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people s action
Top Progressive Groups Launch Massive Grassroots Mobilization for Harris
"Our coalition was critical to defeating Trump in 2020," said one organizer. "We're ready to do it again in 2024."
Jul 25, 2024
Announcing their endorsement of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, three of the country's largest progressive organizations announced Thursday their plan to mobilize their hundreds of thousands of members to reach out to millions of swing state voters about Harris' fight for abortion rights, the climate, and democracy.
The Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPD), the Working Families Party (WFP), and People's Action pledged to knock on more than five million doors in states including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, where they will tell voters about the key role Harris played in passing far-reaching climate action and jobs legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act, her strong support for abortion rights, and her commitment to delivering on President Joe Biden's housing agenda.
"Our coalition was critical to defeating [Republican presidential nominee Donald] Trump in 2020. We're ready to do it again in 2024," said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party. "This election is bigger than any one person. It’s about the kind of country we want to be and whether we will let the rights and freedoms our ancestors spent generations fighting for—the right to participate equally in our democracy, to organize our workplaces, and to control our own bodies—be taken away from us. Over the next four months, we'll be mobilizing voters in key states to elect Kamala Harris and build our ranks of WFP champions up and down the ballot."
The three groups' joint announcement of their endorsement of Harris comes four days after the vice president launched her campaign following Biden's decision to step aside under pressure from Democrats, due to concerns about his age, health, and sinking popularity among voters.
Since Sunday, the gun violence prevention group March for Our Lives has also announced its first-ever presidential endorsement of Harris, and the vice president has secured support from at least four national climate action groups.
"The Biden/Harris administration created real momentum toward an economy that puts working people before billionaires and a democracy that protects hard-won freedoms for everyone. We need to build on that momentum."
"We see an unprecedented surge of enthusiasm on the doors and from our members about Vice President Kamala Harris," said Marta Popadiak, movement governing director of People's Action. "The Biden/Harris administration created real momentum toward an economy that puts working people before billionaires and a democracy that protects hard-won freedoms for everyone. We need to build on that momentum."
People's Action has utilized "deep canvassing," an organizing tactic that eschews the brief, scripted conversations typical in traditional phone-banking and door-knocking operations in favor of longer discussions and open-ended questions aimed at developing an understanding of voters' beliefs, priorities, and values.
"We are mobilizing tens of thousands of volunteers to have deep conversations about why voting for Harris is a vote for a future in which our families and communities will thrive," said Popadiak.
People's Action expressed hope that a Harris presidency could initiate a shift in the Biden administration's "disastrous support" for Israel.
DaMareo Cooper and Analilia Mejia, co-executive directors of CPD, called on progressives to "rally behind Vice President Harris to build upon" the achievements of the Biden administration, including strengthening the U.S. economy following the coronavirus pandemic and canceling student debt for nearly one million Americans.
"Vice President Kamala Harris is a strong candidate who will beat Donald Trump, preserve our democracy, and drive our country forward," said Cooper and Meija.
The WFP noted that 95% of its members and delegates voted this week to endorse Harris as the Democratic nominee, and said the organization plans to knock on two million doors in key states including North Carolina and Georgia.
The organizing push is kicking off as Sen. JD Vance (D-Ohio), the Republican vice presidential nominee, faces blistering criticism for comments he made in 2021 in which he described Harris and other Democratic leaders as "childless cat ladies," and for his support for a nationwide abortion ban and call to track people who cross state lines to obtain abortion care. On Wednesday, the Harris campaign warned voters about Trump's promise to oil tycoons that he would ensure they can continue drilling for planet-heating fossil fuels if they gave him $1 billion in campaign donations.
Nic O'Rourke, a member of the Philadelphia City Council who represents the WFP, said that a Harris victory in November would ensure "the best conditions possible for activists as they join with and empower their communities" to fight for economic, racial, climate, and reproductive justice.
Unlike Harris', said O'Rourke, "the GOP's vision for America doesn't hold space for the righteous demands of the constituents I serve and the people I come from."
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UnitedHealth Reports $7.9 Billion in Q2 Profits After Protesters Arrested
"Health insurance coverage has expanded in America, but we are finding it is private health insurance corporations themselves that are often the largest barrier for people," said one organizer.
Jul 16, 2024
A day after 150 people assembled outside the headquarters of UnitedHealth Group to demand the for-profit health insurance giant stop its "systemic" denial of coverage, the company announced Tuesday the huge profits it raked in over the second quarter of 2024: $7.9 billion.
The sum, said one organizer, exemplifies why the demonstrators were willing to risk arrest to speak out against the firm's practices.
"UnitedHealth Group's $7.9 billion quarterly profit announcement is the result of a business model built on pocketing premiums and billions of dollars in public funds, then profiting by refusing to authorize or pay for care," said Aija Nemer-Aanerud, Health Care for All campaign director for People's Action Institute. "People should not have to turn to public petitions or direct actions to get UnitedHealthcare to pay for the care they need to live. That makes no sense, unless you're a shareholder or executive eyeing your next big luxury purchase."
Eleven people were detained by police at Monday's demonstration, where they blocked the street in front of UnitedHealth's headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota, displaying signs that read, "United (Denies) Healthcare" and "The Price Is Wrong."
The demonstration was organized by the Care Over Cost campaign at People's Action Institute, which has worked to help people across the country overturn care denials by UnitedHealth and other for-profit insurance giants.
Gina Morin of Auburn, Maine spoke at the event about having her mental health treatment denied by her Medicare Advantage plan administered by UnitedHealth.
"Two years ago my therapist was denied payment for seven of my mental health sessions she provided," she said. "I tried to pay her even though I'm on a limited income and she wouldn't take the money. If my provider, in her professional opinion, believed I needed those therapy sessions, who is UnitedHealth to deny coverage?"
As Common Dreams reported last month, UnitedHealth was named in a letter written by 52 members of the Democratic caucus in Congress as one of the healthcare companies that use artificial intelligence to decide via algorithm that coverage should be provided or denied to patients who have Medicare Advantage plans, which are billed as offering coverage that traditional Medicare doesn't include.
ProPublicareported last year on Christopher Naughton, a man with ulcerative colitis whose treatment cost $2 million per year, leading UnitedHealth to flag his account as "high dollar." The company contracted with a doctor to review Naughton's case, and the doctor found the treatment for symptoms including arthritis, debilitating diarrhea, and blood clots was "not medically necessary."
After suing the company, Naughton's family found UnitedHealth had lied about what Naughton's personal physician told the contractor in order to come to their conclusion and end coverage.
"Health insurance coverage has expanded in America, but we are finding it is private health insurance corporations themselves that are often the largest barrier for people to receive the care they and their doctor agree they need," Nemer-Aanerud toldCBS News Monday.
In April, People's Action sent a letter to UnitedHealth noting that its CEO was paid nearly $10 million in 2022 while the CEO of its parent company "extracted over $90 million in executive and board pay for himself" over four years.
The company took $22.4 billion in profits in 2023 and sent $14.8 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends—yet continues to deny necessary healthcare coverage to its members.
The group called on UnitedHealth to:
- Stop denying claims and overturn any existing denials for treatments recommended by medical professionals;
- Immediately cease the practice of using artificial intelligence and algorithms to initiate claims denials in bulk; and
- Execute a publicly shared audit and reimburse federal and state governments for the public money diverted by claim and prior-authorization denials within Medicaid (Managed Care), and Medicare (Medicare Advantage), among other demands.
"We will never stop fighting for a world where everyone gets the care they need, no matter their race, gender, or background," said People's Action. "When greedy corporations deny our care, we organize."
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Campaigners Beat 'Greedy' Insurance Giants Exploiting Medicare Advantage
"The private insurance industry is used to getting its way, but this year we out-organized them," said one People's Action leader.
Apr 02, 2024
As insurance companies' stock fell 6-12% on Tuesday in response to the Biden administration's Medicare Advantage announcement, one healthcare campaigner celebrated that the U.S. government didn't cave to the "greedy" industry's pressure.
"The private insurance industry is used to getting its way, but this year we out-organized them," declared Aija Nemer-Aanerud, the People's Action Health Care for All campaign director.
Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are an alternative to traditional coverage under the federal health insurance program for people with disabilities and those age 65 or older. They are administered by private insurance companies known for denying patients necessary care and overcharging the government, which costs taxpayers up to $140 billion extra each year.
"We urge President Biden to do more to rein in abuse of the Medicare program by private corporations."
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday that "payments from the government to MA plans are expected to increase on average by 3.7%, or over $16 billion, from 2024 to 2025. The federal government is projected to pay between $500 and $600 billion in Medicare Advantage payments to private health plans in 2025."
First unveiled in January, the 3.7% is higher than what campaigners wanted. Last week, Alex Lawson of Social Security Works and Brittany Shannahan of Public Citizen delivered to the White House around 28,000 petition signatures urging President Joe Biden to "reduce MA rates to a level commensurate with traditional Medicare and recoup all overpayments."
However, the rate is also far less than what insurers and industry groups were demanding—and, as Reutersnoted Tuesday, the decision was a departure from the norm, as CMS "typically raises the final reimbursement from the advanced notice."
"Medicare is one of the most popular government programs because it delivers healthcare to people when and where they need it," said Nemer-Aanerud. "Private insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare spent millions in advertising and lobbying in Washington to demand more of our public money for privatized, so-called 'Medicare Advantage' plans."
The People's Action leader pointed out that "we countered their lobbying by helping people share their stories with lawmakers about how Medicare Advantage plans harmed them by denying care when they needed it most."
"We commend the Biden administration for listening to our people and refusing to cave to the insurance lobby's demands," the campaigner added. "We urge President Biden to do more to rein in abuse of the Medicare program by private corporations and reinvest public funds into expanding and strengthening traditional Medicare."
As private insurers have grown their MA businesses, "concerns about the cost of the program have been rising for years from wonkier corners of Washington," Bloomberg's John Tozzi reported Tuesday. According to his newsletter:
"We went years without the advocacy community really paying attention to it," says Wendell Potter, who left a career doing public relations for health insurers to become an outspoken critic of the industry.
That shifted over the last year or two, he said, as a loose group of advocates coalesced around the issue... Potter said advocates now get face-to-face meetings with top Biden administration officials about the issue.
Potter partnered with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)—a leader in the fight for Medicare for All, a single-payer healthcare system that would cover everyone nationwide—for a Newsweek op-ed published just before the CMS announcement.
The pair took aim at the insurance industry's "disinformation campaign" about what they call "Medicare (Dis)Advantage."
"First off, the industry claims that Medicare Advantage plans reduce costs. But this is simply not true," Potter and Jayapal explained. "And it gets worse. While Big Insurance touts the coverage Medicare Advantage plans provide, the reality is Medicare Advantage plans often provide worse coverage than traditional Medicare."
They wrote that "another important characteristic of Medicare Advantage plans is their aggressive use of tools to delay and deny care such as prior authorization, which is seldom used in traditional Medicare, and rarely for services like physician-administered cancer treatments (no one wants chemotherapy if they don't need it)."
"Medicare Advantage plans also drive health inequalities, contrary to Big Insurance claims," they continued. "And the industry's biggest and boldest piece of disinformation is that Medicare Advantage plans will be forced to cut benefits if the government stops massive overpayments that have been padding corporate profits for decades."
"This is wholly false," they stressed. "And you want to know how we know? Because we have reduced overpayments before."
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