Big Demo at Blue Shield
Healthcare Yes! Insurance Companies No!
One Care Now is a single payer advocacy group that has been holding events every day for a year in a different California city or town. August 8th was San Francisco's turn. Gray Panthers, Senior Action Network, California Universal Health Care Organizing Project, unions, supervisors, state representatives and just plain folks turned out in droves in front of Blue Shield to demand an end to insurance company ripoffs. Blue Shield is responsible for 50% of the complaints to the state from people denied services—not getting the healthcare they were promised.
For balance, the demonstrators gave the other side, the insurance companies, a voice too. Gray Panther Michael Lyon portrayed Blue Shield CEO Bruce Bodaken, who arrived in a big wooden Trojan horse, symbolizing the Governor's healthcare plan (proposed by Bodaken). The forces of light, single payer advocates, of course totally vanquished the forces of darkness, insurance companies, battering Lyon/Bodaken both literally and figuratively.
See the SF Gray Panthers web page on the Blue Shield demonstation with pictures and a video of Cynthia Campbell, a nurse of 30 years, who has cancer and cannot get insurance anywhere.