Random Acts of Insurance Cruelty: So Yes, Sign This Petition
I just heard a story that you need to hear too: A few years ago, Melanie Shouse was living the American dream when she transformed an old Dominos storefront into an expansion of her home business. But just as the store was opening, Melanie was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and given months to live.
Melanie had insurance, and she went straight to the experts at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Working with the world-renowned doctors there, she’s beaten the odds and stayed healthy for years. But now her insurance company, a subsidiary of WellPoint, is refusing to pay for the medication her doctors recommend.
So Melanie got mad. And last week Melanie went to WellPoint’s local office in St. Louis to confront CEO Angela Braly – who makes almost $10 million a year in salary and stock benefits, but defends dropping people like Melanie’s insurance when they get sick.
Braly refused to meet with Melanie, but next week she’ll be in Washington, D.C. for a convention of the biggest insurance company executives in America. This conference is the best chance for people like Melanie to confront the insurance company CEOs who denied them care.
True Majority, which was founded by Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, is a grassroots education and advocacy joint project of UsAction and UsAction Education Fund. It is asking all of us to sign a petition to back up Melanie and people like her.
Then CALL OR EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSPERSON. Tell them to cut out the insurers, so that what we pay for is medicine, not some middleman who takes our money and denies us the “coverage” we thought we were getting all along. (Gee, doesn’t this sound like “public option”? Maybe that’s an idea that should be back ON the table, now that we know that the insurers and that fat cat CEOs aren’t giving an inch…)
Speaking of a REAL public option, how about this fabulous ad, from MoveOn.org? It stars singleista Heather Graham. If you can spare a few sheckels now to help get it on the air, you may save a few on your insurance fees next years — especially if the public option passes., which is STILL up in the air. Such a shame!
Hey, when you do, comment below about it. We love giving shout-outs to our members who take action seriously.
If you don’t get involved, we can’t change our healthcare system,
Relationship Channel Editor – SingleMindedWomen.com
OTHER SMW ARTICLES ON HEALTHCARE COSTS AND TRENDS:
SMW Discount Healthcare Programs
Red State Single Women: Support Single Payer Healthcare, or Stay Virgins
Sheila Kuehl Makes Another Strong Argument for Universal Healthcare
Prescription Pain: Your Health, and Your Money
Keith Olbermann: Follows the Money in Healthcare Hangups
Household Income—And Health Outcomes
Bill Moyers: How Insurers Keep Single Women from Healthcare
Joe Lieberman: Single Women Want YOUR Healthcare Plan
Healthcare Reform: Real People, Real Issues, Discussed by Silicon Valley Moms Group
