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October 29, 2009

Group: 37 Arrested at Insurance Sit-Ins Nationwide
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Healthcare activists around the country, meanwhile, staged a national
day of sit-ins at insurance companies Wednesday to demand public
universal healthcare. The groups Mobilization for Health Care for All
and Healthcare-NOW! say at least thirty-seven people were arrested
nationwide. More than 115 people have been arrested since the first
sit-ins were held last month. Here in New York, nine people were
arrested at the offices of Well Point insurance.

Protester: “I’m here because, at the moment, the private insurance
companies are controlling the outcome of healthcare reform in this
country by contributing millions of dollars in lobbying efforts to our
elected officials. The private insurance companies are the real death
panels. We want a system that covers all Americans and cuts costs, and
that system is Medicare for all.”

Other protest sites included New Jersey, where seven people were
arrested after blocking the Newark offices of Horizon Blue Cross Blue
Shield. In Florida, two people were arrested outside the Sunrise offices
of CIGNA. Seven were arrested outside CIGNA’s offices in Glendale,
California. In Seattle, eight people were arrested at the offices of
Regence Blue Shield. And in San Francisco, more than thirty people took
part in a blockade of the offices of United Health and Blue Shield of
California. No arrests were made. More sit-ins are scheduled to continue
today.



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