The State Employees Association of N.C. has launched a Web site and mail campaign intended to counter Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C.'s efforts on health care.
SEANC's campaign is a reaction to a mailer by Blue Cross, which urged people to lobby U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan to oppose the public option for health insurance included in Democratic health reform bills. The flyer followed a premium increase by the company, which didn't exactly help their message.
SEANC says, "Stop," with its Web site, stopbcbs.com.
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"Blue Cross Blue Shield is afraid, quite frankly, of competition," said SEANC executive director Dana Cope, pictured at the right. "They're trying to protect the millions of dollars they pay their senior management team."
Blue Cross has had its own health reform Web site for some time. Spokesman Lew Borman said the insurer supports health care reform, just not the public option.
"We're fully engaged in putting facts out and giving a better understanding," Borman said. "I'm not sure how his attacks on this company move that forward."
The organization has also sent mailers to its 55,000 members urging them to lobby Hagan to support the public option.
Wendell Powell, pictured at the left, said he received Blue Cross's mailer and was outraged. Powell, a corrections officer said he pays $600 a month to cover his two daughters through the State Health Plan. Powell received Blue Cross' mailer at home.
"It was a mockery, a slap-in-the-face," Powell said. "I don't buy it. If they wanted to lower rates, they could cut costs."
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