Pennsylvania Health Care for America Now Continues To Protest Cigna Cigna Victim Stacie Ritter to Seek Help from CEO H. Edward Hanway at his mansion in Media, PA Action Corresponds with New Television Ad Contrasting Insurance CEO’s Fancy Home with Average Foreclosed Home Due To Medical Bankruptcy **Watch the new ad and Stacie Ritter talking about her situation and plan for today here: HealthCareforAmericaNow.org/Mansion** Continue reading
On Tuesday September 22, HCAN, in over a hundred events around the country, thousands of people took time off to say Big Insurance: Sick of It. They say that they are angry insurance companies for denying people care and coverage, for paying their employees more to deny care, and for using our premiums to lobby Congress in opposition to health care reform and a public health insurance option. In Pennsylvania, we had well attended events in Philadelphia, Williamsport, Erie, and Pittsburgh. Created with flickr slideshow. Over 750 people from Philadelphia and its suburbs rallied, chanted and marched in support of health care reform. They came together to demand that CIGNA and other health insurance companies stop denying care and coverage to Americans and end their opposition to real reform that includes a public health insurance option. Continue reading
Originally published in the Philadelphia Daily News, August 5, 2009 http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/52498012.html IN THE SEARCH for how to pay for health care reform, pundits and some senators keep talking about taxing employer-based health care benefits despite the fact such a tax would fall not on the wealthy – whose incomes shot up while their taxes were being sliced by the Bush administration – but on the middle class. Taxing employer-based health care makes sense in theory – when things are cheaper we buy more of them. If everything but medical care is taxed, perhaps we do buy more of it than we need. But I’m a community organizer as well as an academic, and I like to make the case for abstract ideas by telling personal stories. It struck me that among the hundreds of stories I’ve collected this year about people and their health care, I’ve heard none that support… Continue reading
I know you are all have been working hard for health care reform. But I need you to do a bit more. Because the debate about health care in Washington has come down to this: If the insurance companies win, we lose. HCAN and our partners are doing rallies all over the country to make the fundamental choice crystal clear. You can help by coming out to fight for quality affordable health care at one of our rallies across the state: Big Insurance: Sick of It Rallies for Health Insurance Reform Tuesday, September 22 Click more for locations and to RSVP for events in Pittsburgh, Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, Erie, and Philadelphia Continue reading
Here is your opportunity. All over the country, on Tuesday, September 22, Health Care For American Now, MoveOn, the AFL-CIO, SEIU and other groups are holding Big Insurance: Sick of It rallies. One of three national flagship events is in Philadelphia at 4:45 PM Dilworth Plaza, at the northwest corner of City Hall. Our target is Cigna insurance, whose world headquarters is in Philadelphia Wendell Potter, the former Cigna executive who has been speaking out about the awful practice of insurances companies will speak. So will Arlene Holt Baker, the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO. The eyes of the country will be on us, so we need a HUGE TURNOUT for this event. So please, RSVP for the event here, right now. And please invite your friends to this event today. Continue reading
The “Get It Done” health care rally at the Lions Park in Bristol Borough, PA, on Saturday, September 5th, 2009, drew a crowd of 300 people. The rally was one of hundreds taking across the country as part of the Health Care for America Now! campaign. The “Part 1” video features speeches given by several Bucks residents; Parts 2 and 3 have Congressman Patrick Murphy’s passionate speech in defense of health care reform. Continue reading
Created with flickr slideshow. Created with flickr slideshow.The 2009 Labor Day parade was all about change that would make life better for working people. And a key to that, as President Pat Eiding said in his impassioned speech is to reform health care in 2009. Thousands of working people attended the parade and representatives of almost every union that took part carried posters or wore stickers in support of health care reform. Here are pictures of some of them. Continue reading
Join Health Care For America Now and SEIU as we thank Senator Arlen Specter for his support of health care reform and the public health insurance plan and encourage him to get health care reform done as he heads back to Washington on Tuesday September 8 We will be joined by Senator Specter as he leaves for Washington on the 29th street side of 30th Street Station on Tuesday afternoon at 2:15 pm. RSVVP at http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/event/detail/letsgetitdone/4jr7l Continue reading
Tonight we turned out a bunch of people for a Health Care Town Hall sponsored by Damian Dachowski, who used the event to announce that he would be running for Congress against Allyson Schwartz next year. Normally, HCAN in PA ignore most these events. Given that the press in Southeast PA pretty much doesn’t cover events held by issue activists unless there is controversy, it doesn’t make sense to show up and give the right wingers more publicity. And, given that we are a non-partisan campaign, we especially make a point of avoiding partisan events. But this was a special case. Allyson Schwartz has been a great champion of health care reform. Her districts is important in that a lot of people who live in it have influence far beyond it. It is a district that is becoming more progressive. And we expected a lot of press anyway given that… Continue reading
For the third time in the last few months, there are rumors in Washington that President Obama is going to drop his support of the public health insurance option. This has many of you worried. I’m a little worried, too. But I don’t still don’t think there is any reason to be freaking out right now. There is reason to act. And that’s why I will be following this up with some action steps you can take on the public option. And I’m asking you to go to the list of Let’s Get it Done events and find one to go to in the next few days. And now let me say a bit about what where health care reform, and the public option, stand right now. Continue reading