HCAN protests insurance giant WellPoint for supporting right-wing ...

By Andrew Jones
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 14:46 EDT

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The progressive group Health Care for America Now (HCAN) held a protest Wednesday morning to confront shareholders of the health insurance giant WellPoint about the company?s secret funding of extreme conservative politicians and groups.

The meeting, which took place at Wellpoint?s corporate offices in Indianapolis, Indiana, featured shareholders voicing their concerns to the company inside the meeting, while protesters demonstrated outside. Some of the questions were from union leaders, who represented workers from California, Connecticut, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York and Wisconsin.

The union leaders were vocal about WellPoint and its subsidiaries giving financial support to anti-union Republican Governors Scott Walker (WI), John Kasich (OH) and Mitch Daniels (IN), along with supporting the American Legislative Exchange Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But 83 percent of shareholders later voted down a call for more disclosure in WellPoint?s spending.

While WellPoint CEO Angela Braly was speaking, a union worker interrupted her. ?Full disclosure of corporate spending on political activities is in the best interest of shareholders,? he said, before Braly told him he was speaking out of order.

[Photo caption: Flickr user Progress Ohio]

Andrew Jones

Andrew Jones is a staff writer/reporter for Raw Story. Besides covering politics, he is also a freelance sports journalist, as well as a slam poetry and music artist. You can follow him on Twitter @sluggahjells.

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