Health Inaction Networks

More from the front lines of for-profit insurance’s ongoing propaganda war…

They’ve got pleasing colors and always make sure to spotlight smiling doctors or “regular folks.”  They sport enthusiastic phrases like, “Building Better Health Care” and “Let’s build on health care that is already working… until it works for everyone!”  They sport links to Facebook, ways to sign up for updates, and online tools to email your members of Congress.  They seem to be incredibly positive about health care.

They’re not.

Beyond the glossy exterior and the “can-do” vibe of the new for-profit insurance “grassroots” health care Web sites, their main objective is transparent:  kill the public health competitor.  I wrote about Wellpoint, which operates in California as Anthem Blue, where it was the only insurer who spent millions of dollars to advertise against the California push for universal coverage.  They’ve been telemarketing their members to push them against the public plan for months, all while they unapologetically refused to discontinue the profitable practice of rescissions, whereby the insurance plans of paying customers who have been diagnosed with expensive illnesses are canceled.  Now they’re up with a new Web site for the WellPoint Action Network, “a broad coalition of people from around the country who are working together to help make health care work better for all Americans.”  Note, in case you were confused – if you have corporate sponsorship and branding on your site, it’s probably not “grassroots.”  But the whole point of the site is not health care reform – it’s about opposing the creation of “a government-run health plan.”

You’re not going to find a lick of any other policy on the site.  The action, in this case, is about creating inaction in Congress.

I wrote about the site Get Health Reform Right, a similar “grassroots” attempt by private insurance to advocate for getting health reform “right” – “right” in this case means “with no public health insurance option to keep us honest.”  We’re running a campaign right now where you can email both their “Tell Your Story” line and, more importantly, to your member of Congress – to tell the one that you believe we SHOULD get health reform right, and to tell the other that letting private insurance protect their profits over people is not getting it right.

We’ve got their attention.  I was forwarded an email talking about, well, us:

FYI - Our coalition consumer website Get Health Reform Right has been seen by one of the opposition blogs and they are sending the site emails disagreeing with us ... its been a handful of emails, but we suspect it will continue and will probably been seen other places over the next few days.

Below I've posted the Blog from which it is emanating.

On the positive side, recruitments on our side have continued to grow with over nearly 100,000 no government-run program letters sent in the past week.

We'll obviously monitor closely and let you know if any additional activity occurs.

It’s signed by the Executive Vice President of the Association of Health Insurance Advisors.  I appreciate the capital B on Blog (even as I’m not certain how you can have “over nearly 100,000” letters.) But you have it from the horse’s mouth – this is all about a policy of “no government-run program”s.

And they’re pretending to be you to make the point.

TAKE ACTION:  Give them a piece of your mind.  Tell the health insurance industry to stop their misinformation campaign – and tell your Representative in the House that you support real health care reform!