Published:
Nurses, Doctors, Patients to Protest Health Insurers on National Day of Action - June 19th
SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Marching with pictures of patients
who have been denied care by the health insurance industry, thousands of
Americans will turnout in the streets ofSan Francisco and a dozen other
cities this Thursday, June 19 at 12 Noon to ask, "What's a life worth?" and to
advocate for guaranteed, single-payer healthcare, the "Medicare for All"
systems proposed in U.S. Rep. John Conyers' Congressional bill HR 676 and
State Sen. Sheila Kuehl's SB 840 inCalifornia. Mayor Gavin Newsom of
San Francisco will kick off the day with a signing ceremony at his office at
10 a.m. that officially declaresSan Francisco an endorser of HR 676.
This national day of action comes in response to the annual convention of
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the insurance industry lobbying group
dedicated to blocking healthcare reform.
WHAT: Thousands protest insurance companies in San Francisco, nationwide
WHEN: Thursday, June 19th, 12 Noon to 1 p.m.
WHERE: San Francisco, Calif. -- 4th St. @ Howard St.
WHAT: Mayor Gavin Newsom Ceremony: San Francisco Endorses HR 676
WHEN: Thursday, June 19th, 10 a.m.
WHERE: Mayor's Office, Room 200, City Hall, San Francisco
Families of those who have lost loved ones to these health insurers will
gather outside the convention to demand solutions and answers. They will be
led by Hilda Sarkisyan, mother of 17-year-old Nataline, who died when CIGNA
delayed her liver transplant last December, and by the family of Nicky
Colombo, another 17-year-old whose life was saved only after a coalition of
RNs and bloggers pressured PacifiCare to overturn its denial. Their stories
will be remembered at a memorial wall, and in the patient story archive online
at http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/your_story, an online testament to the
abuse and pain caused by America's broken health system and merciless health
insurers.
The patients will be joined by hundreds of nurses, school employees,
seniors, healthcare activists, as well asLos Angeles' crusading City Attorney
Rocky Delgadillo, who has sued insurers for illegal denials of care, and by
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the author of SB 840, the groundbreaking bill to bring
guaranteed healthcare toCalifornia.
Malinda Markowitz, RN, a co-President of the California Nurses
Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee said, "We march for those who
can't -- for those who have been denied care by the insurance companies, or
bankrupted by their practices. The American people are ready for guaranteed
healthcare through an improved 'Medicare for all,' and it is time to pass
Rep. John Conyers' HR 676 on the federal level and State Senator Sheila
Kuehl's SB 840 inCalifornia in order to finally end our healthcare crisis."
"My daughter survived two bouts of cancer, against all odds only to be
told that she couldn't get the only treatment that could have saved her life
because some administrator in some insurance office thought it is was too
expensive," says Hilda Sarkisyan. "Families should not have to hold massive
protests to force insurance companies to do the right thing. We need the kind
of healthcare reform where a doctor's recommendation for life-saving treatment
takes precedent over cost-savings and profit."
Delgadillo also appeared Wednesday, as the convention opened, to discuss
his legal efforts to crack down on the unlawful and fraudulent business
practices of the insurance industry and to unveil a new television ad
targeting insurance denial of care. The ad was produced by the Courage
Campaign and funded by the California Nurses Association and Sen. Kuehl.
Titled "Insurance Jive," it will begin airing Thursday inLos Angeles and
San Francisco. It can also be viewed on the CNA/NNOC website,
http://www.calnurses.org.
The protests, the largest related to healthcare in many years, will be
extensively covered at the new Guaranteed Healthcare Blog,
http://www.GuaranteedHealthcare.org/blog, a project of the Leadership
Conference on Guaranteed Healthcare. The Leadership Conference on Guaranteed
Healthcare is dedicated to bringing America the benefits of a "Medicare for
all," or single-payer healthcare system. These systems, common to most
industrialized democracies, replace private insurance corporations, with
universal, nonprofit health coverage that allows patients to choose from
competing doctors and hospitals.
In addition to the major protest with more than 2,000 participants outside
the AHIP conference inSan Francisco, additional actions occurred today
outside of the offices of health insurance companies, including United
Healthcare, CIGNA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Humana, inSan Antonio,
Louisville,Philadelphia, New York,Chicago,Boston,Baltimore,Pittsburgh,
Atlanta,St. Louis, and elsewhere. (Click here to see a more detailed list.)
http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/healthcare/june_19_flyer.pdf
The Leadership Conference on Guaranteed Healthcare is composed of
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC),
Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare Now!, and Progressive
Democrats of America, working in coalition with the California School
Employees Association, the American Medical Students Association, the
California Universal Healthcare Organizing Project, the Courage Campaign,
United EducatorsSan Francisco, California Alliance of Retired Americans,
American Patients United, and Senior Action Network.
SOURCE California Nurses Association
Copyright © 2009, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2009, NewsBlaze,
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