Healthcare Profiteers Put On Notice

Actions across the state September 10-17

At every level of our healthcare system, profiteering entities like Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), insurance companies, nursing care facilities and prison healthcare providers are preventing people from getting quality, dignified and necessary care. From the 10th to the 17th of September, Put People First! PA, a statewide organization with members in 17 counties, will be drawing attention to this important issue.

Local healthcare rights committees have formed throughout the state to advocate for residents’ healthcare needs and put pressure on providers and the state to meet those needs.

“Whether it’s incarcerated people, people on Medicaid, people with disabilities, working people, youth or elders, profiteers are present in all forms of care and every level of the system,” remarked Kim Altland of York County.

“People across the state are coming together and recognizing the common denominator in our healthcare system – business profiting off our needs, tragedies and illnesses. It’s got to stop. Healthcare is a human right and a public good, and it’s immoral to deny it to anyone,” said Hope Koss of Johnstown.

WHO: Formerly incarcerated people, people with disabilities, elders, youth, workers, and others who need care.

WHAT: Rallies and vigils with directly impacted speakers and visuals.

WHERE/WHEN:

Statewide: Monday, September 10; Call-in day to Gateway Insurance: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Kim Altland is a leader in the York County Healthcare Rights Committee of Put People First! PA. For years, Gateway Insurance has denied him full access to all components of the special shoes that he needs to move without discomfort.  Kim is disabled and has had 51 reconstructive surgeries.

Lancaster: Saturday, September 15; ManorCare – Put People Over Profits, 100 Abbeyville Rd., 12:00 PM

ManorCare is a network of nursing and rehabilitation centers and was just acquired by ProMedica Health System and real estate investment trust, Welltower Inc., for $4.4 billion dollars. This ManorCare facility received a one-star health inspection rating from the state. Earlier this year, the facility failed to report a rape to the state office of aging. ManorCare needs to implement a plan with steps to improve its health inspection rating – including improved reporting and training – immediately.

Pittsburgh: Saturday, September 15; Vigil to demand justice and patient protection at ManorCare, 8:00 PM

ManorCare is a network of nursing and rehabilitation centers and was just acquired by ProMedica Health System and real estate investment trust, Welltower Inc., for $4.4 billion dollars. Put People First! PA is demanding respectful and just treatment for patients, improvements in staffing and pay, and a clean and sterile environment.

Lemoyne: Monday, September 17th; Action on Correct Care Solutions, 600 N. 12th St., 1:00 PM

Correct Care Solutions is a healthcare profiteer that has contracts to provide healthcare services in prisons all over the country, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. They are inside every PA state prison. They charge inmates to see the doctor in prison, provided substandard care, and are not advocating the health of their patients who are being poisoned by the air and the water at prisons like SCI Fayette.

Johnstown: Monday, September 17th; Action at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, 1086 Franklin St., 2:00 PM

Conemaugh hospital is one of the main hospitals in the Johnstown area. The hospital keeps putting profits over people, and they are not treating patients or employees with dignity  since they became a for profit hospital.

Background:

Put People First! PA gives voice to everyday people who are struggling to meet their basic needs. We define our basic needs as things we need to live healthy and fulfilling lives — things like education, housing, health care, jobs at living wages, food, and a healthy environment. We’re a membership organization made up mostly of people who know from our life experience that poor and working people need to unite and have a voice. Our campaign is Healthcare Is a Human Right and we are working for universal, publicly financed healthcare in Pennsylvania. We have members in 17 counties and Healthcare Rights Committees in Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Altoona, York, Lancaster and Philadelphia. We cross the typical racial and urban/suburban/rural divides, uniting everyday people across the state. In 2016, we won the first public hearing from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) on rising insurance premiums on marketplace plans. In 2017, we secured an agreement for the PID to do town halls throughout the state as part of the rate review process.