*Two protests call for major health care reform, protest private insurance
Posted on | September 22, 2009 |
Contrary to many media reports, most people in the U.S. want to see a major health care overhaul, and large majorities want private insurance companies eliminated from our health care system entirely.
Today (Tuesday, September 22) two different protests will take place, both demanding that our political representatives stand up to the insurance companies and represent the majority view.
The Alachua County Labor Party is picketing at University Ave. and 13th St. with Gainesville Veterans for Peace from 4:30pm - 6:30pm. The Labor Party’s referendum on the 2000 ballot showed that Alachua County residents overwhelmingly (64.5%) want a single, simple system that covers everyone, like Medicare for all. On the national level, the Labor Party urges passage of HR 676, a bill which would strengthen Medicare and extend it to everyone in the U.S. We support the Weiner Amendment to House Bill 3200. Veterans for Peace emphasizes that the money currently spent on war should be spent to improve people’s health and lives.
At the same time, MoveOn is holding a press conference and picket at the offices of Blue Cross/Blue Shield starting at 5:00 pm to call on politicians to support the “public option” to create a choice besides private insurance. The Blue Cross office is at NW 39th Ave. a block east of NW 43rd St.
All these organizations want to see much bolder political action on health care. In contrast to the conservative protests that have received so much attention, the groups protesting today represent the broad opinion of the U.S. public, which in poll after poll supports major reform like a Medicare for All system. For example, in an October 20, 2003 ABC News/Washington Post poll, sixty-two percent said they’d prefer a universal insurance program “in which everyone is covered under a program, like Medicare, that’s run by the government and funded by taxpayers.”
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