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Anthem Inc. and other large health insurers are racking up record profits as Americans are putting off expensive surgeries and even routine office visits during the pandemic, but those windfalls are drawing criticism—as well as attention to flaws in the U.S. healthcare system, according to an August 21 story in the Indianapolis Business Journal.

While noting that some weaker hospitals have struggled to keep their doors open, and millions of Americans have lost their health insurance along with their jobs, other players have seen profits pile up. “COVID-19 has, once again, exposed major structural flaws in our health care system,” Professor Nicolas Terry told the IBJ.

Professor Terry is the Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Hall Center for Law and Health at IU McKinney.

The story also suggested that the for-profit health insurance sector is overdue for reform, and the huge profits could be the catalyst that pushes it front and center for public discussion in an election year.

“At a time when governments, employers and workers are all struggling at a historic level, an industry dependent on subsidies from those same government, employers and workers is somehow raking in huge profits—by not providing care,” Fran Quigley, director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic at the IU McKinney School of Law, told IBJ. “Maybe this will finally be the tipping point when the U.S. follows the global lead of taking the profiteering out of health coverage and embraces Medicare for all.”