Progress Illinois

The private health insurance industry has gone to great lengths -- and spent big bucks -- to put a stranglehold on the health care reform debate. By the nonprofit watchdog Public Campaign Action Fund's count, insurance companies and HMOs have spent nearly $700,000 per day lobbying against reforms this year. And no reform has received more scrutiny than the public option, which seeks to cover the uninsured and bring the cost of private premiums back down to earth.

Today, local members of the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) coalition staged a rally at the doors of Blue Cross/Blue Shield's Chicago headquarters to push back against the industry's anti-reform efforts and voice their support for the public plan.

"Last year two Blue Cross/Blue Shield executives got a combined bonus of $26 million," the Campaign for Better Health Care's Jonathan VanderBrug said. "They have been partying with our money. All the while denying us care ... The party for them stops now." Watch an excerpt from his remarks:

Other HCAN coalition members -- including Citizen Action/Illinois, the SEIU Illinois State Council (which sponsors this website), AFSCME Council 31, the AIDS Foundation, Illinois PIRG, and the Illinois Mainstreet Alliance -- came out to shame the insurance companies for their abusive practices, such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and rewarding employees for blocking claims. Several small business owners and laid off workers also spoke about going without coverage because they've priced out or barred from the market. "I want you to remember what this fight is about," Citizen Action's William McNary told the crowd. "This is a fight about real people."

But McNary emphasized that the passage of a public option isn't going to come without a fight. "You won't get it because it's fair or it's right or because Blue Cross executive get an attack of their conscience," he said. "You've got to demand it. You've got to fight for it. You've got to be in it to win it."