Health Care For America Now

Hundreds of Health Care Reform Supporters Protest at U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Risk Arrest to Show What's At Stake and Demand Congress Finish Reform Right

***WATCH: Video from the event.***

Washington, DC — More than a dozen families victimized by health insurance abuse joined hundreds of health care reform supporters in protest at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building early this afternoon in downtown Washington.  Former members of Congress Tom Andrews, Bob Edgar, and David Bonior along with organizational leaders from SEIU, the NAACP, USAction, Campaign for Community Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Americans for Democratic Action, United States Student Association, Capital Area ADAPT, Democracy for America, and Health Care for America Now joined the survivors and other protestors in risking arrest to show their disgust with the Chamber's extensive efforts to fight comprehensive health care reform, including its laundering tens of millions of dollars for the health insurance industry.

The protest, on the day before the State of the Union address Wednesday night, urged the President and Congressional leaders to continue to fight for comprehensive health reform that will guarantee good coverage to all.

“Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most inhumane,’ and he was correct, said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP. “Our current system delays, denies, and defends discriminatory practices by insurance companies and creates a separate and unequal system that adversely affects African Americans and all Americans.  Health care needs to be regulated and reformed to allow for choice, competition, and care.  Now is not the time to sit idly by and let this moment slip away and the deep pockets of the insurance companies win.”   

“It’s time for the President and Congress to finish health care reform and finish it right,” said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now.  “It’s time to stand up to the corporate lobbyists and the insurance lobbyists and make sure that no one in America has to worry that if they get sick, they will go without care or be driven into bankruptcy.”

Fifteen families from around the country came to DC, gathered in Farragut Square, and together with other health care reform advocates, marched to the Connecticut Ave entrance to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building where they shared their stories of denied care and atrocious mistreatment by the private health insurance industry. In addition, they pressed Congress to stand with them no matter the unlimited spending by big corporations and special interests.

One protester, Leslie Boyd, a former reporter from North Carolina, lost her son Mike to colon cancer in 2008 after a delayed diagnosis. Mike needed regular colonoscopies because of surgery for a birth defect but was uninsured and could not afford them.

“By the time he got a colonoscopy and diagnosis, it was too late. I wanted my heart to stop beating when his did,” said Boyd. “Ever since his death, I have devoted my life to getting quality health care for everyone. We have come so far, and it’s time to cross the finish line. No amount of big insurance money should stop us.”

National Journal reported this month that America’s Health Insurance Plans – the health insurance lobby - funneled between $10 million and $20 million to the Chamber to fund television ads designed to kill health care reform. At the same time, new lobbying disclosure reports show the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $123 million for federal lobbying in 2009 and $71.1 million alone in the last three months of the year as its battle against health care reform was in full swing. In comparison, Roll Call reports the Chamber spent $62.3 million on lobbying for the entirety of 2008.

“Health insurers have been sliding millions under the Chamber’s door to kill reform instead of using consumers’ premium dollars to provide Americans with quality, affordable health care,” said former member of Congress David Bonior. “Elected leaders need to stand up to special interests and corporate lobbyists and put people’s health care needs first. No family should live in fear of being denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions or having to declare bankruptcy because of exorbitant medical bills. Congress and the President have come too far not to finish the job and finish it right.”

The participants in the protest represented Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia.

“These families traveled to Washington to remind our leaders that people who have been hurt by a system that puts profits first are at the heart of this reform,” said Jeff Blum, Executive Director, USAction. “The Supreme Court has now given special interests free rein to open their wallets and block not only health care, but environmental policy change, workers’ rights, and many other needed reforms. No matter the unlimited spending by big corporations and special interests, Congress must put people first.”

Organizational leaders at the protest included former members of Congress Tom Andrews, New Economy Communications; Bob Edgar, Common Cause; and David Bonior, American Rights at Work; Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP;  Dr. Toni Lewis, Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU; Jim Dean, Democracy for America; Richard Kirsch, Health Care for America Now; Jim Dickson and David Burds, Capital Area ADAPT; Jeff Blum, USAction; Deepak Bhargava, Campaign for Community Change; Roger Hickey, Campaign for America’s Future; Michael J. Wilson, Americans for Democratic Action; and Greg Cendana, United States Student Association.

Insurance Abuse Survivors

Kelly Arellanes, an AT&T worker from Arkansas, was in a coma for three weeks after a 2004 horseback riding accident. Kelly and her husband David had to pay more than $200,000 in medical bills when Kelly’s emergency surgery was not covered by UnitedHealthcare.

Leslie Boyd, a former reporter from North Carolina, lost her son Mike to colon cancer in 2008 after a delayed diagnosis. Mike regularly needed colonoscopies because of surgery for a birth defect but could not afford them after he and his wife moved to Georgia for school.

Susan Briag, a self employed artist and grant writer from California, was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer after switching to catastrophic coverage because of skyrocketing premiums. Her policy wouldn’t cover chemotherapy and other care unless she drove an hour from home. She has paid $40,000 out of pocket.

Kelly Cuvar, a non profit fundraiser in New York, was diagnosed with cancer in her right leg at age 19. She has had several leg tumors and is undergoing chemo for a tumor in her knee. She's had more than $40,000 in medical bills and has battled Oxford and CIGNA to pay for meds. Her Medicaid is not accepted at the hospital where she is treated so she has been unable to see an oncologist there.

Freddie Effinger, from Alabama, was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma while uninsured and in law school.  The hospital in Birmingham provided him care as a charity case, and he is now an attorney with employer-based insurance. Now with a pre-existing condition, he fears having to find insurance on the individual market should he lose his job.

Bob Finkelstein, from Philadelphia, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003 and pays $1,300 out of pocket for a non-generic drug to treat his illness. His insurer, BlueCross/BlueShield Personal Choice, pays only half the cost for the drug, and that cost has shot up 120% in four years.

Christine Grewell, from Maryland, has insurance through her self-employed husband, but it did not cover their daughter Melody’s multiple sclerosis.  They now pay $19,000 for health insurance plus $2,000 out of pocket for prescriptions, and at the same time, Christine cannot get surgery for a spinal problem deemed a pre-existing condition.

Marcus Grimes, from Virginia, took GNC body building supplements that left him totally blind. A teacher at a school without health insurance, he couldn’t get surgery that would have saved his eyesight

Sharon Lantz, a realtor from Delaware, has a UnitedHealthcare plan that forces her to pay for her cancer care “out of pocket,” and she has turned to getting her chemotherapy medication from India in order to afford it. Sharon cannot afford breast reconstruction either.

Heather Mroz, from Florida, and her husband have filed for bankruptcy after UnitedHealthcare canceled their policy after the premature birth of their twins, despite giving earlier approval for pregnancy-related costs. They are now uninsured and unable to get private insurance because of one infant’s preexisting condition.

Stacie Ritter, from Pennsylvania, is the mother of twins who were diagnosed with leukemia at age 4. With $30,000 in medical debt, a mortgage, her husband’s brief unemployment and food costs, the family of six filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Then their insurer, CIGNA, refused to pay for growth-hormone injections that doctors recommended.

Angel Romero Kiester, from Nebraska, comes from a family with a history of cancer where all her female relatives have had their reproductive organs removed at younger ages than she. Because she is uninsured and cannot keep up with screenings for cancerous cysts and ovarian problems, she fears a terminal diagnosis could put her life at risk.

Nadira Freeman, from Tennessee, is a single mother of one daughter. She works with at risk-youth, earns around $25,000 a year, and is uninsured. She worries that for even a small illness, care will be unaffordable.

Ericka Alexander, from Tennessee, is a wife and mother of three children and cares for an aging parent. Her son has eczema, and each time he needs basic medication for this common disease, her working class family, earning $40,000 a year, feels the financial burden.

Rev. Keith Mayes, from Tennessee, has accrued almost $175,000 in medical debt since his wife got ill and began treatment for a muscular disorder. The family had health insurance through Mrs. Mayes' job as an insurance claims adjuster, but the health insurance would only cover 14 days of her 91 days in intensive care.