Protesters take health care crisis to HMO shareholders

The demonstrators, organized by the Universal Health Care Action Network-Minnesota, www.uhcan-mn.org, said United Health and other insurers continue to make massive profits while millions of Americans lack health coverage. They protested outside the Minneapolis Convention Center where United Health – the largest HMO in the country – held its annual meeting Tuesday morning.

"Right now, we have a market-based system that's been proven unsustainable," said UHCAN member Stefanie Levi. "People are dying as a result of our broken health care system."

At the annual meeting, United Health announced that in 2006, it increased earnings by 37 percent, revenue by 54 percent, and cash flow by 60 percent. Management also tried to reassure shareholders that the company was responding to concerns raised after McGuire was forced out last year in a scandal over the backdating of stock options. Before his ouster, McGuire was the highest-paid executive in Minnesota, receiving $124 million in stock options alone in 2006.

United Health shareholders rejected proposals put forth by investor groups, including the California public pension system, to tighten controls on executive compensation and open up board elections. Instead, shareholders approved company-backed proposals that make modest changes in the board election process.

The number of uninsured Americans is approaching 50 million and millions more are under-insured.

"As practitioners, it is our moral and ethical obligation to speak out on behalf of our patients . . ." said Joel Albers, a clinical pharmacist and UHCAN member. "Polls show most Minnesotans and health practitioners are fed up and want to move to a more accountable publicly-funded single-payer system."

Dan Mikel, a member of the Minnesota Retiree Council, AFL-CIO, said his organization has endorsed universal health care because high costs are putting everyone in jeopardy of losing their coverage.

"It's not just a worker problem," he noted. "General Motors would be better off, Chrysler would be better off if we'd have gone to health care for all a long time ago."

The Minnesota AFL-CIO, 17 other state labor federations and 256 national and local unions and labor councils have endorsed H.R. 676, federal legislation to institute a single payer health care system in the United States.

Under the proposal, people would continue to go to private hospitals, clinics and other health care providers, but administration would be handled through an expanded and improved Medicare system covering every resident.

Proponents said the legislation would save billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of private health insurers and HMOs such as United Health.

HR 676, authored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., currently has 71 co-sponsors. Read the text of the legislation at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00676: