Health Care For America Now

Tomorrow, May 6, 2010, HCAN Partners - AFL-CIO, SEIU and United Steelworkers are rallying on Capitol Hill to thank Members of Congress for supporting health care reform. Congress took on the Insurance Companies.  They took on the Chamber of Commerce.  They took on the K Street Lobbyists and stood up for America's working families.

Rally Information (see flier below):

Date: Thursday, March 6th
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Longworth Fountain Plaza on Capital Hill, Washington, DC

The thank yous continue rolling in for Members of Congress who voted YES on health reform.

Out in Florida, people met Alan Grayson at the airport to thank him:

In Montana, they marked passage of reform with a vigil for those who lost their lives because they didn't have health care:

In New York, the people turned out at City Hall:

In North Dakota, they thanked Congressman Dorgan, Conrad, and Pomeroy:

In California, they thanked Reps. Speier, Napolitano, Berman, Pelosi, Miller and other members of the California delegation:

In Ohio, they thanked Representative Marcy Kaptur:

In Pennsylvania, they thanked Congresswoman Dahlkemper:

They also gathered outside the PA Attorney General's office to protest his decision to sue the federal government over health reform:

In Rhode Island, people met with Representative Langevin:

And in Washington, they thanked Senators Murray and Cantwell, Rep. Jay Inslee, and Rep. Brian Baird:

Reports continue to stream in of people going out and thanking their Members of Congress for voting YES on health reform.

In Colorado, they visited Senators Bennet and Udall:

In Missouri, they thanked Congressman Carnahan:

In Pennsylvania, they're thanking Congressman Kanjorski:

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a large group welcomed home Congresswoman Gwen Moore at the airport:

And Congressman Kagan, also from Wisconsin:

In Washington, they hailed the passage of reform and protested against a planned state lawsuit against the new law:

In Florida, they thanked Congressman Grayson and Congresswoman Kosmas:

In Indiana, they were out thanking Congressman Ellsworth:

In North Dakota, the people were out thanking Representative Pomeroy:

In Arkansas, they were out thanking Representative Snyder:

In Maine, they thanked Congressman Michaud:

In Minnesota, they thanked Representative Walz:

And more to come as health reform becomes the law of the land.

All around the country, people are cheering the passage of health reform and thanking Representatives in the House for voting YES!

In Iowa delivering cakes to Congressmen Braley and Loebsack:

In Maine, thanking Representatives Pingree and Michaud:

In New Mexico, thanking Representative Heinrich:

In New York:

And in Illinois:

With more to come…

All around the country, the people are coming out and saying YES to health reform in advance of the vote in the House expected this weekend.

In Nebraska, they're out in force:

In Illinois, Representative Melissa Bean is getting the message outside her offices:

They're getting it out in Grand Rapids, MI, too:

In Ohio outside Representative Mary Jo Kilroy's offices, we're getting the message out and outnumbering teabaggers:

In Pennsylvania in front of Representative Carney's office, they're getting out the message:

And in Erie, PA, Representative Dahlkemper is hearing it:

In Nevada, Congresswoman Titus is getting the message:

In California, Representative Costa is hearing it:

In Wisconsin, they're getting out the message:

In Pottsville, Pennsylvania, they're getting the message out in front of Representative Holden's office:

In Iowa, Representative Boswell is hearing it:

And in Aliquippa, PA, Representative Altmire is hearing it:

And online, the people are calling their Representatives for Susan, who had to fight cancer and her insurance company because Blue Cross's catastrophic coverage didn't think cancer was catastrophic:

It's come down to yes or no. The people say yes. Click here to call your Representative and say yes, too.

We just released a new video of the citizens' arrest of the insurance companies that happened on March 9th. The video is amazing, it really captures the incredible energy at the protest. Check it out:

The people's voice is loud and clear: We need Congress to listen to us and not the insurance companies. We need to pass real reform now.

Around the country, people are answering the call of the citizens' arrest. In Illinois, people rallied to make sure Congresswoman Melissa Bean listens to us:

In Michigan, the people are making sure Congressman Mark Schauer listens to us:

And in Seattle, local insurance offices were declared crime scenes:

Perhaps one of the most poignant examples of the people speaking out occurred in Washington, DC:

11-year-old Marcelas Owens flew across the country from Seattle this week to join Senate Democrats in Washington, DC to rally support for an end to insurance industry abuses. Marcelas has been an advocate for health care reform since his mother died after she fell ill and lost her job and insurance coverage. "I am here because of my mom," said Owens. "My mom was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2006. She missed so much work she lost her job. And when my mom lost her job, she lost her health care. And losing her health care ended up costing her her life." Senate Democrats are working to put an end to insurance industry abuses that have denied coverage to hard working Americans when they get sick and need it the most.

The House is gearing up to vote on the Senate health reform bill and a package of improvements as early as next week. It's time to finally pass reform.

Click here to pledge to make calls to the House in support of reform.

This morning at 10:00 am on Capitol Hill (Rayburn House Office Building 2237, if you're in the area), the anti-insurance action from yesterday continues.

In a panel moderated by CIGNA executive turned whistleblower Wendell Potter, 24 insurance industry survivors will tell their heart-rending stories directly to their Members of Congress and ask Congress to listen to the American people and pass health reform that works for us, not big insurance.

Members of Congress scheduled to attend the forum include Chris Van Hollen (D-8th MD), Keith Ellison (D-5th MN), Jan Schakowsky (D-9th IL), John Conyers (D-14th MI), Jim McDermott (D-7th WA), Maxine Waters (D-35 CA), Anthony Weiner (D-9 NY), and John Sarbanes (D-3rd MD). Members unable to attend but scheduled to meet constituent survivors later on Wednesday include Adam Schiff (D- 29th CA), Charlie Wilson (D- 6th OH), Mark Kirk (R- 10th IL), Joe Pitts (R-16th PA), Edolphus Towns (D-10th NY), Heath Shuler (D-11th NC), James Oberstar (D- 8th MN) Earl Blumenauer (D-3 OR), and Ron Klein (D- 22FL). Additional members are expected to participate.

The survivors will then go to several key Republican offices and "express their disapproval" for opposing reform.

More updates are coming as the event takes place.

Today in DC, thousands marched. Thousands rallied. And thousands stood up and showed Congress what fighting for what you believe in looks like.

Starting from a rally in Dupont Circle with words from Howard Dean, to a full on citizens' posse down at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where the insurance companies were having their conference and plotting to kill health reform, the direct action sent a forceful message. Security was out in force, and our people got hassled while the insurance companies hid. At the end of the day, we got into the hotel and served a warrant of arrest.

See what happened:

The insurance companies have taken enough from us. It's time for Congress to listen to us and pass real health reform that works for the American people. We won't stop. We'll never let up. Congress must stop the insurance companies or we will. And in the end, we will win.

Today is the day that we arrest the insurance companies. Thousands will be in the streets today to protest the insurance companies and their skyrocketing profits while our health goes by the wayside. We'll be out there, risking it all, to show Congress how you stand up for what you believe in, and challenge them to pass health reform that works for us, not the insurance companies.

Throughout the day, I'll be posting pictures and updates via Twitter. (To get new photos, refresh the page.) Feel free to join in by twittering with the hashtag #m9.

Tomorrow, it's time to arrest the insurance companies.

Thousands of people will descend on the insurance companies, who are having a conference in DC and plotting how to kill health reform at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on 22nd Street. We're going to shut down their conference and stop them and business as usual, and we'll do whatever it takes to succeed.

Leaders will be there to stand with us and confront the insurance industry. Online leaders like Howard and Jim Dean from Democracy for America, Michael Kieschnick from CREDO, and Justin Ruben from MoveOn will be there. Labor leaders like Rich Trumka of the AFL-CIO, Anna Burger of SEIU, Randi Weingarten of the AFT, and Gerald McEntee of AFSCME will be there. Community leaders like Deepak Bhargava of Campaign for Community Change, Jeff Blum and William McNary of USAction, and Bob Edgar of Common Cause will be there. We'll have leaders of faith, leaders from the doctor and nurse professions, and perhaps most importantly, victims of insurance company abuses.

Regina Holliday, a local resident of the District of Columbia, will be there.

She lost her husband, Frederick, 39, last year because he didn't get health insurance in time to diagnose his kidney cancer. By the time he found his dream job teaching at a major university - with good health insurance - his cancer was Stage 4 and had spread to his lungs and bones. Since her husband's death, Regina now cares for her two children, 11 and 4, and spends all her free time painting murals on Connecticut Avenue to draw attention to the need for health care reform and patient rights.

Stacie Ritter, someone who should be familiar to readers of this blog, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, will be there.

Stacie is the mother of twin daughters, now 11, who were diagnosed with leukemia when they were 4. Both girls needed stem cell transplants and other cancer treatments. The twins survived, but the glands controlling their growth were damaged. Doctors recommended that they receive daily growth-hormone injections. But Stacie's husband's company had switched to CIGNA for health insurance, and CIGNA refused to cover the hormone shots. 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. The twins now get their growth hormone drug free from Eli Lilly. But the family still pays about $4,012 a year in premiums to CIGNA, plus $650 co-pay for an annual cancer survivorship visit.

These people are going to put themselves on the line for what's right - health reform that works for the American people. And they're going to show Congress what standing up for what you believe in looks like.

If you're in town, you should join us. If you're not, you can follow the action live at CitizensPosse.com.

Now is when we need this kind of leadership from Congress. The insurance companies are making record profits. They're raising rates by 40% or 50% in over a dozen states. They face no competition and feel no remorse when they cut people off from their care to make a buck.

They must be stopped. Tomorrow, we're going to stop their conference. Then it'll be up to Congress to finish reform right and stop them for good.