Cross posted on Stand With Dr. Dean
The health insurance industry lobbyist AHIP will do anything, and spend any amount, to kill healthcare reform.
PLEASE FIGHT THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY BY WHIPPING THE PROGRESSIVES INTO TAKING THE PLEDGE
AND HERE IS THE FDL ACTION RECESS GUIDEBOOK-ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN ONE PLACE
Yesterday, Karen Ignagni, the CEO of AHIP, held a conference call. Afterwards she answered some questions. She came out strongly against co-ops. Yes, co-ops!
The other side of the debate was not as accommodating. In a conference call with reporters roughly an hour before the president convened his lunch, America's Health Insurance Plans' President and CEO Karen Ignagni said her group would likely not support a compromise proposal for the public option: The establishment of regional co-ops for insurance coverage.
"We have some co-ops already around the country and one has to wonder what would be the purpose of a co-op competing in certain markets where there are health care plans that are co-op models," Ignagni said. "We would be right back with the problems that have been identified not only by our community, but leading hospitals, major medical societies across the country, employers and a number of consumers."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I'm going to get to action items toward the end. So please skip to the bottom if you don't want to read about the health insurance lobby.
WE NEED YOU TO ATTEND TOWN HALL MEETINGS, CLICK HERE FOR ALL DETAILS OF UPCOMING EVENTS.
By word and deed, Ms. Ignagni the CEO of AHIP, doesn't understand why her industry is the most hated in America.
The AHIP playbook is to turn every insurance industry atrocity against the victim.
On retoractive cancellation of health insurance known as rescission, AHIP says, "it's rare."
And on the subject of the "rarity" of the evil practice of rescission, I urge you to read this this frightening piece which I discovered via a link on Paul Krugman's blog.
When New York Attorney General settled with Ingenix (a subsidiary or UnitedHealth) for defrauding consumers, AHIP, as usual, lashed out at AG Cuomo for protecting consumers.
WENDELL POTTER: "INSURANCE INDUSTRY HAS HIRED SCORES AND SCORES OF LOBBYISTS TO WORK ON THEIR BEHALF"
Now, let's take a quick look at the black world of for hire citizens thugs. I hope before too long, Wendell Potter will weigh in on the fake protestors and the lobbyists who sponsor these creeps.
Here's a quick education on a Washington outfit called the DCI Group. DCI is a big player in what you're seeing evolve across the country.
In 2002, DCI helped kill the Patients Bill of Rights. Now DCI is behind the phony protestors, and they're undoubtedly being funded by AHIP and others.
In 2002, the American Prospect reported that DCI had been hired by the Health Benefits Coalition, a trade association of for-profit HMOs trying to 'thwart congressional action on the patients' bill of rights.'" DCI has also worked for the tobacco industry, setting up fake "smokers' rights" groups to fight public health measures.
http://thinkprogress.org/...
One member of the Health Benefits Coalition was the American Association of Health Plans, now known as AHIP. So, take it to the bank, AHIP has a long track record of involvement with DCI.
On its web site, DCI boasts that it can easily put out a call and mobilize thugs on the ground to play citizen protestors.
Our national field organization is widely acknowledged as one of the most sophisticated and deepest networks within the public affairs industry. With experienced professionals in all fifty states, we are prepared to provide on-the-ground public relations, grassroots expertise and government affairs support with minimal notice. Among our field network’s greatest assets is its scalability: We can change targets, activate different regions and localities, and ramp activity levels up or down as necessary with no disruption to the overall campaign. DCI Group does not need to recruit new local professionals - we will provide you with a team tailored to your objectives that has a proven ability to deliver.
AND THE DCI "CITIZEN" MOBILIZATION PROGRAM
Policy issues are often decided in real-time. Critical legislative action or regulatory consideration can occur with minimal notice. DCI Group provides state-of-the-art direct contact programs that empower concerned constituencies to correspond with officials via phone, fax, mail and Internet-based communication platforms. Our decades of experience managing these programs for diverse clients enable us to recommend the exact combination of programs to achieve maximum impact.
DCI/AHIP/CPPR is an exquisitely tangled web, like a cancer it has tentacles into many nooks and cranies CPPR is led by Dr. Donald Palmisano, former president of the American Medical Association
And Coalition to protect Patients' Right is being handled by DCI.
So when AHIP says it's fighting for so-called market reform, this is horseshit. AHIP is fighting for two issues: to kill any competition (the public plan, and now we learn, even co-ops), and to require all Americans to buy their junk insurance. And it's use of "citizen" protestors enables the insurance industry to defect attention from its real goal, which is to maintain as much as possible of the status quo.
Paying to bring in fake protestors to gin up fake outrage, is right out of the Republican playbook. And for AHIP to fund such manufactured opposition is exactly what a lobbyist does in an epic battle.
Steny Hoyer is the one who fought on behalf of the Blue Dogs to delay the vote until after August. We should at the very least remind members victimized by this to thank a Blue Dog colleage for it.
Speaker Pelosi wanted to protect members from this shit.
That said, sure as night follows day, the insurance industry sponsored disruptions/thuggery were going to come no matter what.
If the House had passed a bill, and the Senate gotten further than it did, we would still be having these thugs out there threatening mob actions.
They're not there because the Congressional efforts got delayed. The organizers want them there to derail any effort to gather support for reforms, no matter what the reforms are, or how badly the reforms are misrepresented.
IMPORTANT ACTION:
WE NEED YOU TO ATTEND TOWN HALL MEETINGS, CLICK HERE FOR ALL DETAILS OF UPCOMING EVENTS
PLEASE KEEP UP THE HEAT ON JARED POLIS. HERE'S HIS SCHEDULE:
Here is the upcoming public schedule for Jared Polis, if you can attend, please do so. Please remidn him thathe campaigned as a progressive and politely ask him to take the Whip Count Pledge.
Friday, August 7th
Congress on Your Corner
Vic’s Coffee
1800 Broadway Street
Boulder, CO 80302
8:00 – 9:30 AM
Monday, August 17th
Congress on Your Corner
King Soopers Grocery Store
3600 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Wednesday, August 19th
Eagle County Town Hall
Singletree Community Center
1010 Berry Creek Road
Edwards, CO 81632
4:30 – 5:30 PM
Saturday, August 22nd
Mobile Office Hours at Housing Fair
Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center
11151 Colorado Boulevard
Thornton, CO 80233
10:30 – 11:30 AM
Wednesday, September 2nd
Congress on Your Corner
Boulder Farmers Market
Next to Central Park on 13th Street between Canyon Boulevard and Arapahoe
Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
5:30 – 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 3rd
Congress on Your Corner
Lafayette Farmers Market
South Public Road and West Chester
Lafayette, CO 80026
5:30 - 7:00 PM
HERE IS THE FDL ACTION RECESS GUIDEBOOK-ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN ONE PLACE
PLEASE CONTINUE TO WHIP THE PROGRESSIVES INTO TAKING THE PLEDGE
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PLEASE DONATE:
And please help us continue this for the American people and against the FAKE PROTESTORS, the insurance industry lobby and its August campaign of fear.
Lobbyists and wealthy Republican donors are spending $1.4 million a day to insure that healthcare reform dies. We rely on your generosity.
And then take a look at this!
https://secure.firedoglake.com/...