In DC yesterday, thousands of union members and health care activists from across the progressive movement took the fight for health care reform right to insurance companies' doorstep. The massive protest started with a march from Dupont Circle to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 22nd and M Street, NW, led by more than 50 major labor organizations, health care reform activists, faith leaders, and 25 survivors of health insurance abuse.

Protesters flooded the streets and surrounded the site of the insurance lobbyists' annual conference, where progressive leaders issued a peaceful citizens' arrest of the insurance companies--while the dozens of law enforcement officials tried to rein in the huge crowd. Several progressive leaders who stood up on behalf of reform were escorted away by police (including SEIU's Anna Burger and Dr. Toni L. Lewis).

It was truly a magnificent show of solidarity for reform. Watch this video footage for a taste of yesterday's huge action:

More ways you can relive the March 9th citizens' arrest of insurance companies after the jump.

Yesterday outside AHIP's anti-reform conference at the Ritz-Carlton in DC, Anna Burger stood up for the reform she believes in--literally. Anna rallied thousands of activists enthusiastically, leading the crowd in a chant of "No More Greedy Profits."

A series of charges against insurers were read, including funneling money through the Chamber of Commerce to pay for ads attacking reform, and increasing premium rates twice as fast than the underlying cost of medical care. Ten or so progressive leaders, including Anna, were escorted away by the police after trying to enter the hotel to issue a citizens' arrest of the insurance company CEOs.

As law enforcement officials swarmed the Ritz to pull back those trying to enter the hotel, the policewoman who led Anna away was overheard remarking these words to her:

"Thank you so much for doing this -- we really need health care reform."

Every minute, 8 people are denied care, charged a higher rate, or otherwise discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition by the private insurance companies--all for profit. This has got to change--which is exactly what dozens of insurance industry survivors are asking Congress for today.

More on yesterday's DC rally and march against insurance company lobbyists here.

If AHIP thinks they've been getting an incredible amount of heat lately for their stunning rate increases, they haven't seen anything yet.

Today, we're taking a stand together to show AHIP we're not going to allow the big corporations and their lobbyists to bully Congress into inaction. We kicked off today's rally this morning at around 10:30 a.m. Health care activists spilled off of buses that traveled from DE, CT, MD, MN, VA, NJ, NC, NY, OH, PA, RI to be here today.

They joined union members, health care supporters, politicians, progressive leaders and faith leaders, until there were several thousand of us packed into the Circle by the fountain. HCAN's Richard Kirsch, SEIU's Anna Burger, and Howard Dean all spoke briefly, energizing the crowd and reminding us all why we're all out here: to hold the abusive health insurance industry accountable for its actions.

Two of the saddest signs I saw rally-goers holding were both from women in their 20s. The signs read:

"Rape was my pre-existing condition"

and

"Another kid who lost her dad because he wasn't insured"

The march to confront the insurance industry at AHIP's annual conference was quite a sight to see--the energy of the crowd was amazing; people were chanting reform jingles, and we shut down a number of streets between DuPont and Georgetown on our way to confront the insurance industry at the Ritz-Carlton.

Street theater, from the 'billionaires for wealthcare:'

Check out some more photos of the march, as it makes its way from DuPont to the Ritz-Carlton.

Thousands tell Big Insurance: "Blocking Health Care Reform Is a Crime."

The crowd arrives outside the Ritz:

* More photos of activists taking to the streets of DC and declaring AHIP's National Policy Forum conference a "crime scene" on our Flickr set here.

* View our YouTube video recap here.

You can check out ALL of our coverage from the March 9th rally and march by clicking here: http://seiu.me/march9.

Together with partners across the progressive movement--HCAN, AFL-CIO, CREDO, AFSCME, True Majority, MoveOn, AFT, Democracy for America, Campaign for Community Change, Common Cause, US Action--and several thousand activists, today we're taking the fight for reform right to insurance companies' doorstep. We'll be crashing their conference today at the DC Ritz Carlton, and calling on Congress to finish reform right.

We're live tweeting from the Dupont Circle rally and march to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel today from 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., so you can follow all the action, no matter where you are! Follow #m9 on Twitter to see all march/rally updates.

(refresh for latest)

More event details at here.

The high-priced insurance industry lobbyists that gather at DC's premier five star hotel are going to be remember their experience in the nation's Capitol for years to come--although probably not for the reasons they'd hoped.

Big insurance CEOs are holding a lavish retreat at DC's Ritz Carlton hotel today, March 9th, to push their agenda to destroy health care reform. While they're brainstorming how to continue propping up a broken system, thousands of people will be gathering outside to challenge the stranglehold these greedy companies have on the healthcare system.

The meeting will be a smorgasbord of insurance company CEOs and their allies who not only did nothing to fix our broken system, but in fact took advantage of it. Insurance companies like WellPoint have even gone on the record saying they "will not sacrifice profitability for membership."

The insurance companies have funneled millions of dollars through the Chamber of Commerce to attack health care reform, while simultaneously raising rates by nearly 40% and cutting benefits. Now it's time to take the fight to them.

We can't let the insurance industry kill health care reform -- but we know not everyone can be in DC to take to confront them at the Ritz-Carlton today. You can do your part by spreading the message, and performing a virtual demonstration across their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.

While we confront CIGNA, Wellpoint and other insurance companies at the Ritz-Carlton, will you confront them on their social media accounts? Let's cover their Facebook walls and Twitter replies with your stories and evidence of what you consider insurance industry crimes. You can help reveal the true faces of insurance groups--AHIP, CIGNA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem, and WellPoint--by messaging them directly on Twitter and Facebook.

ON TWITTER:

The hashtag is #m9.

* If you're at the event, tweet your pictures or updates to #m9.
* Tweet directly to AHIP, the insurance lobby front group holding tomorrow's 'ritzy' conference : @AHIPHIWIRE

* Tweet directly to other insurance companies

CIGNA: @CIGNA

UNITED HEALTHCARE: @UHCFeds

ANTHEM: @AnthemHealth

WELLPOINT: @WellPointHealth

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD: @BCBSIL, @BCBSNM, @BCBSTX, @BCBSOK.

Sample message: @AHIPHIWIRE: You are under citizens' arrest for blocking health care reform. #m9

ON FACEBOOK:

Facebook March 9th event link here.

Become a fan of WellPoint and leave a message on their wall.

Leave a message on Anthem's wall

Join United Health Group and leave a message on their wall.

We hope to see you in DC (or online!) today when we take on big insurance. More details about today's 10:30 a.m. action at http://citizensposse.com.

You can also follow the action live via SEIU's live tweeting of the event here.

Big insurance lobbyists will never forget Tuesday, March 9th, 2010.

Next week, they're going to be at the Washington, DC Ritz-Carlton for a retreat. And they have one item on the agenda: killing health care reform once and for all. But we've decided to go ahead and pencil ourselves into the itinerary.

On Tuesday, March 9th, thousands of Americans are confronting the AHIP lobbyists at the DC Ritz-Carlton to perform a citizens' arrest. Will you join us? 

Big insurance talks a good game about improving health care, but their actions say otherwise. In recent weeks, insurance companies have forced double-digit increases on patients. In California, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield tried to cram through a 39% rate hike on its customers.

We were able to postpone that increase, but we have to keep fighting until we've stopped them all. If you're in DC, join thousands of Americans as we confront the lobbyists who are blocking reform: http://action.seiu.org/citizensarrest

These massive rate hikes are bringing in huge profits and perks for the insurance companies. Profits are at an all-time high, and companies like Anthem are spending tens of millions of dollars to fly their executives around the country for lavish retreats.

They're doing it again next week at the Ritz-Carlton in DC. But this time, we'll be there to meet them. 

While the insurance lobbyists party it up at five star hotels, Americans are dying because they can't afford coverage. We were able to delay Anthem's plan to increase rates, but we need to stop big insurance's greedy practices once and for all.

Take a stand against the insurance industry's killer profits:

http://action.seiu.org/citizensarrest

The insurance industry has been funding attack ads by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce against health insurance reform. That's right - insurers, who at the time claimed to be standing with the President in supporting reform, were secretly funding a campaign to kill it. The National Journal reports:

Just as dealings with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats soured last summer, six of the nation's biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying the major health reform bills moving through Congress.

That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint..."

How much of that money could've been used for providing health coverage? According to HCAN, that's enough to provide coverage to an additional 3,000 U.S. families each year. Instead, insurance companies spent their earnings playing both sides.

Randy Johnson, a U.S. Chamber Vice President told The Associated Press last June, "I would say it's time to unload the powder and fill the musket," when it came to voicing opposition to reform. That musket was no doubt filled with insurance company dollars.

The double-speak reached new heights in October, when AHIP's spokesperson Karen Ignani pledged strong support for reform despite funding a study critical of the plans in Congress. From the National Journal:

In late October, Ignagni wrote in a letter to the Washington Post defending a health insurer-funded study critical of congressional cost estimates, "Let me be clear and direct, health plans continue to strongly support reform." However, by that time money was already flowing through AHIP to the chamber to fund its negative ads.

The fund raising started last September and continued through December using AHIP as a conduit to avoid a repeat of the political flack that hit the insurance industry after it famously ran its multi-million dollar "Harry and Louise" ads to help kill health care reforms during the Clinton administration.

To put it in terms more familiar to Sopranos fans, AHIP used the U.S. Chamber as its money-launderer (only the legal, creepy front-group kind that exists in U.S. politics). Not only that, but AHIP's Ignani then went on a publicity tour purporting to fully back the idea of reform - they just took exception with a few pesky policy solutions.

So, to recap: insurers were secretly funding attack ads while lying to the American people. Keep that in mind the next time you see one of those round-the-clock U.S. Chamber ads against reform. By our estimation, one should be airing momentarily on a channel near you.

Lobbyists and members of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) descended on Washington D.C. yesterday for a meeting at the Capitol Hilton. The timing was suspect, to say the least. Now that a competitive public option seems likely, AHIP appeared to be drumming up fear by releasing a report suggesting they'd be forced to hike health premiums if reform passed into law. And earlier this week, an AHIP lobbyists told Republicans not to "comfort the enemy" by voting with Democrats on health care reform. After months of pretending to support reform, insurance companies are finally showing their true colors.

As the insurance industry lobbyists plotted, over 500 health care supporters decided to mobilized outside the Hilton with signs, t-shirts and chants. SEIU members and supporters joined the protest, donning "I am not a pre-existing condition" t-shirts to show their support for ending insurance company discrimination against women.

Inside the building, seven families who had been denied care by the insurance companies demanded to meet with AHIP's President Karen Ignagni. The group wanted to share their health care stories with her, but she declined to even meet with them!

Meanwhile, outside the protestors only grew louder chanting: "AHIP, get off it! People over profit!"

Today, SEIU is joining a diverse group of organizations at the White House, unveiling a plan to reduce the cost of health care and jumpstart the drive toward real reform. The groups ­ AHIP, AMA, AHA, PhRMA, SEIU and AdvaMed are teaming up with the Obama administration to curb health care costs through improved efficiency and higher quality of care.

The basic premise of the plan is simple: even small changes in how we deliver health care add up when applied across the board. All told, the changes we're implementing will reduce spending growth by 1.5% for the next 10 years. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it means a saving of $2 trillion over the next 10 years; that's $2,500 in savings for a typical American family.