Wednesday morning saw Mobilization for Health Care stage a protest and sit-in at the Anthem Blue Cross offices in downtown Los Angeles. The actions are part of a national effort that saw staging in nine U.S. cities. The demonstrations were meant to provoke police response which did result in around 54 arrests nationally.
For Info on Mobilization for Health Care
http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org The were fourteen arrests in New York City, eleven in Portland, , six in Palm Beach, eleven in Boston, and seven in Chicago, Illinois.
Blue Cross, Cigna, Wellpoint, Humana, Medical Mutual, and United Health Group were the targeted insurers. The movement cites them as the worst abusers.
Los Angeles saw the arrest of twelve activists, while the Cleveland and Washington, D.C. protests saw no incarcerations. The police in those latter cities sealed off the areas before the actions.
The event in Los Angeles was organized by Sam Pullman whose mother had passed away from Multiple Myeloma which is a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. She had been treated at The Mayo Clinic and was refused a bone marrow transplant by Blue Cross on the grounds that it was an experimental procedure.
She passed away at 45 years of age.
For Info on Multiple Meloma and the accepted treatments thereof;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_myeloma Nataline Sarkisyan's mother Hilda spoke at the civil disobedience about her daughter's now infamous case of treatment denial. Her daughter was denied a liver transplant by CIGNA and subsequently died.
For More info on her case;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataline_Sarkisyan To add to her egregious injury Hilda Sarkisyan was subjected to humiliating behavior by CIGNA staff at their Pittsburgh headquarters in the form of insulting hand gestures. She was there on a mission to confront CIGNA executives. There were quite a few witnesses. CIGNA has since apologized.
There were plenty of shocking and ironic stories at the protest which was peopled by everyday folks who had been compromised severely by the American Health Care cluster shag.
Kim Kutcher, an intensive care nurse who had injured her back while working was denied an FDA approved artificial disk replacement on the basis of it's "experimental" nature. She has managed to get one of them and is hoping to get a second prothesis. Meanwhile she is responsible for approximately 120,000 dollars in medical bills.
She has a blog at;
http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/blog/kim-kutcher-rn The protest formed in front of the offices of WellPoint's California subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross, which is located at 801 S. Figueroa St. The group picketed, rallied, attempted to get the Blue Cross executives to speak with them and eventually staged a civil disobedience to provoke arrest.
There were 12 arrests.
It's been estimated that there was one policeman for every protester. The protest was used as a training exercise for the LAPD.
As far as the future is concerned Mobilization for Health Care has around 700 people who are willing to risk arrest already signed up for their October 28th action.
http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org/ The sit-ins were part of the Patients Not Profit campaign of the Mobilization for Health Care for All. The actions were started by several national organizations. The protests were coordinated with local groups based in each city in order to give people a way for their anger over insurance company abuses to be heard. The groups advocate for Medicare for All, a public single payer health care plan that expands Medicare style coverage to everyone.
“This will be one of the largest campaigns of nonviolent civil disobedience since the civil rights movement,” stated Kai Newkirk, national coordinator for the Mobilization for Health Care for All. “It’s just beginning and will continue and build until the insurance companies no longer stand between us and the care we need.”
If you actually are mad as hell and won't actually take it any more......
You can find more info on the October 28th, Mobilization for Health Care for All at;
http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org/ You can sign up on the home page
In Los Angeles contact Sam Pullman;
gringomariachi@gmail.com http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/node