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115 arrested so far in 18 cities to demand for health care for all

Kevin Zeese

Healthcare-NOW!

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show details 9:28 PM (11 hours ago)

MOBILIZATION FOR HEALTH CARE FOR ALL: ACTION UPDATE 10/28/2009

Contact: Lacy MacAuley, (202) 445-4692,lacy@massey-media.comKatie Robbins, Healthcare-NOW! (330) 618-6379,info@healthcare-now.org

Kai Newkirk, Mobilization for Health Care for All, (310) 703-3046,info@mobilizeforhealthcare.org

Kevin Zeese, Prosperity Agenda, (301) 995-6582,kzeese@earthlink.net

115 arrested so far in 18 cities to demand for health care for all

Total number who risked arrest today: 73 in 10 cities

Arrests include Matt Hendrickson, MD, a California doctor who is calling for real health care reform

Margaret Flowers, MD, will be risking arrest tomorrow at CareFirst insurance in Baltimore, Maryland

Photo: New York, NY - Nine were arrested in New York protesting at Wellpoint insurance. About 50 health care reform supporters picketed outside in the rain, including Ken Weinberg, MD (not pictured), who will be risking arrest at a New York health insurance office in the coming weeks to demand health care for all.

[View VIDEO of New York sit-in:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnbSGJx_f1w]

A grassroots mobilization for health care reform is underway that represents a groundswell of public sentiment in support of real health care reform Medicare for all. Sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience are occurring in cities across the country including New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Columbus, Los Angeles, St Louis, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Providence, Fort Lauderdale, and San Francisco. (Schedule of events listed by city is below.) The events are being coordinated by the group Mobilization for Health Care for All, which is not funding the actions but is helping individuals link into groups of people that want to participate in a growing movement that gives people an outlet for their frustration around insurance companies.

Today 37 were arrested, although 73 staged a sit-in or blockade and were not arrested due to the entire building being put on lockdown. Tomorrow, several dozen more risk arrest, including Margaret Flowers, MD, a former pediatrician and mother of three teenagers. (More information on Flowers is below.) A growing number of doctors and nurses are joining in the events to risk arrest for real health care reform, reform that addresses the main cause of the health care crisis, the insurance companies. They are demanding that health insurance companies immediately redirect all lobbying funds to pay for doctor-requested lifesaving treatments. 78 people have been arrested so far as part of the national mobilization (17 in the first week, 7 in the second, and 54 in the third). In this next wave, over 100 people will risk arrest. In the first two weeks actions took place in just two cities, New York and Chicago. In the second day of national action, actions took place in nine cities. This week, actions happen in 19 cities.

Mobilization for Health Care for All has seen almost 900 people sign up to risk arrest at a health insurance office in the past four weeks. The mobilization itself was launched on September 29 in response to a growing sentiment among Americans that something had to be done to call for meaningful health care reform. Participants with the mobilization represent a new, more extreme tactic employed in the health care debate, targeting the insurance companies and demanding that lobbying dollars be redirected to providing care for the hundreds of people denied doctor-requested lifesaving treatments every day by an insurance company.The campaign continues to grow.

"This will be one of the largest campaigns of nonviolent civil disobedience since the civil rights movement. We're seeing people coming out of the woodwork on this one," stated Kai Newkirk, national coordinator of Mobilization for Health Care for All."It's just beginning and will continue and build until we win and the insurance companies no longer stand between us and the care we need."

Chanting "patients not profits" and "insurance companies are killing us and killing democracy," with signs that say "insurance companies are the real death panels," participants in the sit-ins will walk into the offices and demand that insurance companies immediately route all the funding the currently pay for lobbyists to providing care to patients who need it. The participants will sit down and refuse to leave until their demands are met. Many of them expect to be arrested for trespassing, disturbing the peace, or another charge.

More info:Mobilization for Health Care for Allwww.MobilizeForHealthCare.orgView ourFacebook PageCheck us out onYouTubeFollow us onTwitter

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San Francisco, CA - About 40 people risked arrest at Blue Shield of California in San Francisco. Police put the building on lockdown rather than allowing people to come inside to state their demand that the company redirect all its funds that it currently pays for lobbying efforts and use it to pay for doctor-requested treatment for people with life-threatening conditions.

[View article about San Francisco blockade:http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/28/18627006.php]

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MOBILIZATION FOR HEALTH CARE FOR ALL: 10/28/2009

Contact: Lacy MacAuley, (202) 445-4692,lacy@massey-media.comKatie Robbins, Healthcare-NOW! (330) 618-6379,info@healthcare-now.org

Kai Newkirk, Mobilization for Health Care for All, (310) 703-3046,info@mobilizeforhealthcare.org

Kevin Zeese, Prosperity Agenda, (301) 995-6582,kzeese@earthlink.net

“Why I'm risking arrest for real health care reform,” Margaret Flowers, MD

A doctor who has testified before Congress tells why she is risking arrest at CareFirst tomorrow to demand health care reform.

Flowers intends to stay in police custody until CEO of CareFirst meets with her.

Sit-in at CareFirst insurance company

Thursday, 10/29, 12:00 PM

3401 Boston St &1501 S Clinton St, Canton Crossing, MD

Margaret Flowers, MD, will be sitting in with dozens of other health care reform supporters tomorrow at CareFirst insurance company and risking arrest for meaningful reform. The sit-in at CareFirst tomorrow is part of a grassroots groundswell of people calling for health care reform that is being supported by Mobilization for Health Care for All in which over 100 people are risking arrest at a health insurance office in the next week. Flowers participated in an act of civil disobedience for health care reform in May on Capitol Hill, which resulted in Ted Kennedy asking her to testify before the Senate Health Committee.

[View a VIDEO of Flowers just after her Congressional testimony.]

Here is Flowers' statement on why she is risking arrest.

"We must stop this abuse by private insurers. We are the only industrialized nation that allows health insurance companies to profit at the expense of human lives. There are at least 45,000 adults who die each year because they don't have health insurance and an estimated 110,000 preventable deaths each year in the US (the worst of any industrialized nation). We have a simple solution that will end this - expanded and improved Medicare for all. Our legislators know this but they lack the political will. We can create this political will through our actions.

I am planning to risk arrest, which may have serious consequences for me – up to six months in jail. But it won't be as serious as the suffering and needless deaths that too many face each day in this nation. I hope you will join me in our action in Baltimore on Thursday. If you can't risk arrest, at least you can stand in solidarity with us during the legal picket."

In peace and hope for a better future,

Margaret Flowers, MD

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More info:Mobilization for Health Care for Allwww.MobilizeForHealthCare.orgView ourFacebook PageCheck us out onYouTubeFollow us onTwitter

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SCHEDULE OF SIT-INS AT INSURANCE COMPANY OFFICES

Wednesday, October 28th:

Augusta, GA

When: 9:00AM

Where: Blue Shield

Joseph Elliot,josephelliott6@gmail.com, 843-469-0336

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-augusta.ning.com/

Columbus, OH

When: 11:30AM

Contact: Drew Smith,drewsmith86@gmail.com, 330-703-0556

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-ohio.ning.com

Glendale, CA

When: 10:00AM

Where: CIGNA

Contact: Laura Flanagan,leflanagan@hotmail.com, 305-542-3570

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-la.ning.com

Newark, NJ

When: 12:30PM

Where: Blue Cross Blue Shield

Contact: Carol Gay,carolgay747@aol.com, 732-616-1751

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-newark.ning.com

New York City, NY

When: 10:00AM

Where: Wellpoint insurance

Contact: Frances Anderson,msfrancesa@gmail.com, 917-609-6050

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-nyc.ning.com

Rochester, NY

When: Noon Where: MVP Insurance

Contact: Rebecca Elgie,healthylink@gmail.com, 607-272-0621

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-upstateny.ning.com/

San Francisco, CA

When: 7:30AM Where: Market St & Beale St

Contact: Dan Hodges,actforsinglepayer@gmail.com, 510-263-2409

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-bayarea.ning.com

Seattle, WA

When: TBA

Contact: Lila Z,pdx.lila@gmail.com, 503-267-0387

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-seattle.ning.com/

Sunrise, FL

When: 11:00AM

Where: CIGNA

Contact: Al Rogers,democrat.activist@gmail.com, 561-283-0299

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-florida.ning.com

Virginia Beach, VA

When: 11:00AM

Where: Anthem Blue Cross

Trudy Serrano,trudyserrano@live.com, 757-671-9345

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-vabeach.ning.com

Warwick, RI

When: 11:00AM Where: United Healthcare

Contact: Robert,robert@ripda.org, 401-497-7419

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-ri.ning.com

Thursday, October 29th:

Baltimore, MD

When: 12:00PM

Where: CareFirst

Contact: Kevin Zeese,kzeese@earthlink.net, (301) 995-6582

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-baltimore.ning.com

Louisville, KY

When: 10:00AM

Where: Humana insurance

Contact: Kay Tillow,nursenpo@aol.com, 917-621-7268

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-kentucky.ning.com/

Friday, October 30th:

Philadelphia, PA

When: Noon

Where: Anthem Blue Cross

Contact: Jeff Muckensturm, 267-515-2400,jeff@healthcare-now.org

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-pa.ning.com/

Tuesday, November3rd:

San Diego, CA

When: 10:00AM

Where: Blue Shield

Contact: Jerry Malamud,aabs@aol.com, 858-270-5562Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-sandiego.ning.com/

Wednesday, November 4th:

Albuquerque, NM

When: 10:30AM

Contact: Guy Watson,drguy0@gmail.com

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-abq.ning.com/

Atlanta, GA

When: 10:00AM

Where: Blue Cross Blue Shield

Contact: Denise Woodall,denisewoodallksu@yahoo.com

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-atlanta.ning.com/

Detroit, MI

When: 12:00pm

Where: Blue Cross

Contact: Precious Daniels,vincious1@hotmail.com; 313-361-4318

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-detroit.ning.com

Portland, OR

When: TBA

Contact: Jim Ferner,vjday153@hotmail.com, 503-231-0847

Link:http://mobilizeforhealthcare-oregon.ning.com

Author's Bio: Kevin Zeese is Executive Director of the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics (www.FreshAirCleanPolitics.net) whose projects include Voters for Peace (www.VotersForPeace.US., Prosperity Agenda (www.ProsperityAgenda.US), True Vote (www.TrueVote.US and www.TrueVoteMD.org) and Climate Security (www.GlobalClimateSecurity.org). He is also president of Common Sense for Drug Policy (www.csdp.org).

www.opednews.com/articles/115-arrested-so-far-in-18-by-Kevin-Zeese-091029-564.html

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