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Media Release |
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| For Immediate Release | Contact | Phone |
| Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | Leo Torrey | 856-966-3091 |
| James Woodson | 732-246-4772 x26 |
NJ Consumers & Small Employers Demand Insurance Companies "Stop Denying Our Care!"
New Jerseyans Participate in National Day of Action in Front of Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield NJ's Corporate Office in Newark, NJ to Call Out Insurance Industry Bad Practices
Highland Park, NJ — Today, Tuesday, September 22, 2009, New Jerseyans from around the state including members of NJ Citizen Action, the NJ Main Street Alliance, the NJ Health Care for America Now (HCAN) Campaign, and MoveOn.org held a press conference and rally outside of the Corporate Offices of Horizon BlueCross BlueShield NJ in Newark, NJ to highlight the need for real health care reform and demand that health insurance companies, like Horizon BlueCross BlueShield, end bad health insurance industry practices.
Leo Torrey, South Jersey Organizer for NJ Citizen Action and Peg Kinsell, Director of Public Policy for the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN) joined NJ Main Street Alliance spokeswoman Anita Thomas, Owner of Anita Thomas & Associates, LLC and Executive Director of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and NJ health care consumers Jill Johnson, Carol Watchler, Diana Autin, and Chaundra Frankford to call on Horizon BCBSNJ President and CEO William Marino, and other health insurance executives, to commit to the following pledge:
- STOP standing between doctors and patients when making medical care decisions
- STOP denying or dropping coverage based on a pre-existing medical condition.
- STOP using any resources — including funds, employees, and facilities — to oppose any aspect of the health reform proposals supported by President Obama and being considered by members of the United States Congress.
- STOP any policy or incentive that rewards employees financially or otherwise for denying care and rejecting claims.
"The health insurance companies are spending $641,000 a day to oppose reform because they profit by keeping the status quo and our broken health care system essentially the way it is," said Torrey. "They take our money and then deny claims; raise premiums, co-pays, and deductibles at will; fail to provide coverate to folks with pre-existing conditions; and refuse to cover the treatments our doctors prescribe.
We're here today to tell big insurance we're sick of it. We need a guarantee of good coverage we can afford, and that includes giving us the choice of a strong national public health insurance option."
All across the country today, fed up customers and advocates for health care reform held protests and declared, "Big Insurance: Sick of It." Flagship events in Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Hartford drew thousands of protestors to health insurance company headquarters or to events where they could confront health insurance CEOs.
The protest, titled "Big Insurance: Sick of It," is one of nearly 200 events nationwide organized by Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nation's largest health care campaign, and HCAN's allies.
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HCAN Campaign Partners: 1199 SEIU Health Care Workers East, AFL-CIO NJ, AFSCME Council 1, Alliance for Disabled in Action Inc, BlueWave NJ, Central NJ for Change, CWA District One, CWA Local 1032, Democracia Ahora NJ, Family Voices NJ, Garden State Equality, Grassroots4Change, Health Care for All--NJ, Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Hispanic Directors Association of NJ, Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministries of NJ, Mighty Middlesex Advocates, Monmouth For Change, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, National Association of Social Workers, NJ Chapter, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey Region of the Workmen's Circle/Arbiter Ring, New Jersey West Hudson Valley Council Union for Reform Judaism, New Labor, NEXT STEP, North Jersey Grassroots, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey Council, SEIU New Jersey State Council, South Jersey Grassroots, Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1360, and the Women's Opportunity Center.
