Who Are You Wearing?

Do you know what you're going to be for Halloween? I don't.

Levana suggested I come to her party as an Exhausted Health Care Advocate. I've got that costume. I've also got bits and pieces of previous years' ensembles so I could always put them all together and go as The Ghost of Halloweens Past.

One of my favorites was the Fallen Angel, complete with dirt, branches, and broken halo and wings. You know, as if I actually fell. I've also been a Killer Bee (which was an excellent excuse to carry a water gun).

My best couples costume ever was the Mile High Club. I dressed as a flight attendant, and my badge had a picture of a man and a woman with a martini glass between them. My boyfriend at the time wore a suit with his tie askew, lipstick marks on his neck, a plane ticket in his pocket, and toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

Once people figured it out, it was a big hit.

Anyway, have a safe and fun holiday, and if I come up with something clever, I'll fill you in on Monday.

Health Care Mash

Remember Bowzer from Sha Na Na? He's helping us fight for health care reform and recorded a custom version of the Monster Mash to go along with this weekend's Halloween-themed pro-reform actions taking place in more than 40 cities across the country.

Press release.

Video:

Top Billing

The House introduced its health care legislation called The Affordable Health Care for America Act during an event on the Hill this morning. Here is our official statement. The image to the left is from that event.

I happened to be on the Hill even earlier than the event to chat with some peeps about the public health insurance option. I put together a very simple 101 for the occasion. Here's some info from that doc that may be of use:
____________________________________________________

IT’S ABOUT LOWER COSTS, COMPETITION, AND CHOICE

People want the choice between private health insurance and a public health insurance option. Choice is key. That’s why we say public option and not public plan.

The public health insurance option is the key to lower costs, real competition in the insurance marketplace, and true choice for consumers.

WHAT IT IS:

It is just one health insurance option for consumers in a new health insurance “exchanges” or marketplace.

It is set up by the federal government but paid for through premiums the exact same way private insurance is paid for.

It is not profit-driven and not beholden to Wall Street investors so it can prioritize people’s health care needs over excessive financial gain.

It won’t need to make money to spend on marketing, advertising, lobbying, corporate perks, pricey overhead, or CEO salaries and bonuses, and it won’t need to appease shareholders.

HOW IT WORKS:

A government body sets policies and bears the risk for paying claims.

Consumers who choose the public option pay premiums the same way they would to a private health insurance company.

It operates under the same rules and regulations as private health insurance companies that want to participate in the exchange or marketplace.

It offers a set of comprehensive benefits, same as the other private plans in the exchange.

WHAT IT ISN’T:

It is not a government takeover of health care.
It is not socialized medicine.
It is not a slippery slope to single-payer.
It is not an entitlement program.
It is not “government-funded.”
It is not Medicare or Medicaid.
It is not an insurance “marketplace” or collection of private health insurance plans like the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.

WHAT IT WILL DO:

A public option will introduce competition across the country. One nationwide plan will constrain costs and make the other insurers think twice about passing down a double-digit rate increase to customers.

The choice of a public option will give people a way to vote with their feet. Enrollees can select the plan of their choice, including the public option. People who are unsatisfied with their choice can take their business elsewhere.

The public option will set a benchmark so people will finally know if they're getting what they should be for their premiums.

Consumers will finally have options and alternatives. Not only will they be able to choose the public option, but they will be able to compare and contrast private plans in the exchange. And when these private plans have to compete with a public option that’s less expensive and more transparent, they’re going to have to clean up their act.

It will give us a system of checks and balances to make sure our one-half trillion investment in tax subsidies for Americans isn’t just lining the pockets of these big corporations.

WHY INSURANCE REGULATION ISN’T ENOUGH:

Today’s insurance market is incapable of bringing down costs for families and slowing cost growth over time.

There is a serious lack of competition in the health insurance market. In 94% of markets, just one or two large companies have control. So instead of competing for your business through lower costs and better service, they compete against one another to drive up prices to see what the market will bear because they know people have nowhere else to go.

Insurers find their way around insurance rules today. Rules aren’t enough. Insurers find it more cost effective to break the rules and pay fines than to play by the rules.

For example, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo conducted an industry-wide investigation early last year and found health insurers were defrauding consumers by manipulating reimbursement rates and saying patients owed more out-of-pocket than they really did. Insurers were using a database called Ingenix which was owned by UnitedHealth. UnitedHealth agreed to settle a class action lawsuit with doctors and patients for $350 million and pay $50 million towards a new database. Amount of money saved by years of overbilling consumers? Upwards of $500 million.

In addition, we know rescissions are illegal, but insurance companies have been revoking insurance policies without good cause for years.
____________________________________________________

p.s. For all of the crazies who scream "Read the Bill" or "Let Us Read the Bill," have at it. It's all online here.

T(-shirt)V

HCAN's t-shirt had a cameo on The Daily Show last night:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Whole Foods Boycott
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Joe The Dumber

Could Joe Lieberman be any more of a worm? Seriously.

Reid Done Good

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today the Senate health care bill will have a public health insurance option with a provision for states to opt out. This is good news. You can read the HCAN statement here.

We've also got a petition circulating online to thank Reid and encourage him to keep fighting. We hit 10,000 signatures in the first 30 minutes. You can add you name to that growing list here.

Monday Must-Reads

I'm in the mood to fire you up so here goes. First, SEIU President Andy Stern on HuffPo on how there's no such thing as a Republican filibuster. Democrats hold the power and must deliver:

And for decades now, Democratic Senators have raised campaign funds by promising that with 60 Democratic Senators, they could deliver real change for our country. Last fall, we were all repeatedly asked, "Dig deeper! We just need 60 - we have never been closer."

Well Democrats, it's show time. America elected the 60 you asked for, and America is waiting for results.

But here is the problem with reaching the magical 60: if Democrats can't deliver the meaningful reforms that they have repeatedly promised, then what's the point of 60? Why should anyone believe that knocking on doors, making calls, or donating another dollar changes anything if with 60 votes they cannot deliver real reforms?

The Democrats must not squander their 60-vote majority. And after the promises that were made to the American people, there is no excuse for a single member of the Democratic caucus to stand in the way of every member having the opportunity to vote for the health insurance reform this country needs.

Also on HuffPo, Bob Creamer adds more detailed perspective:

Remember that to pass a bill in the Senate you only need 51 votes – or 50 votes plus the tie-breaking vote of the Vice President. We do not need every Democrat to pass a bill. But every one of them must vote to end debate on a bill to allow an up or down vote to take place, since ending debate in the Senate requires 60 votes.

If some Democrats disagree with the content of the bill – or oppose a public option – so be it. They should vote no on final passage. But they should never side with the Republicans on a procedural vote to prevent an up or down, majority vote on the substance of the issue.

Frankly, if a Democrat votes against the party on a procedural vote and empowers the Republicans to block a vote on the party’s top domestic priority, the caucus should strip that Senator of all of the power that comes from being part of the Majority Party – including committee chairmanships.

It is one thing to oppose the substance of a bill. It’s another to oppose the Party Leadership on a procedural motion and block the will of the majority. That kind of breach of party discipline makes it impossible for a majority party to govern. On procedural votes members of a majority party have to stick together or they might as well not be in the majority – they hand the reins over to the minority.

So what's the hold up? Try all that successful health insurance lobbying. From the LA Times:

The specifics of the healthcare legislation are still being hashed out on Capitol Hill, and key details will evolve in the days ahead. Even so, there is broad agreement that the final plan will, for the first time, require Americans to buy health coverage, with taxpayer subsidies for millions who cannot afford it.

For the health insurance industry, that means millions of new paying customers. What's more, there are likely to be no limits on what insurers can charge, while at the same time the plan is expected to limit competition from any new national government insurance plan that lawmakers create.

These anticipated wins -- from an initiative that has at times been portrayed as doomsday for health insurers -- is the result of a strategy developed by one of Washington's savviest lobbyists, Karen Ignagni. Under Ignagni's leadership, the industry group America's Health Insurance Plans adopted the goal of universal coverage while setting out to shape it in a way that benefited insurers -- a crucial move that aligned their interests with those of other groups, including consumers and hospitals.

Insurers poured campaign donations into the coffers of key sympathetic members of the House and Senate, and loaded up on lobbyists. And when Obama and other Democrats began attacking the industry, insurers made a strategic choice not to walk away from the negotiating table.

"While so many in this town have been playing checkers, Karen has been playing chess," said Mark Merritt, a veteran lobbyist who heads the Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn.

Happy Monday.

In Case You Missed It

Our anti-AHIP event was a huge success yesterday. One top health insurance lobbyist gave us a gift in the morning when he said the following (HuffPo):

"There is absolutely no interest, no reason Republicans should ever vote for this thing. They have gone from a party that got killed 11 months ago to a party that is rising today. And they are rising up on the turmoil of health care," said Champlin. "So when they vote for a health care reform bill, whatever it is, they are giving comfort to the enemy who is down.

Does anyone still believe we're dealing with a kinder, gentler health insurance industry all in favor of reform? That's assuming anyone ever really did.

Then we held our presser at 2:30pm just two doors down from the AHIP conference, and the seven speakers could not have been more powerful. One woman in particular - Georgeanne - won over the room when she spoke about her brother Billy. Billy died of a heart attack in March. He had an irregular heartbeat and a defibrillator. When he lost his job, he lost his health insurance and couldn't get coverage on the individual market because of his pre-existing condition. When his defibrillator ran low on juice, he couldn't afford the $10,000 to replace it, and his doctor wouldn't help him without health insurance or the money up front. Billy - a lifelong Republican who had never voted for a Democrat - voted for Obama in November because (as Georgeanne recounted) he believed health care reform could be the miracle that would save his life. Billy died of a heart attack two months after inauguration.

Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) is Georgeanne's representative and came to stand with her and champion reform. He too teared up when he spoke about Billy and explained how the health reform legislation he expects to pass the House will guarantee no one in America has to suffer like that again.

After speaking, the families walked outside to meet 600 people rallying in solidarity. Here's a video of the event:



And is some of the other press attention from yesterday:

USA Today:

Lantz and members of six other families shared stories of denied care Thursday and later joined hundreds of people protesting the private health insurance industry outside the same hotel where the industry's trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, was holding a conference. The event was organized by Health Care for America Now, a group that supports a government-run "public" health insurance option as part of health care reform.

Lantz said she understands why people feel hesitant about backing "government interference" in health care.

"But when you look at what's going on from the perspective of a person who's being failed by the insurance companies, this in a very real way is health rationing and death panels — for profit," Lantz, 58, said during an interview.

AP:

NPR:

SEABROOK: Also, here's Kevin Scott. He's got a scar that runs clear over the top of his head.

Mr. KEVIN SCOTT: It's brain cancer, a brain tumor, and I can't pronounce the correct term, the medical term, but it was the same one that Ted Kennedy had.

SEABROOK: Scott says he's actually grateful that his insurance paid for his brain surgery, but now that he's in chemotherapy and radiation, he says he feels like he's being nickled and dimed.

Mr. SCOTT: When I had radiation treatment, I had some skin irritations. So I went to see a dermatologist about that. They won't cover that.

SEABROOK: His insurance company is now fighting every little thing he needs, says Scott.

Mr. SCOTT: We got letters in the mail saying, denied, denied, denied.

The NPR story could not be more perfect. Listen to the whole thing here.

Drug Mules and Other Animals

Sometimes people send me funny stories.

First one comes from my brother out in California. Dan wrote:

Authorities were tipped off when she made it from the ticket counter to her gate in 4.2 seconds:

Wheelchair user, 92, arrested for smuggling coke

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A 92-year-old woman with cocaine strapped to her body flew all the way from Brazil to Spain before police arrested her, in a wheelchair, at Madrid's airport.

They found 4.3 kilos, or nearly 9.5 pounds, of cocaine packets strapped to her legs and torso, and also arrested a 44-year-old female companion, who tried to escape on another plane, a Civil Guard spokeswoman told CNN Tuesday.

Then courtesy of Miss Lindsay, it's "Seriously Florida, WTF?" Zonkey Edition:

'Zonkey' attacks Bay area man

BROOKSVILLE, FL -- What do you get when you cross a zebra with a donkey? James Oleson says you'll get knocked to the ground and bitten.

Hernando County Sheriff's deputies say Oleson was attacked by the half-zebra, half-donkey at Boyett Groves in Brooksville Monday.

Oleson told deputies he was painting a perimeter fence near the donkey's enclosure when the donkey put his head underneath the fence and began to bite his feet.

With his mother's help, Oleson was able to get away from the "zonkey". He suffered numerous bite marks on his lower legs.

Boyett Groves is a small attraction with exotic animals for tourists to see up close.

Healthy Competition

We're taking on AHIP - the health insurance lobby - in DC today:

At 2:30pm today, seven families who have traveled to Washington, DC from around the country will hold a press conference inside the Capital Hilton to tell their stories of denied care and atrocious mistreatment by the private health insurance industry. The families have sent a letter to Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of the health insurance lobby, challenging her to face them in person and hear what they’ve endured. Ms. Ignagni has yet to respond. The letter is the basis for the print ad appearing today in Congress Daily AM, Congressional Quarterly, The Hill, Politico, and Roll Call.

While AHIP holds its annual State Issues conference inside the Capital Hilton, hundreds of supports of health care reform that guarantees good affordable coverage with the choice of a public health insurance option will the surround the hotel with signs that read “IT’S A CRIME TO DENY CARE.”

Image above is the print ad. Video below is a TV ad on air in DC for the next three days:

Hot Topic

MoveOn's excellent new ad in favor of the public health insurance option:

Need a Lift?

Levana and I were just in the elevator at work talking about a mutual "friend" when a random man chimed in and made me laugh so I'm sharing:*

Me: She's not a very nice person. She's cold. People don't really like her.

Man: I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you work with my wife?

*events may not be as funny as they appear in my head

Pearl of Wisdom

Read Ian Pearl's story now featured on the front page of HuffPo:

Our lawsuit uncovered insurance company documents that confirmed my suspicion that I'm a target of discrimination. The documents revealed Guardian had compiled a "hit list" of its costliest members, including patients with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, and paralysis. Guardian executives referred to us all as "dogs" and "trainwrecks," and they debated how and when to dump us from the rolls. Laws prohibited the cancellation of the individual members with serious chronic health problems, so Guardian opted to cancel the plan for all members of this specific health plan in New York, an action that violates federal law.

Ad It Up

A day without a new HCAN ad is like a day without sunshine:



Full press release here.

Unlikely Source

The front page of Drudge Report is featuring a picture from one of our anti-insurance 'crime scene' actions. There's no relevant story attached, but no complaints here. The image says it all:

Way To Go

Another new HCAN ad campaign starts today (I told you I was busy).

We're taking on the excise tax on higher premiums health insurance plans. Click through to read the press release.

To break it down in the simplest of terms:

The Senate Finance Committee bill pays for part of reform by taxing so-called "Cadillac" plans. So for plans costing more than $8,000 for a person or $21,000 for a family, the insurance company gets taxed on the money ABOVE that threshold at a rate of 40%. But we all know - and insurers have said - they will pass the burden of that tax on to the policyholders by jacking up premiums even more or changing how much people have to contribute out-of-pocket. (b/c they certainly aren't going to take a hit on their own profits).

So this tax is really just a tax on the insured -not insurers. And it will hit certain workers especially hard - those in high cost cities (where the cost of living is higher so even middle-of-the road insurance plans cost more), those who are part of an older workforce (so again, insurance costs more), those who live in states with few insurers so they have little choice but to pay for what's offered, or those who have negotiated better health care plans in lieu of pay raises over the years.

The alternative we suggest is an extra surcharge on individuals making more than $250,000/year or households making more than $350,000. And like the tax on higher cost plans, the surcharge is only on the money you make ABOVE the threshold. So if a married couple makes $351,000/year, they pay 1% of $1000 or $10. Is $10 too much to ask?

Doesn't that make a lot more sense? Here's the TV ad:

Eye Stye

My eye was bothering me yesterday, and as expected, I woke up this morning with a small stye. Good times.

I tried to take a picture of my actual stye, but it's hard to see on a blackberry camera. It's like a little bump on my left upper eyelid. I've done some internet diagnostics and have discovered warm compresses may do the trick, but if it doesn't clear on its own, I'll have to find an eye doctor.

Incidents like this make me think about health care reform opponents who claim people just need more "skin in the game." That health care spending will go down if people are just more responsible consumers.

Who are all these people running off to the doctor just because? Bored rich housewives? Because I can't think of anything I'd rather do less right now than take time out of my busy day to find an eye doctor, haggle to get an appointment, sit in a waiting room for an hour, and go fill some eye drop prescription - all of which will probably cost me more than it should because it will be impossible to find someone on my insurance plan.

None of this sounds particularly game-like to me. It definitely doesn't sound like fun.

Your Add Here

It's late. I'm still at work. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves.

I'll try to be a better blogger tomorrow.

Taking Care of Business

Senate Finance passed its bill out of committee today 14 to 9. Senator Snowe (R-ME) was the only Republican to vote yes.

Here's the HCAN statement:

“The end of the Senate Finance Committee’s process marks the beginning of the next phase – crafting a strong bill that goes to the Senate floor. The HELP Committee bill offers a better path forward in the Senate than the Finance Committee bill.

The Senate Finance Committee bill falls short on making insurance affordable to America’s families, gives employers a “free ride,” and does not create meaningful competition in the insurance market with a strong national public health insurance option. The HELP bill makes health insurance affordable to families through subsidies, lowers the cost of insurance with a public health insurance option, and promotes shared responsibility with an employer requirement to contribute to coverage.

We’re closer than ever to achieving a guarantee of good, affordable health care for America’s families and businesses, and we’re counting on Senators to put their constituents ahead of the big insurers and vote for real reform.”

Here We Go

As you might have guessed, I'm watching the Senate Finance Committee pre-vote coverage on C-SPAN right now.

I did manage to escape work for most of the long weekend, but then yesterday, AHIP made a most bizarre strategic (?) decision and released a bought and paid for bogus report claiming - basically - they would be raising premiums under reform.

Our official statement is here.

Loves You Not

It's not exactly "making love" if you're posting your location and position on the Internet.

Prescription: Change

I had a nice long chat with my health insurance company yesterday. In fact, they were surprisingly nice. Like, we're trying to improve our image nice. Wonder why?

They still failed miserably to understand how their business decisions hurt people. But at least they were overly cheery in their epic failure.

After several calls to my doctor and to my pharmacy, we all concluded my only real solution was to ask the insurance company what it expected me to do. That's how I landed on the line with the insurer.

The good news is that my copay will jump from $30 to $50 - not the $125 I initially anticipated. I'm not sure where or how I was expected to find this $50 amount seeing as how my exhaustive search turned up $125, but apparently, $50 is what it will be.

But the truly frustrating part of this exercise is what my insurer wants me to do if I want to pay less than $50/month for my medication.

It wants me to experiment with alternatives.

The insurance company's pharmacist who spoke with me during yesterday's marathon call offered me three generic alternatives to my current medication. However, none of the three were generics of my actual medication. They were generics for medications in the same class of medication as what I take. And as we all know, everyone's body reacts differently to chemicals, and that's why people choose to take one med over another.

For women, I can liken it to the great hunt for the perfect birth control pill. Anyone who has ever taken an oral contraceptive knows it's a delicate process to find one that works just right for you. And when you do find that right fit, the last thing you want to do is abandon it and start experimenting again.

For men, imagine you have a headache. You can take Tylenol or Advil. Unless you are allergic to Advil. Then all you can take is Tylenol. But now Tylenol is a gazillion dollars a bottle, and you need an alternative. There is no generic Tylenol, but there is generic Advil. My experience was like a pharmacist offering you generic Advil as an acceptable substitute for Tylenol. It's just not.

And in my instance, we're not talking about aspirin. We're talking about a medication with the possibility of much more complicated side effects.

I'm lucky I can afford the $20 copay hike, but I know so many people can't, and we shouldn't have to live in a country where people are forced to experiment with their health because they're priced out of the medication that works best to make them well.

Adding On

We have a new ad up in Maine today. I like this one.

Little bonus nugget: Everyone in the ad is a real Mainer, and everyone has a health care story:

Care To Comment

When I heard Keith Olbermann was planning an hourlong Special Comment on health care reform, I had mixed emotions.

An hour lecture sounds long, and as much as I like Keith's Special Comments and even though very few are as engaged in this fight as I am, I wasn't convinced this was a good idea.

I was wrong.

It's 43 minutes online because he took some commercial breaks, but you should watch it. All of it. The hour flew by, and Keith's anger and emotion culminated in a challenge that may finally break through. This is the full comment. Click here to watch one short clip at a time.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bobbing For The Truth

I'm a huge Bob Cesca fan. You only have to read him once to understand why. Here's today's why:

The Health Insurance You Have Now Sucks

(...)

Likewise, the health care system is in the process of melting down, and for too many Americans it already has. And as for the rest of us who think our health insurance policies are excellent and secure are, in reality, in serious denial. Even now, we're paying more and more of our own money towards keeping this broken system afloat, and when the health care crisis kicks into high gear soon, who do you think will be obligated to pay for the greed and corruption responsible for the crisis?

(...)

At the very least, and at this very moment, we're all paying a 30 percent private tax to our insurance companies. This tax isn't being spent on our family's medical care and general wellness, but instead on corporate bureaucracy and profit. For the average family contributing to around half of an annual $13,000 employer-based premium, this private tax amounts to more than a thousand dollars a year (and rising) for nothing. No guarantees against rescinding our policies. No guarantees of coverage in the event of a serious illness. No guarantees that we'll be covered for a pre-existing condition. No guarantees that our rates won't be randomly jacked up for no reason. Nothing.

You know the drill. Read the whole thing here.

Call To Arms

Wendell Potter was great again on Olbermann last night, BUT I do have to chastise him slightly for an obvious omission. When Keith asks, "What can we do?" Wendell needed to say, "We can flood Congress with calls. We can rise up and demand change. We can recognize now is the time to take back our government and insist it works for us, not the insurance industry." That's the only nugget that would have made this segment better. Otherwise, solid as usual:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Baffling Fashion

I clicked on one of those American Apparel web ads today and then started surfing the site. They've got some odd stuff, but one particular item stood out. Or maybe I should say, stuck out.

I'm not posting the image b/c this is a pg-rated site (most of the time), but you can click through here to see what I'm talking about. (prolly NSFW depending on where you work).

At what point does a woman say, "I don’t need the full pantyhose, but I'm not quite feeling the thigh highs?" It’s not like you wouldn’t still have panty lines.

I'm going to take a pass, but in case you want to order a pair, go here.

Just Say No More

I'm convinced my insurance company screws with me b/c it knows what I do for a living.

I recently got a letter from UnitedHealth saying the copay for my prescription was going up from $30/month to $125/month. Actually, they didn't even spell it out that clearly. They said it was going up to Tier 3, and I had to do a ridiculous amount of digging through their website's related website to find a dollar amount. With that kind of jump, no wonder they bury the specifics.

Turns out I've got limited options. I either pay $125/month ($1500/year), or I get my doctor to find a comparable generic. But the catch is that it's an extended release drug, and there is no generic extended release version on the market. I either accept a possibly less effective substitute, pay, or go without.

I've got a call into the doctor, and I'll let you know what he comes up with. But every time I have to go through something like this, I think about the people who don't have the freedom during the day to make the calls, haggle, fight the system, etc. I think about the people being manipulated by corporate greed - people who just want to fill the prescription their doctor recommended and get on with their lives - and it makes me really glad I do what I do.

Where There's Smoke

Let me set the scene for my Tuesday so far. I enter the Metro this morning as a flood of people are walking out. Assuming something's up, I ask the one and only Metro employee in sight what's going on.

Me: What's going on?

Him: There's a delay.

Me: Are the trains running?

Him: Eventually.

Stranger 10,000 times more helpful than Metro employee: There's smoke on the tracks at Metro Center, and nothing's moving.

I join the mass exodus and walk to work. 45 minutes later, the fire alarm goes off at work. Group exit #2. This one has the feel of a drill from the start, but who am I to tempt fate. We stand outside for about 10 minutes and then head back in.

It's not even noon yet. Who wants to bet there will be more? It just feels like one of those days.

In other less annoying news, we've got more than 50 anti-insurance protests taking place today around the country, and we anticipate some people may get arrested. You can participate in solidarity online by making your insurance company's website a virtual crime scene.

Click here if your insurance company is CIGNA

Click here if your insurance company is WellPoint or Blue Cross

Click here if your insurance company is UnitedHealth

Click here if you don't know your insurance company or if you're uninsured

What's News?

Our Ensign ad is generating some press:

ABC:

Airing starting Monday, in Las Vegas and Reno: Health Care for America Now is up with a new TV ad targeting Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., a member of the Finance Committee (and, as the ad gently reminds us, someone who's been in the news for some other reasons as well). "Lately there's been a lot of controversy about John Ensign… Why did John Ensign side with the insurance companies instead of us? Follow the money."

Las Vegas Sun:

Ensign is a member of the Senate Finance Committee that is scheduled to vote on the bill this week.

The $110,000 ad buy comes from Health Care for America Now, an umbrella organization that supports including the public plan option as part of health care reform.

The public plan would be a government-run insurance option that would compete with private insurance plans to cover the uninsured. Opponents call it socialized health care.

The ads are unlikely to sway Ensign, who has strongly opposed the legislation that he calls a government takeover of health care. But they may hit at the Republican Party in Nevada, which has struggled with electoral losses, fallout from Ensign’s affair and organizational problems.

Fox 5 News Vegas:

Nevada Sen. John Ensign, who isn’t up for reelection until 2012, is the target of a new ad campaign focused on his role in health care reform.

The ad, however, also hints at Ensign’s affair with a former staff member, in its opening line, “Lately there’s been a lot of controversy about John Ensign.”

The Atlantic:

HCAN might be getting twice its money's worth: Nevada's other senator, Harry Reid (D), is predicted to face a tough reelection battle in 2010--a race rated as a "toss-up" by the Cook Political Report--and as Senate majority leader, he'll face the daunting task of shepherding a viable health care bill through the Senate floor, and with it, lots of pressure to compromise. From the liberal perspective, the less of that pressure, the better. A public option is supported by Nevadans, according to Research 2000--and stirring that stew a little bit couldn't hurt.

HCAN says it wanted to pick a Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to make an example of, and that it decided on Ensign even before the latest indiscretions broke (which made him an even riper target). But with this ad, HCAN might be getting the benefit of a double dip.

In other news, 6 protesters - our peeps - got arrested today in Minneapolis. Star Tribune:

Six demonstrators were arrested Monday morning at UnitedHealth Group headquarters in Minnetonka after they blocked the doors and refused to leave during a health care reform protest.

About 110 protesters sang and spoke about the need to change the way health care is financed in the United States, and said that insurers alike UnitedHealth are making people sicker because the system doesn’t offer proper coverage for many patients.

And in "clearly you have to get arrested to make news" news, take a look at this Columbia Journalism Review write on the general lack of media coverage of our anti-insurance campaign as a movement:

The reformers face a fundamental imbalance. Insurance companies don’t need street protests to get heard in Congress. But HCAN faces a social movement’s eternal problem of how to attract public attention without looking like disturbers of the peace.

Men Behaving Badly Monday

Morning. We've got a theme this AM. On the professional front, we have a new ad up in Nevada targeting John Ensign. You can read all about Senator Ensign's recent indiscretions here. We're more concerned with his ties to the health insurance industry:



On the personal front, a little advice to male suitors who wonder where they might be going wrong:

1. If you're interested enough to call and ask me out, don't then bring a date to my birthday party. It doesn't make me jealous or curious. It makes me done.

2. If you decide not to show up at my birthday party because you're "not feeling the venue," don't then call me up to hang out at your preferred locale two days later.

3. If you come to my party and you and your friends drink your weight in alcohol, don't skip out on the bill. My friend who threw the party appreciates your thank you email, but she'd appreciate your not being so cheap a whole lot more.

And people think I'm exaggerating when I say it's tough to meet decent guys in this town.

Birthday Encore: Bringing Fluffy Back

I was born around 5am more than three decades ago today at Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove, FL - legend has it with full head of black hair the maternity ward nurses used to braid before bringing me in to see my Mom.

Who knew I'd grow up a brunette (occasional blond) with an adoration for furry pink hats?

The photo's from last year's birthday party where the theme was "WTF is that on your head?" and I've decided to resurrect it just because.

I'm feeling frisky like that today.

A Little Thirty Something Something

Tomorrow's my birthday, and just in case you haven't figured it out by now, I am absolutely one of those people that likes everyone to know it's her birthday. No particular reason. Just makes me happy.

I got a birthday present in the mail last night, and like a little kid on Christmas eve (or, technically, the eve before Christmas eve), I ripped it open with unbridled enthusiasm. It was from my brother, and it was the first season of Breaking Bad on DVD. I've never seen the show and don't know much about it, but I'm really excited to check it out.

This kicks off what is sure to be an obscene few days of All About Me sprinkled with moments of "How old am I?" and resolutions for the year ahead. As of right now, I resolve to win health care and take a real vacation. Everything beyond that is up for grabs.

Even More Sick Of It

UPDATE: Bob Creamer's new HuffPo piece says it all extremely well.

We're going up with a new ad today called "Mansion." I really like it. We've got both a TV version and a mini-Mansion online/b-roll version. You can watch them both below. (I'm partial to the mini myself).

This is just the next step in our "Big Insurance: Sick Of It" anti-insurance campaign. The press release gives you the full scope (and scoop).

Make sure you also check out Sickofit.net where Cigna customer Stacie Ritter tells her story. She's going to the Cigna CEO's house today, and we'll have video of her action posted later this afternoon.

Mansion (:30):



Mini-Mansion (:15):