivShare: Through this site you can share your videos, photos and more– up to 5 GB for free.
4. GPA Calculator: Curious about what your GPA is going to be this semester? This tool can help.
5. Adrive: This site will let you store up to 50GB of information online for a 14 day free period.
6. Box: Use Box’s online storage to back up your files or provide access to important information from anywhere.
7. MIT Open Courseware: You don’t have to be enrolled at MIT to take courses from there. Here you can find information and videos about hundreds of MIT courses, a great way to learn even more about subjects you’re interested in.