tagged w/ sam pullen
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Sam Pullen arrested for at a healthcare sit-in, was released Monday after being jailed for 5 days. He tells Amy Goodman his story on Democracy Now. He was released against his will. He was released unconditionally without bail, charges dropped, signifying a victory for his organization Mobilize for Healthcare at http://mobilizeforhealthcare.org.
Sam, as many of us including most doctors and healthcare professionals, continues to fight for universal healthcare for all. The public option which some see as an insurance industry bailout, is not good enough.Sam Pullen arrested for at a healthcare sit-in, was released Monday after being jailed... more
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The following is a statement from Sam Pullen as reported by by Lacy MacAuley of Indie Media.
"My name is Sam Pullen and I will be coordinating the sit-in in Los Angeles on October 15. I am willing to risk getting arrested because I have been personally affected by the Blue Cross insurance company's policies that place profits before patients.
The most traumatic struggle my family has ever gone through was when my mother was sick with multiple myeloma cancer during my teenage years. Although she was covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance, her doctors doctors at the Mayo Clinic told her that her only option for a remission was to undergo a bone marrow transplant- a highly risky procedure. I still remember gathering around our dining room table for a family meeting where my mother explained that if the transplant wasn't successful, she may get sick and die within a few months. She was prepared to risk it in order to have a few more years with her children and husband. Yet she asked us if we were ready to risk losing her if things didn't go well. After an emotional discussion, we made the decision together that we would support her having a bone marrow transplant, no matter what the outcome.
Then Blue Cross denied coverage for the treatment her doctors had recommended. My mom then had to take up the fight for her life with her insurance company. Instead of focusing her energy on preparing for the transplant and healing, she had to battle with a bureaucracy that cared only about profits. She made phone calls, wrote letters, and finally met with an insurance company representative and asked him what he would do if he were the one sick with cancer. She wouldn't leave until Blue Cross agreed to cover her bone marrow transplant.
My mother's bone marrow transplant was successful, and during her remission I shared the most meaningful years I can remember with my Mom. Yet after a five-year battle with cancer, my mother died at age 45 when I was 18 years old.
On October 15, I will honor my mother's spirit by engaging in a sit-in in Los Angeles with a group of courageous individuals who are fed up with the the state of our health system and the greedy insurance companies that care more about money than people. We will demand that insurance companies immediately grant approval for treatment of all their members with life-threatening conditions.
We will be part of one of the largest campaigns of civil disobedience since the civil rights movement. Generations of Americans have fought to obtain health care as a guaranteed right for all, and we are determined to win victory at last. Over 1000 people from every major city will be arrested if insurance companies refuse to meet our demands. We will not back down until profit-driven insurance corporations no longer stand between the American people and the health care they deserve!"
By Sam Pullen
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Good luck to same and those who remain in jail for protesting the corrupt government backed corporate welfare state of the health insurance industry, an industry that cannot compete in the open market without government welfare in the form of anti-trust and special legislation. The health insurance industry spends $2 million per day lobbying Congress. They are known to have a strong hand in writing the current public option plan in Congress.
Protesters like Sam, and the doctors on hand at that rally continue to support a single payer system (medicare for all - universal healthcare). As public health care nurse Maureen Cruise states (http://current.com/items/91210625_l-a-arrests-single-payer-is-not-off-the-table.htm) single payer is NOT off the table, as Pelosi stated to the world. It's the people's table.
More sit-in actions are planned and will continue until a universal health care system for all, without the for-profit insurance industry, is in place.The following is a statement from Sam Pullen as reported by by Lacy MacAuley of Indie... more
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Washington DC – Chanting “patients not profits,” citizens and health care providers held rallies and sit-ins at health insurance company offices in New York, Washington, Phoenix, Palm Beach, Portland, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Reno. (Full list of cities and arrests below.) 54 were arrested to support an end to insurance abuse and win health care for all. 14 arrested in New York have not yet been released. Sam Pullen, 31, arrested in Los Angeles is refusing to give information to police, vowing to stay in jail until Blue Cross, where he protested yesterday, stops denying care to those who need it most. Another round of sit-ins and rallies is planned for Wednesday, October 28.
Pullen was inspired to action by his mother, who was denied coverage for a lifesaving bone marrow transplant by Blue Cross when he was a teenager. Weakened by her cancer treatments, Pullen’s mother staged a one-woman sit-in at the insurance company office, resulting in the approval of the transplant that extended her life for years. Thanks to the transplant, she lived long enough to see Pullen reach 18 years of age.
“I am honoring my mother’s sprit by refusing to leave custody until Blue Cross ceases its practice of denying doctor-requested treatments for patients with life-threatening conditions,” said Pullen, who is being supported by Mobilization for Health Care for All and other groups. “We will not back down until profit-driven insurance companies no longer stand between the American people and the health care they deserve!”
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The above was copied from the Mobilize for Health Care website, which updates the article daily. Sam Pullen organized the Los Angeles financial district sit-in at the Anthem Blue Cross offices. 12 were arrested there as seen here: http://current.com/items/91210625_single-payer-is-not-off-the-table.htm.
Rallies and more such protest actions are planned for future events and will continue, not until a public option is passed, but until a universal fair affordable health care system is agreed upon, a system such as medicare for all or a single payer system. A silent rage has been awakened in Americans across the country and this will only escalate as the right and the insurance industry push back.
Pelosi has stated that single payer is off the table. But the doctors, health care professionals and other activists who continue to stand up for universal health care will not acknowledge Pelosi's statement. Single payer is not off the table. It's the people's table, not Congress'.
Good luck to Sam and the other American heroes who remain in jail to protest our corrupt monopolistic socialized corporate welfare state insurance industry that preys upon all Americans for it's very survival.Washington DC – Chanting “patients not profits,” citizens and health... more
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