| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Mar 9, 2010 4:04:57 PM ET |
Street theater, from the 'billionaires for wealthcare'
Health care activists spilled off of buses that traveled from DE, CT, MD, MN, VA, NJ, NC, NY, OH, PA, RI to be in Washington, DC. today.
They joined union members, health care supporters, politicians, progressive leaders and faith leaders, until there were several thousand of us packed into the Circle by the fountain.
HCAN's Richard Kirsch, SEIU's Anna Burger, and Howard Dean all spoke briefly, energizing the crowd and reminding us all why they were all out there: to hold the abusive health insurance industry accountable for its actions.
Health Care Protesters Face Off Against Insurance Lobbyists
Hundreds of protesters and labor activists descended upon the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington today to try to make things a little more difficult for the health insurance lobbyists and executives gathered inside.
The protest was organized by Health Care for America Now, a group that describes itself as being "fed up with skyrocketing premiums, denials of care and claims, and insurance companies spending tens of millions of dollars to kill or manipulate reform." The lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans was holding its annual policy conference at the hotel.
Protesters first gathered in nearby Dupont Circle, where former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean told them: "We deserve a vote! Are you for the insurance companies or are you for the American people?"
The enthusiastic crowd then marched seven blocks to the Ritz Carlton chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Insurance companies have got to go!" and staged a mass "citizens' arrest" of the insurance executives participating in the conference.
View Images Below:
The march to confront the insurance industry at AHIP's annual conference was quite a sight to see--the energy of the crowd was amazing; people were chanting reform jingles, and we shut down a number of streets between DuPont and Georgetown on our way to confront the insurance industry at the Ritz Carlton.
Comments are closed for this post.