(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
NEW YORK — The week of December 6th, all around the country, was a week of activism for serious health care reform. In New York City there were 3 substantial actions: Moveon.org held a rally in the heart of Times Square the evening of December 8th, Mobilization for Health Care for All had a demonstration and sit-in at Senator Charles Schumer’s office on December 10th, and Private Health Care Must Go had a demonstration at Grand Central Station on December 11th.
Moveon.org emphasized the extreme cost of delaying meaningful reform – the 45,000 Americans who die each year from lack of health insurance and the 2,457 Americans EACH DAY who are forced into bankruptcy by medical costs (the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.). Health Care reform with a strong public option would help cut costs and expand access to health care for millions.
The rally attracted people in the theater district who were either there to see a play, dine, or to shop and many tourists.
On the morning of December 10th about 50 people, organized by Mobilization for Health Care for All, gathered outside the office of Senator Schumer. This was one of 20 actions at senators offices in 16 states and Washington, D.C. Organizers said that the sit-ins and demonstrations would spotlight the “complete inadequacy” of both bills being considered by Congress.
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
December 10th is Human Rights Day, the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the demonstrators outside Schumer’s office made the point that health care is a human right.
For about 30 minutes people walked up and down the block chanting, “Medicare for All” and carrying signs. There was a heavy police presence. At a certain point the picketing stopped and some of those planning to sit-in told their stories. Bev Rice, a retired nurse said, “Throughout my career I’ve seen so many people suffer and die prematurely because insurance companies denied the care they needed. I have Medicare and it works.”
“I want a publicly funded health care system because my life should not be in the hands of insurance CEOs who profit from denying me care,” said Kate Barnhart. Her doctor ordered a brain scan for her in September but her insurance company has not approved it. “I have been paying $900 a month for my premium…last week my insurance company terminated my policy. Does my senator think this is O.K.?”
Dr. Laura Boylan, a neurologist, said, “It’s very simple: you take out the private middleman and what do you get? $400 billion worth of profits, CEO salaries, stock options, and administrative waste.”
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
Then 8 people linked arms, chanted “Medicare for All”, and stood in front of the doors to the building where Schumer has his office. The crowd chanted with them. After a few minutes they sat down, arms still linked. The police gave a warning and started making arrests. All those being arrested walked to the police vans. There was no resistance of any kind, either from those being arrested or from the crowd. Despite that, an officer was roughly shoving people that she perceived to be in the way. After the vans were loaded the officer was seen arresting a very senior demonstrator who had not participated in the sit-in. When I asked why I was told, by a demonstrator, that the officer alleged that the woman pushed her. The woman explained that she was trying to pass behind the officer and apologized profusely. The elderly woman was handcuffed and placed in the police van. The arrest appeared unnecessary and vindictive to the observers.
Andy Richards of the Coalition of the Uninsured and Underinsured for Single-Payer said, “While Obama was courting my vote he said…health care is a right. Does it sound like a right to you when people go without health care or pay so much for it that they go bankrupt? My senators need to do the right thing: stop accepting BRIBES from insurance companies and pass single-payer amendments in the Senate.”
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a single-payer amendment to the Senate leadership’s health bill that would replace the existing bill’s language with an improved Medicare-For- All plan. He also announced plans to introduce another measure that would permit individual states to experiment with their own single-payer programs.
Mobilization for Health Care for All said that they will urge support for Senator Sanders amendment. It is the only solution to the health care crisis in America. “We are not going to give up and accept the inadequate bills considered in Congress.”
The same day the arrests took place outside Schumer’s office, Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, wrote in his blog:
“The public option is dead, killed by a handful of senators from small states who are mostly bought off by Big Insurance or Big Pharma, or intimidated by these industries’ deep pockets and power to run political ads against them.”
