United Healthcare Urges Employees To Lobby Senators

The nation's largest health insurance company is recruiting its employees in a grassroots lobbying campaign against health care reform, according to the group Consumer Watchdog.

United Healthcare, sent an e-mail to its 75,000 employees Tuesday featuring template letters for employees to send to senators, calling on them to resist a publicly-financed health care option and instructing them to "share their unique perspectives" and write letters to their local newspapers.

Consumer Watchdog reported that the letters said:

"It is important that we, as members of the health care industry and as individuals, make our voices heard on this important issue. Therefore, we encourage you to actively participate in this debate as both industry voices as well as individuals. Please take action by writing a letter to your elected officials in Washington."

United Healthcare offered this bit of advice for employees looking to pen letters to the editor to their local newspaper:

Don't write every week. Many newspapers have rules limiting the number of letter writers to a few appearances each year, and you will wear out your welcome if you write too frequently.

The e-mail explicitly states that employee participation in the lobbying effort is voluntary, but also urges employees to "share a copy (of their letters) with us." It isn't the first time United Healthcare has asked its employees to become politically engaged -- it also attempted to rally employees around the anti-health care reform cause in September, according to Consumer Watchdog.

Major health insurers WellPointe and Cigna have also sent e-mails to employees urging them to contact lawmakers and express their concern about health care reform.

Comments

[FrankN]

My insurance company Oxford is merging with United. Today I learned how two-faced the company is. I asked about their lobbying efforts by phone. I asked where I could learn more about their lobbying. I was directed to a company web site with no useful information. Your article and Keith Olbermann's expose provided a good overview of what Oxford/United won't disclose to their customers.

[Levonsky]

Insurance companies are terrorist organizations.
They prey on fear. Fear of getting sick. Fear of dying. Fear of having an accident.
If I had my way I would dump my insurance companies but I am forced to have it.

[troset]

Beware of this ad all over TV right now, making it easy to have your voice heard. It is twisted -- http://www.healthcarevote.com/

It used to just come over robo-calls in Texas, now it’s on a part of a show about charities and who's who in giving this Sunday morning on NBC. UGH!

[humanbeing-rick]

Just because one works for an employer does not mean they have to support their employers political viewpoints. This coercion of their employees to support their political cause is part of the new corporate communism overtaking America. The corporate communists think that government is by and for the corporations, not the people.
United HealthCare leadership are communists, and must be expunged.

[gnomic]

Many companies do this, but they don't check to see if employees do this. It is fair game, even if I disagree with their point.

You want to solve this problem? Companies are not entitled to free speech under the constitution. The law gives them this right and can be taken away. Change the law to prohibit companies to provide cash to any government official, even through intermediaries. Also make any request to any public official even through intermediaries, a matter of public record. On the flip side, make any public official that benefits from a 3rd party pay fair value for the benefits and have the value set by an independent 3rd party.

Problem resolved.

[NoMoreBail2]

We, the American people, dug ourselves into this hold for which there is no escape.a

hat tip to: http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

[mediamarv]

Just like ATT does...

[DFL]

Remember a few months ago there was some company doing this then at the end they cut their own people's healthcare benifits! -these people are being fooled into protecting the rich people's profits and behind closed doors I bet those rich people are laughing their heads off!

[blueken]

This is how tiny minorities dominate the political landscape. They mobilize and energize a small base to appear larger than they are. The vast majority sit back and do nothing. Meanwhile, same old, same old. If enough people say "Everybody is happy" than politicians think everybody is happy.

[RJII]

aren't the employees already Teabaggers?

[maxhardon]

seize the insurance companies. take back the money they have stolen. distribute it back to the rightful owners.

[maxhardon]

get the ceos all together in one heap. get a rope.

[maxhardon]

turn the insurance companies upside down and shake until every penny they have falls out.

[maxhardon]

time to nail these insurance companies, make them whine, make them scream put the hurt on, make them reduce thier profit estimate.

[mogens]

This must be an argument to support the reform.