why the insurance and pharma lobbies need to have their seat at the table removed...

...in the words of one that used to reside in the belly of the beast:

I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry. Insurers make promises they have no intention of keeping, they flout regulations designed to protect consumers, and they make it nearly impossible to understand -- or even to obtain -- information we need. As you hold hearings and discuss legislative proposals over the coming weeks, I encourage you to look very closely at the role for-profit insurance companies play in making our health care system both the most expensive and one of the most dysfunctional in the world.

~ Wendell Potter, former CIGNA executive
in testimony to the Senate Commerce Committe re: Health Care Reform