Protesters Nationwide Tell Big Insurance: We’re Sick of It
Washington, DC – On Tuesday September 22nd, thousands of health care reform advocates across the country held anti-insurance protests branded “Big Insurance: Sick Of It.” Armed with signs and stories of people harmed by health insurance companies’ bad practices, organizers from Health Care for America Now (HCAN) – the nation’s largest health care campaign – led by partners from MoveOn.org, SEIU, AFL-CIO, Campaign for Community Change, and USAction rallied outside health insurance headquarters and satellite offices demanding insurers support real reform that makes good health care truly affordable and includes a strong national public health insurance option.
Fox5 reports on protests in Rockville, MD and Washington, DC:
Flagship events targeted UnitedHealthcare in Minneapolis, WellPoint in Indianapolis, and Cigna in Philadelphia where former health insurance executive Wendell Potter addressed a crowd of 400. More than 200 people turned out for a protest in front of Aetna headquarters in Hartford, and protestors confronted WellPoint CEO Angela Braly at a speech in Milwaukee.
Seniors targeted Highmark Medicare Services in Williamsport, PA. More than 100 people turned out on their lunch break to rally outside Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in St. Louis, MO. In Las Vegas, Ruth Quigley spoke of her brother-in-law who died of cancer because he could not afford health insurance, and therefore, consistent health care. The Wall Street Journal reported more than 500 protestors rallied outside UnitedHealth Group in Manhattan while others targeted Coventry Insurance in Charleston, WV, North Dakota Blue Cross Blue Shield in Bismarck, and Anthem Blue Cross in San Francisco.
While protestors targeted BlueCross BlueShield in North Carolina, Health Care for America Education Fund put up the following billboard in Raleigh and two other locations - Wilmington, DE and Little Rock, AR:
Also Tuesday, MoveOn.org debuted this FunnyorDie mock PSA featuring actor Will Ferrell and other celebrities tapping into the public’s anger at health insurance executives’ callousness and excessive greed. The video has been viewed online more than 1.6 million times in just one day.
At the same time Health Care for America Now continues its Inside the Beltway print campaign with a series of anti-insurance advertisements running in various Hill publications:
See all previous print advertisements and the national TV ad “How to Get Rich” here.
