PA Health Care Workers, Small-Business Owners Challenge Insurance Industry to Stop Standing in the Way of Change, Call McCain’s Health Care Plan An Insurance Companies’ Dream
BLUE BELL, Pa
. – “The Road to American Health Care,” a national bus tour aimed at mobilizing voters around comprehensive health care reform within the first six months of the next administration, rolled into the Philadelphia area today to challenge insurance companies to stop standing in the way of efforts to make health care more affordable.
Standing outside of Aetna headquarters near Philadelphia, Pa. residents who are struggling with the rising cost of health care criticized Aetna and other insurance companies for making health coverage unaffordable for hard-working families – even as they post record profits.
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Health insurance premiums rose 87%
between 2000 and 2006, while wages only went up 19%. (Kaiser Family Foundation)
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The number of uninsured ballooned to 47 million
in 2006. (Census)
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The insurance industry netted over $15 billion in profits
in 2006, an increase of over one thousand percent in 5 years. (Click
here
for more info)
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In 2007, Aetna CEO Ronald Williams
got a pay raise of 16% -- up to $23,045,834
. (Company Proxy Statements for 2006 and 2007)
Natasha Maye, a Philadelphia health care worker who works full time providing care for elderly clients in their homes, said she cannot afford insurance: “Every day, my family struggles between making decisions of health care, food, shelter, school and paying bills.”
Unfortunately for Natasha and millions of other Americans struggling to keep up with rising costs, John McCain’s health care plan would leave them to fend for themselves against the insurance companies. McCain’s plan would:
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Discourage employers from providing coverage
for their employees by eliminating the existing tax break for health benefits;
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Give insurance companies free rein to refuse coverage
to people with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes, or cancer;
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Jeopardize quality
by letting insurance companies bypass states with patient protections.
The Road to American Health Care is sponsored by SEIU, the nation’s largest union of health care workers, as part of a sweeping campaign to elect a new President and Congress committed to fixing health care - and then make sure those newly elected leaders immediately pass comprehensive legislation that makes quality health care affordable for everyone. . The bus tour will travel across the country on its way to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, stopping in communities small and large to highlight real people who are struggling to keep up with rising health care costs.