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Plain Talk: Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread on Krabbenhoft's golden parachute and what it means for your health care costs

If this keeps up, Godfread, a Republican, says we're going to end up with the sort of single-payer health care system Democrats want.

Sanford MeritCare merge announcement.jpg
Sanford Health President and CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, left, announces the merger of Sanford Health and MeritCare as Dr. Roger Gilbertson, MeritCare President and CEO, listens during a news conference on Nov. 2, 2009. Forum file photo

Kelby Krabbenhoft , the long-time CEO of South Dakota-based health care giant Sanford , abruptly left his job last year after making some controversial comments about masking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More recently, news broke that Krabbenhoft left with a big, fat golden parachute strapped to his back. He got a $49.5 million payout, as we learned from the excellent reporting of Jeremy Fugleberg , and that prompted North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread to blow the whistle.

On this episode of Plain Talk, Godfread talks about the connection between what hospitals spend and what health care, and health insurance, cost you. He says hospitals are always wanting more from insurers, and the taxpayers, even as pay to executives goes up.

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If this keeps up, Godfread, a Republican, says we're going to end up with the sort of single-payer health care system Democrats want.

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To comment on this article, visit www.sayanythingblog.com

Rob Port, founder of SayAnythingBlog.com, is a Forum Communications commentator. Reach him on Twitter at @robport or via email at rport@forumcomm.com .

Opinion by Rob Port
Rob Port is a news reporter, columnist, and podcast host for the Forum News Service. He has an extensive background in investigations and public records. He has covered political events in North Dakota and the upper Midwest for two decades. Reach him at rport@forumcomm.com. Click here to subscribe to his Plain Talk podcast.
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