Hundreds of Maine people
rallied in Bangor, Augusta and Portland on July 1 to demand quality,
affordable healthcare, and to urge U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe
and Susan Collins to support a public option for all Americans
without affordable healthcare. MSEA-SEIU member Debra A. Violette,
state chair of the Lung Cancer Alliance, spoke at the rally outside
Anthem insurance's Augusta office Augusta rally. She said that
even those lucky enough to have insurance can face insurmountable
barriers set up by insurance companies. Virgil Bozeman, pastor
at South Parish Congregational Church, told the group, "Mainers
are dying for an option, and it's true." He cited figures
showing that two-thirds of Mainers who filed for bankruptcy in
2008 did so because of catastrophic medical bills. Over the past
four years, Anthem's profits have skyrocketed over 89 percent.
Just last year, Anthem made $51 million in profits in Maine as
it pushed for bigger premium increases for Maine people. Directly
below, Mainers hold a moment of silence in Augusta to remember
the 22,000 people who died in our nation this year without any
health insurance. Click
here for a slideshow of the Augusta rally.
