A consultancy firm receiving millions of pounds in NHS privatisation contracts has seen its controversial research used in attempts to derail reforms designed to bring health cover to 32 million Americans.
McKinsey & Company rowed with the White House after releasing a study claiming that 30% of US employers are planning to stop health insurance for their workers as a result of Barack Obama’s reforms. However sources from within the company have indicated that their research was flawed.
As right wing commentators jumped on the report, declaring it a huge blow to the Affordable Care Act, the company refused official requests to release information on methodology, despite it contradicting the findings of a number of other studies.
Here is Fox News’ predictably hysterical reaction to McKinsey’s “research”:
The controversial company is also at the heart of health privatisation in the UK. Having already drawn up plans for £20bn cuts and 137,000 redundancies, dozens of commissioning consortia have now handed taxpayer contracts to McKinsey as responsibility for health procurement is shifted to GPs.
Alongside Mark Britnell, who remarked that the NHS would be “shown no mercy” on privatisation, McKinsey’s head of global health systems was recently invited to 10 Downing Street to advise David Cameron on Andrew Lansley’s stalled reforms.
With significant question marks over the legitimacy of their research in defending corporate vested interests in the US, should we now embed McKinsey at the heart of our own health system?
One Comment
I am sure you Brits are quite happy with your NHS and all the scandals it is known for from abandoned dying elderly to handing them tambourines to summons nurses to living with quality adjusted remaining years type policies.
This is the U.S.A. and we did not kick your butts 235 years ago to be another failed U.K.
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