A Health-Care Corporation is Hiding the Truth from Employees about CAFO’s Pollution
The stink of a health-care corporation’s conflict of interest is apparently hiding “The Smell of Money” from their employees.
“The Smell of Money” is a 2022 documentary film that tells the story of Duplin County residents injured by pollution from “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFOs), better known as factory hog farms. According to reports, BlueCross/BlueShield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) blocked a plan to make a virtual screening of the film available to its employees.
How They Hide the Truth
According to environmental reporter Lisa Sorg, writing for Inside Climate News, the BCBSNC employee who had arranged the film’s screening said that the company canceled the plan because one of BCBSNC’s clients is the North Carolina Farm Bureau, a leading political voice for the hog production industry. (A spokesperson for BCBSNC denies the assertion.)
However, the Farm Bureau has made BCBSNC its “exclusive health insurance partner.” That means enhanced access for selling insurance to the Bureau’s 621,000 members across the state. Meanwhile, the Farm Bureau is aggressively promoting the interests of the hog industry, including fighting against stronger pollution controls on CAFOs, and for the passage of legislation protecting the industry from legal liability to injured communities.
NCLCV’s Approach
NCLCV lobbies for stronger controls on hog farm pollution, and against special protections for the hog industry against liability for the health damages it causes. We think a company in the business of selling and managing health insurance should strive to see the reduction of adverse health impacts and resulting costs, not hide them. Given the apparent corporate conflict of interests exposed here, our work becomes more important. Help us elect leaders who will protect NC communities by passing environmental legislation.
