Author: Marc Stier

Company Makes Admission in Response to Activists at Shareholder Meeting Philadelphia – Representatives of Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the 1,000-member coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, confronted CIGNA Corp.'s CEO and board members at the company's annual shareholder meeting today, and company officials admitted for the first time that they secretly contributed funding for duplicitous anti-reform TV ads. The company made the comments in response to questions from HCAN members who attended the event while activists outside rallied around a golden parachute symbolizing former CIGNA CEO Ed Hanway's recently disclosed $111-million retirement package. Continue reading

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, 150 people rallied at 12:00 Noon to tell Tom Corbett to drop his lawsuit against health care reform. We were joined by Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, Mayor Michael Nutter, and State Representative Dwight Evans. Why were we rallying again for health care reform so soon after the legislation passed. It used to be that when the US Congress passed legislation, we went on to other matters while waiting to see how it was implemented. Then, after we had some idea how the new programs worked, political leaders and activists would start devote energy to improving, changing or repealing it. The opposition to health care reform, however, is not waiting. They are determined to stand against the idea that health care is now a right not a privilege in America. They will not accept a democratically elected government taking action to address the health… Continue reading

Please join us for a rally in support of health care reform and in opposition to Attorney General Tom Corbett’s lawsuit against the legislation that recently passed the US Congress. Tuesday, April 6, 2010 12:00 Noon Thomas Paine Plaza (in front of the Municipal Services Building) Arch Street between Broad and 15th Street We will be joined, among others, by Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, Mayor Michael Nutter, and State Representative Dwight Evans. You might wonder why we are rallying again for health care reform so soon after the legislation passed. It used to be that when the US Congress passed legislation, we went on to other matters while waiting to see how it was implemented. Then, after we had some idea how the new programs worked, political leaders and activists would start devote energy to improving, changing or repealing it. The opposition to health care reform, however, is… Continue reading

We’ve reached the end of this legislative struggle for health care reform though there will be more as we work in future years to strengthen what we achieved. But this year we still need to work to preserve our victory, which is under attack all over our state. We need to make the case, in every Congressional district in the Commonwealth, that health care reform will benefit us. You can make a huge contribution to this effort by helping us find Pennsylvanians who will benefit from the provisions of the health care reform legislation that go into effect this year. Continue reading

Dear Friends, I’m writing this with tears in my eyes. Continue reading

The final vote on health care reform is going to be close. And Dennis Kucinich may be the one vote between victory and defeat. Kucinich says he won’t vote for the bill because it is a bail out of insurance companies and is not his preferred way of reforming health care, single payer. So far, only a very few advocates for single payer, who could have substantial influence over Kucinich, has asked him to vote for the bill. As far as I know, no one from Pennsylvania, which has one of the most active and impressive movements for single payer, has asked him to support the bill. As far as I know, Pennsylvania single payer advocates like Walter Tsou and Chuck Pennachio have said that the legislation should be defeated. This is very hard for me to understand for a few reasons. Continue reading

The bill we are supporting in Washington is not perfect. It’s not what I’ve worked for in the last twenty months. But it will save tens of thousands of lives, keep hundreds of thousands out of bankruptcy, reduce the suffering of millions, and improve the living standard and reduce the anxiety of tens of millions. And like all the other half-way measures and compromised bills that have characterized American reform efforts, including the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare Act of 1965, it will create its own pressure for expansion and further reform. Continue reading

I’m working pretty much night and day to get health care reform enacted in Washington, DC. Health care reform is, I believe, going to pass, although it’s going to be close in the House. But I just realized what passing health care reform in Washington might mean for our efforts in Pennsylvania. Continue reading