Minnesotans condemn UnitedHealth’s efforts to stop reform
By Barb Kucera, Workday editor
22 September 2009
MINNETONKA - When many Americans can’t afford basic health care, is one insurance company executive worth $744 million? That’s the question demonstrators asked Tuesday outside the headquarters of UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation’s largest insurers.
“We have a question for (United Health CEO) Stephen Hemsley,” said the Rev. Grant Stevensen. “How much is enough?”
Clearly the more than 150 protesters who converged at UnitedHealth’s posh Minnetonka corporate offices had enough of insurance company efforts to block Congressional action on health care. They joined thousands around the country in coordinated demonstrations under the theme, “Big Insurance: Sick of It.”
In Minnesota, protests were held at UnitedHealth in Minnetonka and OptumHealth in Duluth. Minnesotans also participated in a rally at the Blue Cross Blue Shield offices in Fargo, N.D.
“We need to shed light on the fact the insurance companies are profiting on our losses,” said Laura Askelin, president of the Southeast Area Labor Council in Rochester. “They’re making money off sick and dying people.”
Nurse Diane Johnson (center), the Rev. Grant Stevensen and labor leader Laura Askelin led marchers to the front door of UnitedHealth Group headquarters.
Profits grow while fewer are treated In 2008, UnitedHealth generated $75.4 billion in revenue from 70 million customers, while denying claims and raising premiums, according to an analysis by the organization sponsoring the protest, Health Care for America Now!
In 2008, Hemsley received $3.24 million in compensation and owns $744 million in unexercised stock options, the group said.
At the same time, UnitedHealth and other insurers are spending $641,000 a day to oppose health care legislation under debate in Congress, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
More than 46 million Americans — about 15 percent of the population — do not have health insurance. Millions more are finding they cannot afford the skyrocketing premiums.
A White House report released Tuesday showed the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health insurance rose to $13,375 this year – a 5.5 percent increase during a recession when inflation actually fell by 0.7 percent.
In Minnesota, premiums for family coverage increased at nearly three times the growth in wages.
“Working as a nurse for many many years, I have seen this escalate out of control – and it is greed,” said Diane Johnson, a registered nurse with 40 years of experience who took part in the demonstration at UnitedHealth.
Demonstrators included members of unions and many allied organizations, including Working America, ISAIAH and TakeAction Minnesota. Carrying green balloons marked with dollar signs, they hoped to enter UnitedHealth’s headquarters and ask Hemsley to sign a pledge that UnitedHealth Group:
• Not stand between a doctor and a patient when it comes to deciding what care that patient needs.
• Not deny coverage or raise rates for individuals or businesses based on a pre-existing medical condition and end arbitrary caps on payments for necessary medical care.
• Terminate any policy or incentive that rewards employees financially or otherwise for denying care and rejecting claims.
• Not use any resources – including funds, employees, and facilities — to lobby against and oppose any aspect of the health reform proposals supported by President Obama and being considered by Congress, including a national public health insurance option.
Demonstrators were met by locked doors and a staff member who accepted the document. So they staged a “die-in” on the plaza in front of the building.
'Billionaires' bewildered by protest While the tone was serious, two members of “Billionaires for Wealthcare” injected a note of levity. Mary Torgerson, an AFSCME Local 1842 member from Forest Lake, posed as “Mrs. Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.” and was joined by Roseville resident Toni Radmann, “Mrs. Charles Winchester III.”
“I don’t know what all this fuss is about health care,” Mrs. Osborne exclaimed. “If you have a problem, there’s Band-Aids and Advil.”
"Mrs. Chatsworth Osborne, Jr." and "Mrs. Charles Winchester III" are clearly perplexed when their entry to UnitedHealth's headquarters is barred by protesters taking part in a "die-in" to dramatize the fate of millions without health care. Mrs. Osborne advised them to get Band-Aids.
