Teabagging at a rally against health care reform
This post is by Jake Blumgart.
The summer of health care reform provided us with the most important domestic policy debate in years, but it also produced a bizarre scare campaign that somehow convinced a significant percent of the populace that our president is a fascist commie pinko.
But for those concerned with real-world issues, the ever-escalating horror stories of insurance company misconduct have been far more disturbing.
Yesterday afternoon, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local 775NW added to this embarrassment of riches as California resident Jo Joshua Godfrey—founder of the nonprofit United Patients of America—related her grim tale at a rally of long-term nursing workers outside City Hall.
In the early 1990s, Godfrey repeatedly approached her insurance company, Cigna, with complaints of breathing difficulties. After repeated examinations by physicians’ assistants (not actual doctors), and repeated assurances that she had nothing but bronchitis, Godfrey’s symptoms still hadn’t abated. When she asked for her records, Cigna refused the request. Eventually, a sympathetic source within the company leaked Godfrey her own information, which she immediately took to an independent physician. After inspecting her records, he informed her that she had lung cancer.
“[Originally], I thought Cigna was great—I was insured by them for a long time and I just went about my life thinking everything was okay” Godfrey told PubliCola in an interview. “But they are abusing their patients. Ultimately everyone will have a health crisis, at one point or another, but no American should have to lose their home, go bankrupt, or be abused like I was by Cigna. We tout human rights all over the world. It’s time we practiced it here.”
Godfrey spoke around the corner from Cigna’s Seattle office, following up her own story with an epilogue about her daughter Shannon, who she claims also suffered misdiagnosis and ill-treatment at the hands of Cigna. After the rally, SEIU members and Godfrey attempted to enter Cigna’s offices, but they were headed off by a security officer outside the downtown office tower.
SEIU Local 775′s annual conference in SeaTac, which Godfrey attended, coincided with the Monday release of Brave New Films’ documentary “Sick For Profit,” which prominently features Godfrey’s story.
“With health care where it is now, we wanted to take advantage of having so many people in place and do a public action,” said SEIU spokesman Adam Glickman. “Our members don’t have Cigna, but they get energized by those stories, energized to go up to Cigna and cause a stink.”
It’s hard to argue that they don’t deserve it. Beyond Godfrey’s experience, (and Cigna’s abysmal customer satisfaction ratings) the company came under heavy fire after it denied a liver transplant to Nataline Sarkisyan, a 19-year-old leukemia patient who died because Cigna withheld treatment. (Sarkisyan’s family subsequently sued the insurance company.)
A couple hundred people attended the rally, including city council member Nick Licata, and passing cars honked to show their support. SEIU rank and filer Marie Ginder pressed signs on passersby, many of whom, to her surprise, gladly took them.
One woman named Ann, a small business owner, gave an ad-hoc speech, detailing her ailing sister’s struggle to get insured. “I’m going to lose my baby sister because she was too expensive to treat,” she told the health-care workers. “Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it so much.”
“These people [at the insurance companies] need to face the justice system,” Godfrey said. “If I did something to hurt someone I would have to pay a price. Why should they be any different?” She ruefully noted that Cigna and its fellows are spending $1.2 million a day on lobbying alone.
But Godfrey says she’s not deterred by the monumental forces arrayed against health-care reform. “I’m Irish and I’m going to carry on Senator [Ted] Kennedy’s legacy,” Godfrey said as she walked back toward the SEIU convention. “And the Irish don’t quit.”
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A well-researched and insightful piece of journalism. Congrats on the new staffer, PubliCola!
Can we put the blame where it belongs? How about on a completely politically incompetent, or sold out, or mix of both, Democratic Party?
WHY BLAME STEALING LYING SCUM FOR BEING THIEVING LYING SCUM?
In the relatively affluent leafy neighborhoods, it is impolite, and not nice, and inappropriate, and blunt, to point out that lying stealing scum are ripping you off when they live down the street and wear white collars! It is only socially acceptable to wag your finger and pray for their conversion from being stealing lying scum – one certainly does NOT accept the fact that lying stealing scum are going to lie and steal, because then one might have to come up with tactics and strategies other than wagging fingers, praying for conversion, being morally indignant, and sternly clearing your throat.
Unless you live in those leafy neighborhoods, and can afford to keep hiring the morally superior politically incomepetent losers, WHY does anyone put up with them? Afraid you won’t get invited to the secret important rubber-egg breakfast meeting ATM-shakedown with Maria, Ron, Gary and Chris?
rmm.
I AM NATALINE SARKISYAN DAD NATALINE WAS 17 AND CIGNA KILLED MY PRINCES, AND I HAD INSURANCE
Nataline Sarkisyan had 65% chance to live and Cigna gave her 0%. Edward Hanway CEO of Cigna should be in JAIL. Cigna killed my beautiful 17 years old daughter. Nataline is in heaven and Edward Hanway will go to hell.
Insurance companies can’t decide who is going to live and who is going to die!
See video of the Glendale Ca CIGNA sit-in 10/28/09: http://current.com/items/91327427_cigna-kills-girl-doctor-arrested.htm
Can we put the blame where it belongs? How about on a completely politically incompetent, or sold out, or mix of both, Democratic Party?
WHY BLAME STEALING LYING SCUM FOR BEING THIEVING LYING SCUM?
In the relatively affluent leafy neighborhoods, it is impolite, and not nice, and inappropriate, and blunt, to point out that lying stealing scum are ripping you off when they live down the street and wear white collars! It is only socially acceptable to wag your finger and pray for their conversion from being stealing lying scum – one certainly does NOT accept the fact that lying stealing scum are going to lie and steal, because then one might have to come up with tactics and strategies other than wagging fingers, praying for conversion, being morally indignant, and sternly clearing your throat.
Unless you live in those leafy neighborhoods, and can afford to keep hiring the morally superior politically incomepetent losers, WHY does anyone put up with them? Afraid you won't get invited to the secret important rubber-egg breakfast meeting ATM-shakedown with Maria, Ron, Gary and Chris?
rmm.
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