267: Kelby Krabbenhoft's golden parachute

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, 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.

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