As the Senate prepares to vote on health care reform, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina sent its enrollees a mass mailing on Wednesday asking them to oppose health care reform by sending a pre-paid postcard to Senator Kay Hagan, a Democrat and supporter.
The cover of the mailing asks:
Public Option?Government Cooperatives?
Community Plan?
Single Payer?
No matter what you call it, if the federal government intervenes in the private health insurance market, it's a slippery slope to a single-payer system.
Who wants that?
The pictures show the outside of the mailer and the inside of the mailer with the detachable postcard.
The mailing was followed by a robocall in the mid-afternoon from Dean Phillips of BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina urging the enrollees to contact Hagan about "the vitally important issue for our state and nation."
Listen below:
BCBSNC's reform website also makes it possible for its website viewers to send an e-mail or a printed letter to members of Congress with the click of a mouse that will state: Congress should make sure that everyone can keep their current coverage and provide financial help to those who cannot afford coverage. That's the best way to cover more Americans and ensure everyone has access to affordable health care."
tdavis@seanc.org
SEANC, SEIU Local 2008 Launches www.stopbcbs.com
Urges North Carolinians to Petition Sen. Kay Hagan in Support of a Public Option
RALEIGH — The State Employees Association of North Carolina unveiled a new Web site, www.stopbcbs.com, during a press conference today. The Web site is in response to numerous complaints from state employees who received postcards from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C. to send to Sen. Kay Hagan designed to keep their monopoly.
“People want affordability and choice in their health insurance; Blue Cross wants to keep their monopoly,” said SEANC Executive Director Dana Cope. He added that the “non-profit” insurer is spending thousands of dollars to keep competition at bay. Blue Cross sent out the mailings while at the same time notifying its customers of double-digit rate increases.
Through www.stopbcbs.com, SEANC is calling on Blue Cross to stop using health care dollars to fund their political machine and protect their bottom line. Citizens are urged to contact Sen. Kay Hagan and voice their support of a public health insurance option.
Currently, Blue Cross a 72.5 percent market share* in North Carolina and all the State Health Plan business.
State employees have made support for federal and state legislation to provide access to quality and affordable health care for all U.S. citizens a plank of SEANC’s Policy Platform Objectives. SEANC, SEIU Local 2008 is the South’s leading state employees’ association 55,000 members strong.
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My modified version is going out in the mail today.
Seems like there's nothing new under the sun...!
Nice use of BCBS's $$$.
It's a good sign though. The fact that they are trying to make me their lobbyist says the high priced lobbying dudes and dudettes aren't able to buy the influence they need, and apparently they can't buy enough of the Senate and house directly to insure (sic) their position.
BCBSNC had to establish a phone number to handle all the complaints about the mailing.
My questions are: How much does Mr. Phillips make a year? How much do the top ten employees at BC/BC of NC make? What was their profit last year? and how much did they pay to mail out these mailers? the post card has prepaid postage on it too! I'm assuming they used my premiums to pay for the mailers. Someone stop the madness.
Now I read that in one state BCBS executives are getting fraudulent bonuses; in another state they try repeatedly to get huge [17%] raises in premiums, in other states BCBS is a virtual monopoly...and now in NC they are using HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS to pay for lobbying efforts on behalf of the corporate view - more monopolies, executive bonuses and continued exemptions from anti-trust law - instead of using this money for (1) administrative costs and (b) for HEALTH CARE.
And for gods sake isn't 30% administrative costs - and a 400 % increase in profits over the last decade ENOUGH for them? Time to take a breather on the greed, BCBS.
The use by BCS of health care premium money for blatant lobbying is the very best argument for the public option and I hope many North Carolinians realize this, get angry and write in their views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggiELC3jAyo
Blue Cross Blues
Anyway, the fact that they called me back was a sign that they know they are under pressure. I would suggest everybody with health insurance reading this post to please call your insurer to tell them that you do not want your premiums to lobby against health care reform.
instead they put more emphasis on lining the executives with bonuses based on the number of surgeries they refuse to pay for.
They insist that they know more about doctors and surgeons who actually see the patients and there test results!!
I suppose I will end up in a wheelchair and one welfare because they denied my surgery the day before it was scheduled.
My family doctor, the surgeon decided i needed surgery, the plant doctor where I work said this was the most negligent thing he has seen in 27 years of his practice. Note the plant doctor is known across the country and always called to conferences to speak!
Go ahead, regulate Blue Cross Blue shield and Anthem
The photos didn't load, so I wanted to sheare what the postcard said. The detachable postcard reads:
Senator Hagan,
Please oppose government-run health insurance. We can meet our health care challenges without the government unfairly competing with the private sector. Tell Senate leaders that North Carolina doesn't need government-run insurance.
Signed,
___________
http://bit.ly/4qAMMM (DU) (with Pics)
Photos here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/26/797142/-Blue-Cross-NC-Sent-Out-Anti-HC-Reform-Postcards-For-Use-With-Sen.-Hagan,-So-I-Crossed-Out...
Our state is in dire financial distress... even teachers are being laid off. North Carolina would be much better off if we had Medicare for All, just eliminating the overhead of state employees' health insurance through BCBS would be a tremendous savings for the State...
Dont you think teachers jobs should come before the Health insurance Cartel's bottom line?
Also, because their level of suffering is so high; the Rednecks are very susceptible to the spin & confusing rhetoric from the GOP & Insurance companies ... If they had the opportunity to buy into Medicare (which they understand because grandma loves it) you would be their darlin'.
A two part solution for fixing health care would make reform simple, straight forward, and save hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
A pure public option, with government sales tax funding, replacing insurance, along with distributing all government funded care only through government owned and operated hospitals, staffed by government employed doctors and health care providers, using VA systems, is the best solution for fixing half of the health care problem.
The second half of the solution is to have a pure private option, with private insurance and only private funding, paying for care and medications dispenssed by private providers, that would not be subjected to any government mandates.
Nobody can collect the money to pay for health care as cheaply as the government can through a national sales tax, and nobody can deliver high quality care and medications as cost effectively as the VA.
President Obama commented that “governments unfair advantages” would not be allowed to disrupt private health care’s businesses, however a CBO study to compare all proposed reforms, to a dual public/private plan, would scream that “governmments unfair advantages” offer the only solutions to save lives and prevent bankrupting families, employers, and our country.
Everyone choosing public care could have it no restrictions, no insurance, no co pays, free period.
Employers who select federal public care for their employees would not be required to pay for or have any further involvement with health care.