Take action at Independence Blue Cross. PPF Members stand together at an action earlier this year in Philadelphia.

Patients and Medical Students of Pennsylvania Take Action at Independence Blue Cross During the DNC

Two IBX Customers Deliver Letter Seeking Resolution To Predatory Billing Cases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Sheila Quintana, 610-732-0116, sheila26qu@gmail.com

What: Patients and medical students take action to hold Independence Blue Cross accountable.
Who: Put People First! Pennsylvania and Students for a National Health Program
When: Monday, July 25th, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Where: Independence Blue Cross/Blue Shield, 1901 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

On Monday, patients and medical students will take action to hold Independence Blue Cross/Blue Shield (IBX) accountable for predatory insurance practices in the midst of a healthcare crisis, where everyday people are struggling to afford basic care. Pennsylvania residents will share their healthcare stories, and people directly impacted by IBX negligence and misconduct will deliver a letter seeking resolution to their cases. They will bring visibility to their long-standing struggle with the insurance company.

Put People First! PA member, Tammy Murphy, was directly impacted by IBX’s predatory policies and poor customer service. After years of struggle, which included a pregnancy without adequate care, Tammy was left with thousands of dollars of debt, mistakenly assigned to her when IBX opened multiple accounts under her name. “The stress on our family is really extreme. We have lived in fear without adequate coverage for our family, under constant threat of collection agencies.”

In 2016, IBX asked the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to raise the price of insurance premiums by $30 or more for every single Keystone Plan in Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, in 2014 more than 1.5 million people in Pennsylvania reported that, in the past year, they needed to see a doctor but couldn’t because of the cost (taken from the state’s health statistics reporting tool, here). Despite this and having opposed the Affordable Care Act when it was first proposed, IBX CEO Daniel Hilferty is a member of the host committee for the Democratic National Convention.

Last month, Put People First PA! won an 8-month campaign with the Pennsylvania State Insurance Department to secure a Public Hearing on skyrocketing premium prices in 2017, like those of IBX. This hearing will be in two days, on July 27th at 9:30 AM in Harrisburg Public Utilities Commission Hearing Room #1, Keystone Building, 400 North Street, and will be the first opportunity Pennsylvania residents have had since the passage of the Affordable Care Act to speak on the record about the impacts of a healthcare and insurance crisis that affects every Pennsylvanian, across all lines of division like race, age, politics, and geography.

Calling Queer and Trans Voices of Put People First!!

thanks to Queer Philly Brunch for this healthcare dreams collage!

Summer is Pride season for queer and trans communities around the world. This year, even as we celebrate ourselves, we continue to feel the aftershocks of the attacks on Latinx Night at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. We also feel the continuing impact of transphobic and homophobic violence from individuals and institutions across the world — violence that particularly effects poor and working queer and trans folks and queer and trans folks of color.

It is clearer than ever that the (many!) queer and trans folks of Put People First have powerful voices to lift up and hear.

What does it mean to be a person who is part of an LGBTQIA+ community, engaged in the work of PPF? How do our healthcare needs intersect with our identities? How are our struggles to meet our basic needs impacted by our experiences as queer and/or trans people?

The Media and Communications team wants to hear your responses to any or all of those questions. We want your prose, your poetry, your songs, your art, to share on the blog, the newsletter or social media. We, the queer and trans people of Put People First! PA, are here, and our stories matter.

If you’re interested in writing or contributing something, please contact Maddie on the Media and Communications team (madeline dot taterka at gmail dot com) by August 1! She can help with editing drafts, brainstorming ideas, or offering general feedback.

Insurance Department Hearing won by the people

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July 13, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Nijmie Dzurinko, Put People First! PA Campaign Team Coordinator (484) 619-2306

PA residents win first ever public hearing on rising health insurance premiums

What: Public informational hearing on proposed rate increases for individual health plans

Who: Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Put People First! PA and members of the public

When: Wednesday, July 27, 9:30 am [Public testimony begins at 1:00 pm] Full Schedule:

http://www.insurance.pa.gov/Pages/2017-Rate-Filing-Hearing.aspx

Where: Keystone Building, 400 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120

Public Utility Commission Hearing Room #1

 

On Wednesday July 27, Pennsylvania will have its first ever public hearing on proposed rate increases on individual and small-employer plans. The hearing, announced on July 1 by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID), was the result of 8 months of pressure and negotiation between the Department and Put People First! PA (PPF-PA), a people’s organization working to increase transparency, equity and participation in Pennsylvania’s healthcare system.

 

“This is a people’s victory. We’re looking forward to sharing our stories and showing the impact on our families when affordable healthcare remains out of reach,” shared Kim Altland, a Put People First leader from York County.

 

Nearly 600 people in 26 counties signed a petition, “Listen to real people before increasing healthcare costs,” that was circulated throughout the state by Put People First members both online and hand-to-hand, delivered on May 25th. On June 1, PPF coordinated a call-in day to the PID which generated one call every 12 minutes requesting a hearing. Additionally, over 20 organizations submitted letters to the PID supporting the request for a hearing in the month of June. According to a Kaiser Health Tracking poll from earlier this year, the cost of healthcare and health insurance was the third most important issue among registered voters after terrorism and the economy/jobs.

 

People across the state have been sharing stories about the impact of increasing healthcare costs on their lives:

 

  • Veronica from Greene County, who detailed the trade-offs of paying for health insurance premiums versus other necessities like housing and food costs.
  • Deirdre from Columbia County, an organic farmer forced off of her farm and back into the job market because she couldn’t afford a Marketplace plan.
  • Sam* from Philadelphia, who was initially elated with a premium of $0.96 in 2014, but recently dropped his insurance, which costs $288 a month this year, not including $179/month for dental insurance.

 

“This is about participation and transparency,” remarked Zachary Hershman of Philadelphia and the Put People First campaign team. “We appreciate the Insurance Department for demonstrating a commitment to these principles. We need a public conversation about healthcare costs that goes beyond the insurance companies’ bottom line.”

 

Premium increases in 2016 impacted 150,000 people across PA. Insurance companies are asking for increases of up to 44.8% in 2017.
*Name changed to protect privacy

 

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Put People First Goes to Brazil

by Roger Swartz

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and journey to the other side of the world. Brazil, a vast and beautiful landscape unlike anywhere else on the planet. It’s a country of people that have deep ancestral roots and a strong connection to the culture that is borne from those roots. The land, culture, and history makes the Brazilian people who they are: People that love who they are and the country they call home. Brazil is not only rich in culture but in natural resources, it’s the world’s fifth largest economy and has the third largest oil reserve in the world. The leaders of Brazil have their eyes on the future, a future that leaves most of its 220 million people out.

I, along with Eboni Taggart representing Put People First, set out on this journey from June 16th to June 27th, with Erica Williams of the Poor People’s Campaign. We were in Brazil to connect with local organizers in Bahia, show support for the democratic process in Brasilia, and attend a youth conference in Marica, in the state of Rio.

We started our journey in the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia which has the largest population of people of African descent outside of Nigeria. Salvador was the original capital of Brazil and its African ancestry is very apparent. We met with the Bahia branch of the MST (the landless workers movement) whose work in that state helps to establish agricultural settlements in rural areas. As well as supporting local black organizers in the city of Salvador who are involved in anti-racism work and Afro-Brazilian cultural preservation. The organizers we met with in Salvador used religion and spirituality as part of the organizing practice, it was one of the strongest ways for them to connect to their community. We attended a Candomble ceremony with the organizers, which is an African-based religion primarily practiced in Bahia. They took us took to an Afro-Brazilian Catholic church which was built by slaves in the 18th century. We also met with one of the leaders of the largest black carnival troops in Brazil in their hall. The depth of history and tradition spoke to me. Our time in Bahia will always be with me.

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In the blink of an eye, we went to the capital of the country – Brasilia. The current capital was founded in 1960 to bring the capital from Rio to a more central location. It was designed by Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian and designer of the UN building in New York City, in a brutalist/modern style. Brasilia is in the state of Goiás. Visually and socially it’s very different from Bahia, the landscape is arid with red clay like dirt and sprawling, not like the rich green and tight vibrant corridors of Salvador. There, we went to the Presidential palace to meet with Dilma Rousseff, the President of Brazil; actor and activist Danny Glover; Dr. Elaine Glover – Danny’s wife; and a member of the national branch of the MST. During our meeting we spoke about the political climate in both Brazil and the U.S. and how they intersect. Currently there’s a coup to overthrow President Rousseff, that has her in the middle of an impeachment. Most recent reports show that the claims of corruption that lead to the impeachment are unfounded. But the desire by the wealthiest 4% of Brazil to get wealthier is what’s driving this process no matter how undemocratic it is. Rousseff also spoke about how healthcare is a human right and that Brazil has universal healthcare. Our small delegation came to show support for the democratic process. Our visit to Brasilia was short but memorable.

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Back to the coast, in a beautiful small town called Marica on the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Rio, we joined the youth in struggle conference which was apart of the Utopia festival. The overall Utopia festival was designed to bring together the poor and dispossessed from all over the globe to meet and discuss what a future would look like without poverty, racism, sexism, gender inequality, classism, and all of the other oppressions that we face. But our group participated primarily in the youth in struggle conference, where youth from four continents met in a public school in downtown Marica to speak about, debate, and learn about the challenges youth face globally. Over four days we bonded with young organizers from all over the world. We had to share tight quarters and limited amenities, but the communal format really helped us to form strong bonds with each other, even if we didn’t speak the same language. One highlight for me was participating in a mística, which is a performance that tells your story of struggle or story of self. It can be done through song, dance, poetry or other forms performance art.

After the conference on our last full day in Brazil we went to Rocinha which is the largest favela or slum in the country, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Rocinha is not recognized by the city of Rio as a neighborhood and has no political representation. It is home to an unofficial estimate of 200,000 people. Rocinha rests on the side of a mountain and rises to the summit where the poorest people live, located in the south zone of Rio. Our guide in the favela was Xaolin who is the president of a local organization in Rocinha that fights for the rights of people in the favela. We were guest in Xaolin’s home, learning about how people in the favela live and the history of Rocinha that dates back to the 1920’s. Also we saw how reliant and self-sufficient the residents of Rocinha are. Every home and business was build by someone from the favela, creating partnerships to literary stack properties on top of one another. No one in the favela has to pay for their utilities, due in large part to the organizers in the favela like Xiaolin, who fought for these services. The city may provide the services, but the residents fight to keep them from being taken away. All of the plumbing and electrical wiring are laid and maintained by the residents, creating an amazing intricate infrastructure. Thousands of overhead wires known as “cats”  connect electricity to each property, the ingenuity of their system is incredible. We were fortunate to get to see the view from the top of Rocinha. A breathtaking sight that shows poverty at its highest level, as well as height of wealth — at the base of the mountain near the cost is one of the most affluent areas of the city. So close in space but miles apart economically.
“Once in a lifetime”, that was what I keep telling myself during this journey. In Brazil I found struggle, but more importantly I found beauty, friendship, spirituality and a true love for humanity. I will carry these lessons with me for the rest of my life and I hope to be able to share them with everyone that I know.      

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