Beneath deal-making at J.P. Morgan conference, debate and sympathy over Americans’ anger at health care
Shadow from insurance leader’s shooting was noticeable: ‘We would all like to have things better’
…https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/16/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-casts-shadow-over-jp-morgan-conference/
protesters gather in Union Square, right ousite of where JPM is taking place. — coverage from STAT
People demonstrate outside of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference at the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco on Monday.Angus Chen/STAT
By Angus Chen Jan. 16, 2025
Cancer Reporter
SAN FRANCISCO — On the first day of the J.P Morgan Healthcare Conference, a small crowd of demonstrators gathered on a corner of Union Square just opposite of the conference’s main venue, the Westin St. Francis hotel.
It was a varied crew — musicians, health care workers, teachers, and others. Steve Zeltzer, a labor journalist and organizer, spoke before the group and held a sign saying, “No more Deny, Delay, Depose,” alluding to words inscribed on the bullet casings found when former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last month in New York City.
While most at the demonstration played music or chanted slogans, one protester crossed the street and bellowed slogans and expletives at JPM attendees coming in and out of the conference. Spit from his mouth glittered in the brisk Northern California air. He remained behind a small barricade in front of the hotel entrance, and attendees and conference security watched him with surprise and curiosity.
JPM is one of the largest health care conferences in the world and is known as a summit where key health and pharma deals, investments, and announcements are made. For the most part, that remained the case this year, but reminders of the killing of Brian Thompson were everywhere — from the demonstration outside the Westin on Monday to small security details trailing health care executives at every step. According to a source familiar with JPM’s new security protocols, the San Francisco Police Department assigned a dedicated police detail to the conference areas, and JPM increased private security personnel on site this year.
“Most of the CEOs here today have had to modify their life because of what happened in New York,” Terry Shaw, the retiring CEO of the nonprofit health system AdventHealth, told STAT. “You don’t drive home the same way every day. When you go someplace, you didn’t used to have security, and you do now.”
Several major, publicly traded health insurance companies and other health care companies also pulled out of attending the JPM conference this year as well, including Cigna, Humana, and CVS Health. The absence of these large companies had a depressing effect for companies that may be hoping to get commercial coverage for products, said Stephen Hahn, CEO-partner of Flagship Pioneering and a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
“They’re a big component of the ecosystem. I’ve heard lots of people talk about this, and it’s notable. For folks who are on the commercial pathway right now, it’s a big deal,” Hahn said. “It’s sad for me that that’s occurred, and the reason it’s occurred.”
JPM would otherwise provide a chance for such companies to show how their products, whether medical devices or new medicines, can be good for patient care and the health system. “It’s an opportunity to showcase how you can align good care and good stewardship of health care resources and dollars,” he said.
But by and large, attendees told STAT that they didn’t feel personally targeted by the demonstrators or the general American public that had expressed anger and outrage toward the health care industry following the Thompson shooting. Demonstrators like Zeltzer also said they hadn’t come to Union Square to promote violence, but rather hoped to send a broad message to the health care industry that they felt the system in the United States is broken.
“I don’t condone what Luigi did,” Zeltzer said, referring to Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing Thompson. “Killing a CEO will not change the health care system in this country. It’s an expression of the anger and frustration people have,” he told STAT. “It’s not one company, not one hedge fund, not one bank. The whole industry is based on profit. That’s what we’re saying is the problem.”
Attendees said all the additional security around the conference sparked discussions about inequity, access, and cost in the American health care system and the frustration of the American public towards health care. Many said that they were sympathetic to the messages that the demonstrators outside the Westin hoped to send.
“From my perspective in small biotech, we’re trying to develop new cancer therapies. We have an amazing team that dedicates their lives to trying to create real breakthroughs — for patients,” said David Earp, the CEO of Circle Pharma, a biotech focused on developing a new technology for treating cancer and other illnesses.
“I don’t want to be dismissive about what’s happening in the broader context,” Earp added. “There certainly are inefficiencies in the system. The more we examine the causes of that, the more opportunities we have to fix it. I think everybody should welcome discussion about why this is challenging.”
Dan Morissette, the CFO of CommonSpirit Health, a Catholic-based nonprofit network of 140 hospitals, told STAT that he believed the system needs to gain more trust from the public. “This is a complex health system that we have and includes pharma companies, payers, providers, device makers,” he said. “We would all like to have things better and more efficient in general.”
Shaw from AdventHealth, which has annual revenue of $21 billion, said that he believed the public frustration voiced after Thompson’s killing might be better redirected.
“People that can’t get the care that they want with the health care plan that they have are very frustrated,” Shaw said. “That really has almost nothing to do with me. Your employer is the one that provides your health care insurance.”
UnitedHealth mounts full defense of its business in wake of Thompson’s killing
But when STAT noted that hospitals charge the prices that insurers ultimately pay and pass along to consumers, Shaw said his system negotiates for commercial rates and has to take what Medicare and Medicaid offer. “You can either have good insurance or bad insurance, and if you have bad insurance, I can understand how you’d be frustrated in today’s environment,” Shaw said.
The addition of armed security and police reminded many attendees of another environment in the United States — the ease of access to firearms and gun violence in this country, some attendees told STAT. Seeing weapons on the hips of law enforcement personnel is always “unsettling,” said Edwin Stone, the CEO of Cellular Origins, a small biotech company, and who is from the United Kingdom.
Stone, interviewed on Thursday in the waning hours of the conference, said that inside the hotel, past the security checks and beyond the discussions of health care outrage, the conference hummed along with its “usual, wonderful chaos.” Billion-dollar deals were made, investments were announced, and word of new medicines and science created buzz. Many in the industry seemed to be optimistic about the biotech market finally lifting in 2025 after a low period of many years, creating, at times, a tentative sense of excitement.
Bob Herman contributed reporting.
Angus Chen
Cancer Reporter
Angus Chen covers all issues broadly related to cancer including drugs, policy, science, and equity. He joined STAT in 2021 after covering health and science at NPR and NPR affiliate stations. His work has been recognized by national Edward R. Murrow awards, the June L. Biedler prize for cancer journalism, and more.
Reminders of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson were everywhere at this year’s J.P. Morgan conference.
www.statnews.comUFCLP Jan 20, 2025 Statement
Palestine: At least 152 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza
https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/palestine-at-least-152-journalists-and-media-workers-killed-in-gaza
16 January 2025
[UPDATED 16.01.2025] At least 152 Palestinian journalists… and media workers have been killed, several have been injured and others are missing during the war in Gaza. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) condemn the killings and continued attacks on journalists. The IFJ calls for an immediate investigation into their deaths.
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Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings in the refugee camp of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip on October 9, 2023. Credit: Mahmud Hams / AFP
In such dangerous conditions, the IFJ reminds journalists on the ground to take precautions, wear professional safety equipment and not to travel without their media providing them with all the professional safety equipment needed to cover events. No story is worth the life of a journalist.
In the early hours of 7 October, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel. In response, Israel retaliated with airstrikes over the besieged Gaza Strip and formally declared war at Hamas. The IFJ is working closely with PJS to verify information in real time and document all killings. Check the list of journalists and media workers killed since the start of the war in Gaza.
Journalists and media workers
Just as it appeared that Israel and Hamas were on the verge of reaching a ceasefire agreement on 15 January, three Palestinian journalists were killed in separate attacks in Gaza. On 15 January, PJS mourned the killing of journalist Aql Hussein Saleh, who lost his life as a result of an Israeli attack in Al-Shati Camp, west of Gaza City. On the same day, Al Ghad TV channel reported the killing of journalist Ahmed Hesham Abu Al-Rous in an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Freelance journalist Ahmed Al-Shayyah, who worked for several media outlets, was killed in an Israeli bombardment in western Khan Yunis, southern Gaza.
On 10 January, the PJS reported the killing of journalist Saed Abu Nabhan, who worked for Alghad TV and was a freelance photographer for Anadolu Agency. He was killed by an Israeli sniper, while the journalist was working in central Gaza's Nuseirat area.
On 3 January, journalist Omar Al-Derawi was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his family’s home in Al-Zawaida, the central Gaza Strip, PJS and media reported.
On 26 December, five journalists working for the satellite channel Al-Quds Today were killed when an Israeli missile targeted the broadcasting vehicle, marked as press, they were in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. The names of the killed journalists were Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed Al-Ladda, Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan and Ayman Al-Jadi.
Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed al-Louh was killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp
On 15 December Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed al-Louh was killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp.
On 14 December, journalist Mohammed Jaber Al-Qerinawi, an editor at Sanad News Agency, was killed in an Israeli aistrike that targeted his home in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip
On 14 December journalist Mohammed Baalousha who worked for Dubai Al Mashhad television was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City.
On 11 December, journalist and broadcaster at Voice of Al-Aqsa Radio, Eman El-Shanti, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment in Al-Malash Tower in Sheikh Radwan, northwestern Gaza City. The strike also killed El-Shanti's husband and their three children.
On 2 December, Quds News Network reported the killing of one of its employees, journalist Maysara Salah, who was injured near Awni Al-Harthani School in northern Gaza and died at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
On 30 November, journalist Mamdouh Quneita, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, was killed when an Israeli drone shot at him in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 19 November, freelance photojournalist Ahmed Abu Shariya, who worked for Tasnim Agency, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Sabra neighbourhood in southern Gaza, media reported.
On 16 November, journalist Mohammed Saleh Al-Sharif lost his life when an Israeli drone shot at him near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Strip, PJS and media reported.
On 1 November, photojournalist Bilal Muhammad Rajab, who worked for Al-Quds Al-Youm channel, was killed in an attack by an Israeli drone near the Firas market in Gaza City, according to PJS and media.
On 27 October, PJS reported the killing of Saed Radwan, head of the digital media department at Al-Aqsa TV; Hamza Abu Salmiya, journalist at Sand News Agency; and Haneen Mahmoud Baroud, journalist at the Al Quds Foundation. They lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike that hit Asmaa 'B' School in Al-Shati refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
On 9 October, local media reported the killing of photojournalist Mohammad Al Tanani, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, by Israeli airstrikes in the area of Jabalia, northern Gaza. In the same bombardment, reporter Tamer Lubbad, also working for Al Aqsa TV, was injured. Al Jazeera's cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi was wounded by Israeli gunfire while reporting the situation in northern Gaza, the media network reported.
On 6 October, freelance journalist Hassan Hamad was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza. Al Jazeera reported Hamad's killing and stated that the journalist was warned by an Israeli officer to stop filming in Gaza.
On 30 September, woman journalist Wafa Aludaini, along with her husband and two children, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, according to media reports. Aludaini was the founder of the October 16th Media Group and worked there as a senior journalist.
On 28 August, journalist Mohammad Abed Rabbo of Al-Manara Media Production Company was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his apartment in central Gaza.
On 26 August, PJS reported the death of 39-year-old journalist Ali Taima, a cameraman for Al-Awda TV channel, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
On 22 August, Al Quds TV photojournalist Hossam Manal Al-Dabbaka was killed with his wife, children and other family members when their apartment was hit by an Israeli strike in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, media reported.
On 20 August, journalist Hamza Murtaja was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit Mustafa Hafez School, in western Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 18 August, freelance photojournalist Ibrahim Muhareb, who worked for a number of media, was killed due to Israeli gunfire and shelling in western Khan Yunis when the Israeli tanks entered the city in southern Gaza, PJS and media reported.
On 9 August, journalist Tamim Muammar, who worked for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation – Voice of Palestine, and journalist Abdullah Al-Sousi, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, were killed in two different Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, southern of the Gaza Strip, PJS and media reported.
On 31 July, journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Refee, who worked for Al Jazeera Arabic, were killed in an Israeli air attack in Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 29 July, the PJS reported the killing of journalist of Mohammad Majid Abu Daqa in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis, southern of the Gaza Strip.
On 13 July, journalist Mohammad Manhal Abu Armanah, was killed in an Israeli strike that hit tents of displaced people in Khan Yunis, southern of the Gaza Strip, Al Mayadeen reported.
On 6 July, the couple formed by Palestine Now news agency correspondent, Amjad Al-Jahjouh, and programme producer and presenter at the Islamic University radio station, Wafa Abu Dabaan, were killed in an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip. On the same day, journalist and editor at the Palestine Media Agency, Rizq Abu Shakyan, was killed in an Israeli strike that hit his home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to PJS and media.
On 5 July, director of Deep Shot Media production company, Saadi Madoukh, and journalist Adeeb Sukkar, who worked for the same media, were killed in an Israeli strike in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. On the same day, media director of Al Quds TV, Mohammad Al Sakni, was killed when a strike hit his home in Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 1 July, editor-in-chief of local news agency Shams, Mohammad Abu Sharia, succumbed to his injuries sustained from an Israeli missile launched near the journalist's home in Gaza City.
On 31 May, journalist and presenter of local radio Watan, Ola al-Dahdouh, was killed in an Israeli bombing of her home on Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 17 May, photojournalist working for the local Palestine Post Network, Mahmoud Jahjouh, was killed along with his family in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza city, according to PJS, the Palestine Post Network and other media.
On 15 May, Hael Al-Najjar, media worker for Al Aqsa Media Network was killed in an Israeli strike that hit his house on the Old Gaza Street in Jabalia refugee camp, PJS and mediareported.
On 11 May, photojournalist Baha Akasha, who worked for Al Aqsa Media Network, was killed in an Israeli strike on his house in Al-Qasasib neighbourhood in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, according to PJS and severalmedia.
On 6 May, freelance photojournalist Mustafa Ayyad, who worked for Al Jazeera Live, was killed after being critically injured in an Israeli strike on his home in the Zeitun neighbourhood, northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
On 25 April, Mohammed Basam Al Jamal, who worked as a correspondent for Palestine Now news agency, succumbed to his injuries following an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Al-Jenenah neighbourhood in Rafah, in southern Gaza, PJS and media reported.
On 28 March, editor and graphic designer Mohammed Abu Sakhil, who worked for Shams News Agency, was killed during Israel's military raid on Al-Shifa hospital and surrounding areas in Gaza City that lasted for two weeks, Shams News Agency reported. In the same raid on Al-Shifa hospital, digital media editor for Voice of Al-Quds radio, Tariq al-Sayed Abu Shakil, lost his life on 28 March, according to media reports.
On 25 March, media worker at WAFA news agency, Saher Akram Rayyan, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, media reported.
On 15 March, photographer and producer Abdel Rahman Saima, who worked for Raqmi TV, was killed in an Israeli bombing in Gaza City. On the same day, photojournalist Mohammed al-Rifi succumbed to his injuries in southern Gaza City, PJS reported.
On 5 March, journalist and presenter at Al Aqsa TV, Mohammed Khader Ahmad Salama, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, PJS reported.
On 1 March, PJS confirmed the death of journalist Ibrahim Mahamid, who died of his wounds five months after being injured by Israeli fire. Mahamid worked as a presenter and cameraman for Al-Salam TV, Al-Shaab TV and other local channels, and was a member of PJS for about 30 years, the Syndicate reported.
On 23 February, PJS confirmed the killing of photojournalist Mohammad Yaghi in an Israel bombing near Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. According to Al Jazeera, Yaghi worked as a professional photographer for a number of international media, including Al Jazeera Network.
On 12 February, journalist Alaa al-Hams, who worked for local media, died of her wounds, according to PJS and media. Al-Hams was seriously injured two weeks ago, when an Israeli bombing hit her home in al-Geneina neighbourhood in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. On the same day, journalist Angham Ahmed Adwan, who worked for Libyan TV channel February, was killed following an Israeli airstrike that hit her home in Jabalia city.
On 8 February, PJS confirmed the killing of Palestine TV's director Nafez Abdel Jawad and his son. Both lost their lives when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
On 29 January, journalist Mohamed Abdel El Fatah Atta Allah, who worked as an editor for Al-Risala newspaper, was killed with members of his family in an Israeli bombardment that hit his house in Al Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, according to PJS.
On 26 January, journalist Iyad Ahmed Al-Ruwahi, who worked as a correspondent and presenter for Voice of Al Aqsa Radio, was killed together with members of his family when an Israeli airstrike hit his home in Al-Hasayna area of Al Nuseirat refugee camp, PJS reported.
On 14 January, photographer Yazan Al-Zuweidi, who worked for Al-Ghad TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the city of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, according to PJS and Al Ghad.
On 11 January, PJS confirmed the death of Mohammed Jamal Sabahi Al Thalathini, who worked as a journalist for Al Quds TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in the south of Gaza city.
On 10 January, journalist Ahmad Bdeir, who worked for local magazine Hadaf News, was killed as a result of an Israeli bombardment outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, PJS and media reported.
On 9 January, PJS confirmed the killing of journalist Heba Al-Abdallah, who lost her life when an Israeli bombing hit her home in the southern city of Khan Yunis, media reported.
On 7 January, journalist Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was killed together with journalist Mustafa Thuraya, when an Israel drone hit the car they where travelling on assignment near Rafah, several local and international media and PJSreported. Hamza Al Dahdouh was working for Al Jazeera and Mustafa Thuraya was a freelance videographer working for Agence France Presse.
On 5 January, journalist Akram Al-Shafei, a correspondent for Safa News Agency, lost his life after being seriously injured by an Israeli aristrike two months ago during the siege of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city, PJS and media reported.
On 29 December, Jaber Abu Hedrous, a correspondent for Al-Quds Channel, was killed in an air strike on his house.
On 28 December, photojournalist Ahmad Khair Al Din, working for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an airstrike that targeted his house in Al Beit Lahia, north Gaza.
On 28 December, Mohammad Khair Al Din, archiving officer at Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an airstrike that targeted his house in Al Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip.
On 24 December, broadcast engineer Huthaifa Lulu, working at prisoners radio, and formerly working for Al Quds TV, was found dead with his wife, daughter and a high number of family members after an airstrike targeted his house in Gaza.
On 24 December, photojournalist Mohammad Abdul Khaleq Al Ghuf, working for Al Rai news agency, was killed while reporting on the war in Gaza.
On 24 December, journalist Mohammad Saidi (Khalifa), director at Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an airstrike that targeted his house in Al Nusseirat, Gaza.
On 23 December, journalist Ahmad Jamal Madhoun, deputy director at Al Rai news agency, was killed in an airstrike that targeted north Gaza.
On 22 December, photojournalist Mohammad Nasser Abu Hweidy working for Al Istiqlal newspaper was killed during coverage at Al Shoja’ia in Gaza.
On 18 December, media worker Abdallah Alwan, who contributed to Al Jazeera owned platform Midan, among other media, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
On 17 December, journalist Haneen Ali Al-Qashtan, who worked for Sawt Al Watan Radio, was killed along with members of her family in an Israeli bombardment on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, PJS reported.
On 16 December, journalist Assem Kamal Moussa, who worked for the Palestine Now network, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to PJS and media.
On 15 December, PJS and Al Jazeera confirmed the killing of cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa, who worked for Al Jazeera Arabic. He was killed by a drone strike while covering the aftermath of Israeli attacks on a school in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip. In the same attack, Al Jazeera bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was wounded.
On 13 December, PJS confirmed the killing of journalist and former Al-Mayadeen correspondent Abdul Karim Odeh, who lost his life in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseriat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, media reported.
On 11 December, PJS confirmed the death of Narmeen Qawwas, an intern at Russia Today (RT), killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit the family home in Gaza.
On 9 December, journalist Ala Atallah was killed together with nine members of her family in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, PJS and Roya News reported. On the same day, photojournalist Mohamed Abu Samra lost his life as a result of Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza Strip, according to PJS.
On the same day, freelance journalist Duaa Jabbour, who worked for the local media website Eyes Media Network, was killed together with her family in an Israeli airstrike that hit her home in the southern city of Khan Yunis, PJS and media reported.
On 4 December, WAFA news agency confirmed the death of freelance journalist Shaima Jazzar, who worked for Al Hayat newspaper and Majedat Rafah network, was killed together with nine members of her family in an Israeli bombing that hit her home in the southern city of Rafah.
On 3 December, PJS confirmed the killing of Al Quds TV executive Hassan Farajallah, who was killed in an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.
On 1 December, PJS and media confirmed the death of photojournalist Abdallah Darwish, who worked for Al Aqsa TV and was killed in an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip. Later during the day, photographer Muntaser Al-Sawaf, who worked for the Turkish news agency Anadolu, was killed in an airstrike that hit the family home in Gaza City, Anadolu Agency reported. The strike also killed photojournalist Marwan Al-Sawaf, Muntaser's brother, who worked for Alef Media, according to media reports.
On the same day, freelance journalist Adham Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza city.
On 25 November, the body of Nader Al-Nazli, who worked as a technician for Palestine TV, was found under the rubble, one week after his house was bombed.
On 24 November, journalist Amal Zahed was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City and journalist and cameraman Mustafa Bakir, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, lost his life in an Israeli airstrike on his house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, PJS reported.
On 23 November, photojournalist Muhammad Moin Ayyash was killed, alongside with a number of his family members, in an Israeli strike on his house in the Nuseirat refugge camp in the Gaza Strip, according to WAFA news agency.
On 22 November, PJS and Al Jazeera confirmed the deaths of Mohamad Nabil Al-Zaq, who worked for Quds TV and was killed in an Israeli strike; and Assem Al-Barsh, who worked for Palestinian Al-Ray radio and was killed by an Israeli sniper in the Al-Saftawi area in northern Gaza Strip.
On 21 November, Jamal Hanieh, editor at Amwaj Sports Media Network, was killed in an Israeli bombardment on Gaza City, according to the media Hanieh worked for.
On 20 November, PJS reported the death of digital and broadcaster journalist Ayat Al-Khaddura, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza city. Before her killing, she posted a video from her home on social media documenting the ongoing situation in Gaza.
On the same day, journalist Khamis Salem Deab, editor at Al Quds radio, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in Gaza, PJS reported.
On 19 November, Bilal Jadallah, who was the director general of media development organisation Press House in Gaza, was killed in his car in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to PJS and media.
On 18 November, PJS and the media reported the deaths of several journalists and media workers in Gaza. Photographer Moseab Ashour was killed in an attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip days before.
Journalist and writer Mustafa Al-Sawaf was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza city. Al Sawaf was killed alongside his wife and two of his children. His two sons, who are also journalists, Monaster Al-Sawaf and Mohammad Al-Sawaf, were critically wounded.
Amr Abu Hayya, who worked in the broadcasting department of Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
Director of Quds News Network Saary Mansour and freelance photographer Hassouneh Isleem, who worked for Quds News, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp, according to PJS and Al Jazeera.
On the same day, Abdelhalim Awad, media worker and driver of Al Aqsa TV was killed in a strike on his home, PJS reported.
On 15 November, freelance journalist Mahmoud Matar was killed in an airstrike on his home in Gaza.
On 14 November, director general of Namaa Radio, Yacoub Bursh, was killed in an airstrike that hit his home in Gaza, media reported.
On 13 November, photographer Ahmed Fatmah, who worked for Al Qahera News, was killed due to ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, PJS and Al Qahera News reported.
On 12 November, PJS and MADA confirmed the death of journalist Mousa Al Barsh, who was the executive director of local Namaa Radio, following an Israeli airstrike on his home in northern Gaza.
On 10 November, photojournalist Ahmed Al-Qara was killed at the entrance of Khuza'a town, east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to PJS.
On 7 November, journalist Yahya Abu Munie, who worked for Al Aqsa radio, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City. PJS and Al Jazeera reported.
On 7 November, PJS and WAFA confirmed the death of journalist Mohammad Abu Hasira, a correspondent for Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA), who was killed in an Israeli bombing near the fishermen's port in Gaza City. According to WAFA, the airstrike took place overnight between Sunday and Monday, but the body of Abu Hasira was found in the rubble on 7 November.
On 6 November, media worker Mohammed Al Jajeh, who worked for media development organisation Press House, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City. PJS and media reported his death.
On 2 November, journalist Mohammad Abu Hatab, a member of PJS and IFJ who worked as a correspondent for Palestine TV, was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit his home in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip. PJS reported his death. PJS reported his death. On the same day, journalist Mohammed Bayyari, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, was killed.
On the same day, Iyad Matar, who worked as an administrative staff for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli bombardment that hit his home on the Gaza Strip, media reported.
On 1 November, PJS confirmed the killing of journalist Majd Fadl Arandas, who worked for the news website Al-Jamahir, during a bombing near his house in the Nuseirat camp, in the Deir al-Balah Governorate.
On 31 October, Palestine TV confirmed the death of two media workers, Majd Kashkou and Imad Wahidi in an Israeli airstrike over Gaza city.
On 30 October, PJS and WAFA news agency confirmed the death of Nazmi Al-Nadim, deputy director of finance and administration for Palestine TV. Al-Nadim was killed when an Israeli warplane bombed his house in Zeitun neighbourhood in Gaza city.
On 27 October, Yasser Abu Namous, who worked for Al Sahel media, was killed during Israeli airstrike that hit his house in eastern Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, PJS and WAFA news agency reported.
On 26 October, PJS and WAFA news agency confirmed the death of journalist Duaa Sharaf, who worked at Al Aqsa Radio, in a missile attack that struk her home in the Al-Zawaida neighborhood, central Gaza Strip.
On the same day, PJS confirmed the killing of media worker Mohammad Fayez Al Hassani, director general of Rawasi, who lost his life in an Israeli airstrike that hit his home in the Gaza Strip.
On 25 October, journalist Jamal Al-Faqawi, who worked at Mithaq Media Network, was killed when an Israeli bombardment hit his home in the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip.
On 25 October, PJS confirmed the death of three journalists Saed Al-Halabi, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, that was killed when his home in Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, was targeted. Ahmed Abu Mahadi, who worked for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, PJS reported. On the same day, journalist Salma Mukhaimar was killed in an air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, PJS reported.
On the same day, journalist Zaher Al Afghani, who worked for Mithaq Media Network, was killed when an airstrike hit his home in Deir Al Balah.
On 23 October, Palestinian news agency WAFA and PJS confirmed the death of journalist Mohammed Imad Labad, who worked for Al Resalah news website, following an Israeli bombing close to his house in Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza city.
On 22 October, Roshdi Sarraj, co-founder of Ain Media, photojournalist, film-maker and fixer for several international media, including Radio France, was killed in an Israeli air raid that hit his home, western Gaza city, PJS and mediareported.
On 21 October, Hani Madhoun, who worked as an administrative staff for Al Aqsa TV, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza.
On 20 October, PJS confirmed the death of Muhammad Abu Ali, a journalist with Al-Shabab radio in Gaza, who was killed by Israeli shelling of his home in the northern Gaza strip.
On 19 October, Khalil Abu Athra, cameraman for Al-Aqsa TV, was killed in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, north of Rafah.
On 18 October Al-Aqsa TV producer and director Samih Al-Nadi was killed in an aircraft bombing on the Gaza Strip.
On 17 October, PJS reported the killing of Al Aqsa TV journalist Isam Bahar, following the bombing of his house in Gaza city.
On the same day, Palestine TV journalist Mohammed Balousha was killed in his apartment due to bombings in Gaza city. PJS and media confirmed his death.
On 16 October, a bombardment hit the house of Al Aqsa TV journalist Abdul Hadi Habib in the Zeitun neighbourhood in Gaza city. PJS and media confirmed his death.
On 14 October, freelance journalist Yousef Dawwas was killed together with his family in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported.
On 13 October, PJS confirmed the killing of journalist Hossam Mubarak, working for Al AqsaTV, when an Israeli shelling hit his home in northern Gaza city.
On 12 October, producer of Voice of Prisoners Radio Ahmed Shehab was killed alongside with his family members when an Israeli airstrike struk his house in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, PJS reported.
On 11 October, the PJS confirmed the death of freelance photographer Mohammed Fayez Yousef Abu Matar, 28, following Israeli bombings on Rafah governorate, southern Gaza Strip. According to the state-run news agency WAFA, Abu Matar was a freelance photographer covering the ongoing military operations when he was killed.
On 10 October, the PJS said in a statement that three Palestinian journalists Said Al-Tawil, director of Al-Khamisa news agency and photojournalist Mohammed Sobboh and photographer Hisham Al-Nawahjh, both worked for Khabar news agency, were killed by an Israeli airstrike that hit a residential building near Gaza City's fishing port. The Hamas-run government said that the three reporters were covering the evacuation of a residential building nearby, when the missile struck, AFP reported.
On the same day, Salam Meimah, who worked for Al Quds Radio, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza strip. Her body was recovered from the rubber three days later.
On 8 October, freelance journalist Asaad Shamlakh was killed with his family in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Sheikh Ejline neighborhood in Gaza city, PJS and BBC Arabic confirmed.
On 7 October, Palestinian photojournalist Mohammad Al-Salhi, working for news agency Fourth Authority was shot dead while covering the military operations at the border east of Palestinian refugee camp Al-Bureij, located in the central Gaza Strip, according to the state-run news agency WAFA.
Ibrahim Lafi from Ain Media news agency was killed while reporting near Beit Hanoun checkpoint, close to the separation fence with Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, the media reported.
On the same day, journalist Mohammad Jarghoun, working for Smart Media, a media production company in Gaza, was killed while covering the fight between Hamas and the Israeli army, close to Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
* The IFJ is working hard to keep this list up-to-date and accurate, seeking multiple sources for each name added, and concentrating on those who worked as journalists and media workers. Our intention is to list every journalist and media worker who has lost their life during the war. We welcome any further information that either contextualises the deaths itemised, or adds names to the list.
More information about journalists killed in Israel since 7 October here
More information about journalists killed in Lebanon since 7 October here
Journalists missing and injured
PJS warned that on 7 October contact was lost with local journalist Nidal Al-Wahidi from Al-Najah TV station and photographer Haitham Abdel Wahedfrom Ain Media agency. Both professionals were covering the fights close to the separation fence with Israel, near Beit Hanoun checkpoint. The next day, Al-Wahidi’s family informed the media that the journalist had been arrested by the Israeli army.
On 7 October, in the southern Gaza Strip, correspondent for Al-Ghad TV channel, Ibrahim Qanan, was injured in the leg by a missile strike targeted at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis city. In a similar incident, PJS reported that journalist Salah Abu Salah was wounded by a missile's shrapnel at Abasan city.
In Gaza city, Israeli shelling injured journalist Saleh Al-Masry and his wife, and destroyed the houses of director of Zaman radio, Rami Al-Sharafi, and journalist Basil Khair Al-Din, working for TV station Al-Quds Today, readsPJS statement.
The moment an Israeli strike hit Palestine tower in Gaza on 7 October was caught on TV as Al Jazeera reporter Youmna Al-Sayed was conducting a live broadcast.
[UPDATED 16.01.2025] At least 152 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed, several have been injured and others are missing during…
www.ifj.orgSurprise immigration raid on California farmworkers sets off panic throughout state
By Ko Lyn Cheang, Jessica Flores
Jan 16, 2025
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/california-workers-immigration-raid-20038865.php
Workers in a field off of Highway 99 near Bakersfield, …Calif., in 2017. Last week, several farm workers were arrested following an immigration raid in Kern County, near Bakersfield.
Workers in a field off of Highway 99 near Bakersfield, Calif., in 2017. Last week, several farm workers were arrested following an immigration raid in Kern County, near Bakersfield.
Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
Farmworker communities across California, including in the Bay Area, are on high alert after a U.S. Border Patrol immigration raid in Kern County last week led to at least 78 arrests.
The three-day operation in and around Bakersfield from Jan. 7-9 was called “Operation Return to Sender” and appeared to target undocumented farmworkers who are in peak citrus picking season. More than half of California farmworkers are undocumented, according to an estimate based on 2010 to 2018 data in a 2022 report by the Public Policy Institute of California.
It was the first major workplace immigration raid in California since the election victory of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to enact a mass deportation plan after he takes office Monday, and provides a glimpse at what the next four years could look like for California industries that rely on undocumented laborers, including vineyards.
The operation was conducted by the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, which is headquartered near the U.S. Mexico border in Imperial, some 300 miles south of Bakersfield, where the raid occurred.
On the El Centro Sector’s Facebook page, the official account for the sector wrote in a comment on a post that they arrested 78 in the operation, all of whom were unlawfully present in the U.S. The countries of citizenship of those arrested include Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico and China, the comment stated.
David Kim, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent for U.S Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, said in a statement that the operation was targeted toward those who have broken federal law, including for trafficking dangerous substances and sex offenses.
“The U.S. Border Patrol conducts targeted enforcement arrests of individuals involved in smuggling throughout our areas of operation as part of our efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organizations,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement.
But United Farm Workers political and legislative director Areli Arteaga said that based on what the group has witnessed, the raid did not target criminals. United Farm Workers is a California-based agriculture workers union representing about 5,500 farmworkers — including some who are undocumented.
Workers in a field on a farm near Bakersfield, in Kern County.
Workers in a field on a farm near Bakersfield, in Kern County.
Citizens of the Planet/UCG/Universal Images Group via G
Ambar Tovar, United Farm Workers Foundation director of legal services, said her team is in contact with eight farmworkers who were detained in last week’s raid and none had criminal histories.
People were detained outside the local Home Depot, along the main Highway 99 on their way to or from work, and at gas stations, Tovar said.
Two United Farm Workers members were detained on Tuesday and deported Wednesday to Mexico, Arteaga said.
Neither had criminal histories, according to Arteaga. Both had lived and worked as farmworkers in the U.S. for more than 15 years, she said. She added that one leaves behind two children younger than 10 years old who are U.S. citizens, and the other leaves behind four children between the ages of 4 and 10.
“This is the heartbreaking reality of mass deportation threats that have already emboldened individuals to sow devastation in our communities amongst the very hardworking immigrant workers who harvest all our food,” Arteaga said.
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement director and Trump’s “border czar” pick Tom Homan has said that workplace immigration raids, which occurred in California during Trump’s first term, would be “necessary” to enact Trump’s immigration agenda.
California is a sanctuary state, meaning local law enforcement are barred from sharing residents’ information with federal immigration authorities. But that does not stop federal bodies like the U.S. Border Patrol from conducting raids like the one last week.
Under federal law, immigration officials are allowed to conduct warrantless searches within 100 miles of U.S. borders, including sea borders, which includes most of California and Bakersfield.
United Farm Worker communications director Antonio De Loera-Brust said he thinks the political climate of hostility toward immigrant workers is what led to the sector conducting the surprise raid in Kern County.
“It’s clear the Border Patrol is feeling emboldened and I believe this is the kind of thing that we will be seeing more of for the next four years,” Loera-Brust said.
He said the union is concerned about the chilling effect of such raids, making undocumented workers who are afraid of being deported less likely to speak out against wage theft or labor law violations.
The Bakersfield City School District saw a slight decrease in attendance last week in comparison to the same time last year, according to data provided to the Chronicle. The district’s chief of communications, Tabatha Mills, said the district has heard anecdotally that some families were afraid of sending their children to school given the immigration enforcement actions in Kern County.
Mills said the district has specialized staff to assist families with immigration issues, including understanding their rights, reassuring that their children are safe at school and developing a “family safety plan” in the event that one or more parents or guardians are detained or deported.
Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, the founder and executive director of Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, or ALAS, a nonprofit in Half Moon Bay that provides resources to farmworkers, said the arrests in Bakersfield alarmed farmworker communities along the coast. Many reached out to the nonprofit, frantically asking if similar operations could happen there.
“Everyone was asking, ‘What’s happening? What are we going to do? What’s going to happen here?’” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “It triggered a fear and stress in everyone.”
The operation in Kern County last week led to misinformation spreading on social media of alleged immigration raids in Oakland and San Jose. Hernandez-Arriaga cautioned people not to share unverified information about immigration raids while remaining vigilant and informed.
Reach Ko Lyn Cheang: KoLyn.Cheang@sfchronicle.com, reach Jessica Flores: Jessica.Flores@sfchronicle.com; X: @jesssmflores
A surprise immigration raid of California farmworkers around Bakersfield sets off panic throughout state.
www.sfchronicle.comWW 1-16-25 Global Day Of Action Of Doctors Against Genocide At SF General Hospital
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/ww-1-16-25
WorkWeek reports on the global day of action called by Doctors Against Genocide. On January 6 an international day of action was held to free Palestinian Gaza… Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya and other doctors who have been jailed by the Israeli IDF at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Northern Gaza. This last remaining hospital was destroyed by the US supported IDF killing many patients and healthcare workers. Over 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed and over 150 are being jailed by Israel. WorkWeek hears from healthcare workers who talk about this massive genocide with the loss of tens of thousands of lives has been supported with billions of dollars from the US government. Participants talked about people in the US have no healthcare or being denied healthcare, the US is providing unlimited financial and military support to continue this genocide.
We hear from a rally at San Francisco general hospital and UCSF about the fight to demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and the other medical workers along with an end to the criminal genocide being committed by Israel with the active support of the US government and politicians in California and nationally who are voting to finance this crimes.
Speakers also talked about the targeting of those opposed to the Israeli genocide and for an end to the supply of arms and US military support.
WorkWeek
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio
workweeknow@gmail.com
#laborradionetwork #LaborRadioPod #1u #UnionStrong
WorkWeek reports on the global day of action called by Doctors Against Genocide. On January 6 an international day of action was held to free…
soundcloud.comThe LA Firestorm, Capitalism & Global Catastrophe & Healthcare Workers At SF General On US Israel Genocide
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/ww-1-16-25-the-la-firestorm-capitalism-global-catastrophe-healthcare-workers-at-sf-general-on-us-israel-genocide
WorkWeek reports on the …global day of action called by Doctors Against Genocide. On January 6 an international day of action was held to free Palestinian Gaza Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya and other doctors who have been jailed by the Israeli IDF at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Northern Gaza. This last remaining hospital was destroyed by the US supported IDF killing many patients and
healthcare workers. Over 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed and over 150 are being jailed by Israel. WorkWeek hears from healthcare workers who talk about this massive genocide with the loss of tens of thousands of lives has been supported with billions of dollars from the US government. Participants talked about people in the US have no healthcare or being denied healthcare, the US is providing unlimited financial and military support to continue this genocide.
We hear from a rally at San Francisco general hospital and UCSF about the fight to demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and the other medical workers along with an end to the criminal genocide being committed by Israel with the active support of the US government and politicians in California and nationally who are voting to finance this crimes.
Speakers also talked about the targeting of those opposed to the Israeli genocide and for an end to the supply of arms and US military support.
WorkWeek
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio
workweeknow@gmail.com
#laborradionetwork #LaborRadioPod #1u #UnionStrong
WW 1-16-25 The LA Firestorm, Capitalism & Global Catastrophe & Healthcare Workers At SF General On US Israel Genocide WorkWeek looks at the history …
soundcloud.comWHO IS THE REAL ASSASSIN, LUIGI MANGIONI OR BRIAN THOMPSON, THE CEO OF UNITEDHEALTH?
https://ufclp.org/who-is-the-real-assassin-luigi-mangioni/
Posted by Domingo | Jan 13, 2025 | Journalism, Showcase-3, UFCLP Statements, United States | 0 |
There was a countrywide …manhunt for Luigi Mangioni after the shooting of Brian Thompson the CEO of UnitedHealth and yet, just a day after Thompson was killed, 2 migrants were stabbed, one killed, in lower Manhattan, and yet there was not much concern or even notice by the local media after this hateful event. The truth is that those migrants were people of color who did not speak English and Thompson was a millionaire. There is no clearer situation that exposes the reality of capitalism than these two juxtaposed events. The fact is that Mangioni received tremendous support from working class people , especially in NYC. On social media he received 89,000 likes and counting with stories of horrific denials from many who posted. The shell casings on the bullets left behind said deny, delay and depose, all the responses that everyday working people get from computer generated AI letters from insurance companies. In fact most bankruptcies in the US involve people who have health insurance , but are ritually denied care. So many people in NYC are angered by their health insurance companies that there was a look alike contest in Washington Square Park in support of Mangioni, and chaulked on a sidewalk was written do we support Mangione yes or no with all participants writing yes. While vigilantism is no solution to the healthcare crisis, this issue will be a major one and since it cannot be resolved under capitalism, we will need socialism to guarantee healthcare for all.
How has this come to pass? Since the government’s job is to make sure that capitalism continues to reap tremendous profits, it has always intervened on the side of profit gouging companies such as UnitedHealth . In fact, there are 7 companies that control 70% of the Medicare Trust . The Center for Medicare and Medicaid is a publicly owned Trust , but doles out billions of dollars to private companies. More and more these private companies are gobbling up Medicare. Medicare has turned into Medicare (dis)Advantage, which overcharges seniors and most often denies them coverage , requiring pre-authorizations, thus those bullet casing left at the scene, represents the reality for millions of working class Americans who often die before their authorizations come through.
Knowing that only about 0.2 percent of policyholders will appeal their denied claims and that the majority will “either pay out-of-pocket costs or forgo the remainder of their prescribed post-acute care, these companies continue these practices without fear of retribution.
CMS even slowed down its implementation of its regulations pushing them back from immediately to 3 years from now even though it is clear to the government that these companies are committing fraud and that 8 out of 10 MA companies have been found to overcharge the government. A Facebook post by the company expressing sadness and shock at Thompson’s killing has, as of the time of writing, nearly eighty thousand laughing emoji reactions. Twitter/X exploded with jokes about his murder.
UnitedHealth was ranked 19th on Forbes’ list of the world’s biggest companies this year and has a market capitalization of more than $560 billion. The New York Times reported last year that UnitedHealthcare had plans with denial rates ranging from 7% to 27% in 2019, and the AP reported UnitedHealthcare, along with other for-profit insurers, “have become frequent targets of criticism” for denying claims and making it harder to get care.
May 17, 2023 the Permanent Subcomittee in Congress investigated Medicare Advantage health companies and found Among the Subcommittee’s new findings: •” Between 2019 and 2022, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and CVS each denied prior authorization requests for post-acute care at far higher rates than they did for other types of care, resulting in diminished access to post-acute care for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. A senate investigation In 2022, reported that “UnitedHealthcare and CVS denied prior authorization requests for post acute care at rates that were approximately three times higher than the companies’ overall denial rates for prior authorization requests. In that same year, Humana’s prior authorization denial rate for post-acute care was over 16 times higher than its overall rate of denial. PSI also obtained internal documents that provide insight into each company’s use of the prior authorization, including the role of automation and predictive technologies. PSI found that: • UnitedHealthcare’s prior authorization denial rate for post-acute care surged from 10.9 percent in 2020, to 16.3 percent in 2021, to 22.7 percent in 2022. During this time, it was implementing multiple initiatives to automate the process.”
United Healthcare : “The company also has been accused of relying on a claims process, supported by artificial intelligence, that had a 90% error rate in determining whether a requested treatment was medically necessary.” Jeremy Olson of the Minnesota Star Tribune in an article Shooting of United Healthcare CEO reviews criticism of company’s medical claim denials
From the same article: “When you shoot one man in the street it’s murder,” one person posted on the social media site X. “When you kill thousands of people in hospitals by taking away their ability to get treatment you’re an entrepreneur.”
From the subcommittee: In December 2022, a UnitedHealthcare working group met to explore how to use AI and “machine learning” to predict which denials of post-acute care cases were likely to be appealed, and which of those appeals were likely to be overturned.
From AM News: An op-ed City Council Member Christopher MarteJust last week,wrote: Dr. Oz was nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and could lead the charge, using the Project 2025 manual, to force seniors to change their healthcare to a system filled with red tape like restrictive networks and prior authorization requirements. New York City should not be fast-tracking this key part of Project 2025, which aims to make Medicare Advantage the default healthcare option for Americans at age 65, effectively privatizing Medicare. We cannot allow this plan to undermine Traditional Medicare, a literal lifeline for hundreds of thousands of seniors in New York City.
Unionized workers are also seeing their wage increases instead of going to living costs are turned over to increased health insurance costs. This cost shifting from the capitalists to the workers is another way that the capitalists are squeezing workers to increase their profits and most of these union officials continue to support the capitalist
Healthcare scam that ends up hurting workers real income.
Moreover, these insurance companies have invested in pharmaceutical companies to raise the cost of necessary drugs. These capitalists are criminals, killing thousands and putting millions of people in debt. In fact, most people with debt have health insurance. Capitalism is the cause of the death of millions domestically and abroad since it seeks to gain as much profit as is possible. The leadership of the unions are willing partners to this crime since they do not challenge the system in any way and in many circumstance they abet the crimes by undermining traditional Medicare with Medicare Advantage programs.
Top leaders from the AFL-CIO and other unions are also in the Democratic party leadership and voted to keep capitalist control of this healthcare and a corrupt workers comp system also run by the insurance industry which is betraying their own members.
The UFT president Michael Mulgrew and DC 37 president Henry Garrido are just 2 of the most vocal supporters of privatizing Medicare, but the rest have either capitulated or have done nothing to lead workers into a struggle against this privatization. Workers need to shake off these criminals now especially since Project 2025 will soon be a reality and HR94/95 will strip away nonprofit status from organizations deemed problematic for the government. We need to build a mass democratic labor party that will represent the needs of workers and challenge the whole system of capitalism.
UFCLP.org
For more information: http://www.ufclp.org
Protesters rally during San Francisco healthcare conference
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/protesters-rally-during-san-francisco-healthcare-conference/
by: Sara Stinson Posted: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST Updated: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A …healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this conference is an opportunity for the rich to get richer off the backs of patients.
People yelled demands at healthcare conference attendees, saying they are fed up with the current system. Protesters called for a public takeover of the healthcare industry, eliminating the profiteers with Medicare for all.
Dozens held up signs calling on companies to put people before profits.
“These are mega-millionaires who are making billions of profits off the backs of patients, and they should not be allowed to do that,” said protester Suzanne Cowan.
Steve Zeltzer helped organize the protest. He says the healthcare system is failing Americans.
“Why should people be denied healthcare in the richest country in the world? At the same time we are spending trillions of dollars for wars abroad in Israel and Ukraine and yet we don’t have money? I mean, Israel has national healthcare. There is something really wrong here,” he said.
The 43rd annual healthcare conference by JP Morgan with United Healthcare is at the St. Francis Hotel.
It comes as Luigi Mangione is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month. Several protesters held up signs in support of Mangione.
“I don’t really condone his actions, but I do condone the fact that whatever he did raised awareness of this, right? The whole world is talking about this industry that should not exist. Before this everyone was quiet, saying ‘Oh, I don’t want my claim to be denied’ or whatever,” said protester Peter Lee.
A few protesters yelled at attendees exiting the conference. As tensions became high, police officers lined up in front of the hotel.
“They have the right to protest, but it’s like when you see a pro-Luigi sign, that’s really bad taste. I’m kind of surprised the police are allowing it because it’s technically threatening,” said one conference attendee.
Some protesters said they plan to return to the conference Tuesday as First Lady Jill Biden is expected to give a keynote address. KRON4 reached out to JP Morgan, who declined to comment on the protest.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this…
www.kron4.comDozens protest major SF healthcare conference
https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/13/photos-dozens-protest-major-sf-healthcare-conference/
A woman speaks into a microphone at a street protest, holding a sign about public healthcare. Two people beside her hold similar signs. Background includes …buildings and cars.
Demonstrators protest the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in downtown San Francisco Monday. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
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By Garrett Leahy
Published Jan. 13, 2025 • 8:23pm
Healthcare executives leaving the first day of a prominent San Francisco healthcare industry conference in Union Square were met by a group of roughly 40 protesters clutching signs reading “United Healthcare JP Morgan out” and “Stop killing Americans for profit.”
The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is expected to draw 20,000 from healthcare companies to the Westin St. Francis hotel through Thursday.
This week’s conference is the first major industry gathering since the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last month. Event organizers and the San Francisco Police Department ramped up security in the wake of the shooting. The SFPD declined to share specifics on the heightened security measures but said in a statement that it had canceled some officers’ time off to ensure that the four-day event would be “fully staffed.”
A group of people protest on a city sidewalk, holding signs advocating for healthcare reform. Palms and buildings serve as the urban backdrop.
People protest for healthcare reform near the Westin St. Francis hotel, which is hosting the conference. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
Protesters, including one with a megaphone and jacket saying "Team Terrible," hold a sign reading "You'll NEVER RECOVER from 'Health care' INSURANCE" facing police.
Richard Mead flips off a police officer outside the Westin St. Francis entrance. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
During Monday’s protest, conference attendees streaming out of the hotel’s Powell Street entrance seemed largely unfazed by the spectacle.
“How dare you work for this company,” one man said to another as they walked past the demonstrators chuckling.
But for those holding the signs, it’s not a joke.
Kevin Lundgreen, 71, expressed dismay over his struggles with healthcare companies, including losing his dental insurance after having his teeth pulled for dentures.
Lundgreen, a Medicare user, said he paid a $3,000 copay to have his teeth removed and replaced with dentures under Aetna six months ago. But after the procedure, his insurance provider was switched to United Healthcare, which does not cover dental work. His dentures don’t fit, however, and United won’t cover the cost of having them fitted — about $23,000 — he said.
“So I just don’t wear them,” Lundgreen said.
A person in a wheelchair holds a sign saying "Socialize Healthcare Now," surrounded by people on a city street. Another sign reads "Stop [?]" in the background.
Kenneth Lundgreen says he lost his dental care after his Medicare insurance provider was switched from Aetna to United Healthcare. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
The demonstration was organized by a coalition of labor advocacy organizations that claim healthcare providers and insurance companies prioritize profits over patients. They demanded the private healthcare industry be replaced with a single-payer model similar to systems in Canada and European countries.
Protesters also criticized medical companies’ use of AI, particularly in the processing and denial of insurance claims, as United Healthcare has done. Two families are currently suing the company for allegedly deploying an AI tool despite knowing it was faulty.
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‘Be vigilant’: Security is tight at healthcare conference in wake of insurance CEO killing
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J.P. Morgan conference kicks off make-or-break year for SF’s downtown
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On Monday, state Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a warning to healthcare companies and other businesses using AI, saying that using the technology to evaluate and deny claims could violate existing laws, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Labor journalist and protest organizer Steve Zeltzer told The Standard he is not completely against the use of AI in healthcare but said it’s a powerful tool that should only be used to help take care of patients — not to deny claims or take jobs.
A woman in a black coat stands by red carpeted steps, surrounded by people, including a police officer. The scene appears to be outside a building entrance.
Conference attendees were largely unfazed by the demonstrators. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
A man in a hat and jacket speaks passionately into microphones, holding a protest sign, with a San Francisco cable car and city buildings in the background.
Steve Zeltzer says he's not against AI in healthcare but thinks it should only be used to help patients. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
“We’re not against AI,” Zeltzer said. “We want it for the people.”
Retired physician Susan Joseph, 60, said her sister, who is diabetic, has to fight claim denials every six months for laser eye treatment to stave off blindness caused by diabetes. The procedure, called photocoagulation, costs thousands of dollars without health insurance, Joseph said, adding that her sister has gone as far as hiring a $200-an-hour consultant to fight claim denials.
“The MO is to deny claims. It’s standard procedure,” Joseph said. “She shouldn’t have to fight it.”
A security officer stands near a building entrance, holding a leash attached to a black dog lying on the ground. Another officer stands on nearby steps.
Security guards stand watch outside the Powell Street entrance of the Westin. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
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Garrett Leahy can be reached at garrett@sfstandard.com
Protesters called for the creation of a single-payer system and claimed healthcare companies prioritize profits over patient care.
sfstandard.comProtesters rally during San Francisco healthcare conference
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/protesters-rally-during-san-francisco-healthcare-conference/
by: Sara Stinson Posted: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST Updated: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A …healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this conference is an opportunity for the rich to get richer off the backs of patients.
People yelled demands at healthcare conference attendees, saying they are fed up with the current system. Protesters called for a public takeover of the healthcare industry, eliminating the profiteers with Medicare for all.
Dozens held up signs calling on companies to put people before profits.
“These are mega-millionaires who are making billions of profits off the backs of patients, and they should not be allowed to do that,” said protester Suzanne Cowan.
Steve Zeltzer helped organize the protest. He says the healthcare system is failing Americans.
“Why should people be denied healthcare in the richest country in the world? At the same time we are spending trillions of dollars for wars abroad in Israel and Ukraine and yet we don’t have money? I mean, Israel has national healthcare. There is something really wrong here,” he said.
The 43rd annual healthcare conference by JP Morgan with United Healthcare is at the St. Francis Hotel.
It comes as Luigi Mangione is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month. Several protesters held up signs in support of Mangione.
“I don’t really condone his actions, but I do condone the fact that whatever he did raised awareness of this, right? The whole world is talking about this industry that should not exist. Before this everyone was quiet, saying ‘Oh, I don’t want my claim to be denied’ or whatever,” said protester Peter Lee.
A few protesters yelled at attendees exiting the conference. As tensions became high, police officers lined up in front of the hotel.
“They have the right to protest, but it’s like when you see a pro-Luigi sign, that’s really bad taste. I’m kind of surprised the police are allowing it because it’s technically threatening,” said one conference attendee.
Some protesters said they plan to return to the conference Tuesday as First Lady Jill Biden is expected to give a keynote address. KRON4 reached out to JP Morgan, who declined to comment on the protest.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this…
www.kron4.comProtesters rally during San Francisco healthcare conference
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/protesters-rally-during-san-francisco-healthcare-conference/
by: Sara Stinson Posted: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST Updated: Jan 13, 2025 / 10:49 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A …healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this conference is an opportunity for the rich to get richer off the backs of patients.
People yelled demands at healthcare conference attendees, saying they are fed up with the current system. Protesters called for a public takeover of the healthcare industry, eliminating the profiteers with Medicare for all.
Dozens held up signs calling on companies to put people before profits.
“These are mega-millionaires who are making billions of profits off the backs of patients, and they should not be allowed to do that,” said protester Suzanne Cowan.
Steve Zeltzer helped organize the protest. He says the healthcare system is failing Americans.
“Why should people be denied healthcare in the richest country in the world? At the same time we are spending trillions of dollars for wars abroad in Israel and Ukraine and yet we don’t have money? I mean, Israel has national healthcare. There is something really wrong here,” he said.
The 43rd annual healthcare conference by JP Morgan with United Healthcare is at the St. Francis Hotel.
It comes as Luigi Mangione is in jail awaiting trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month. Several protesters held up signs in support of Mangione.
“I don’t really condone his actions, but I do condone the fact that whatever he did raised awareness of this, right? The whole world is talking about this industry that should not exist. Before this everyone was quiet, saying ‘Oh, I don’t want my claim to be denied’ or whatever,” said protester Peter Lee.
A few protesters yelled at attendees exiting the conference. As tensions became high, police officers lined up in front of the hotel.
“They have the right to protest, but it’s like when you see a pro-Luigi sign, that’s really bad taste. I’m kind of surprised the police are allowing it because it’s technically threatening,” said one conference attendee.
Some protesters said they plan to return to the conference Tuesday as First Lady Jill Biden is expected to give a keynote address. KRON4 reached out to JP Morgan, who declined to comment on the protest.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A healthcare conference in San Francisco this week sparked protests Monday afternoon at Union Square. Many are saying this…
www.kron4.com“The Rubicon Was Several Rivers Back”: NYC Doctors Are Ready to Strike
https://www.leftvoice.org/the-rubicon-was-several-rivers-back-nyc-doctors-are-ready-to-strike/
In a deadlock with the bosses and the city over contract negotiations, one thousand doctors across New York City are …fighting for their rights and those of their colleagues and patients. Left Voice speaks with one of the organizers about conditions for NYC doctors and how healthcare workers are joining a resurgent labor movement against profit-making at the expense of human need.
Juan Cruz Ferre
January 13, 2025
NYCdocsAuthroizeStrike-e1736821625791-1024×643.jpeg
Nearly 1000 doctors in NYC Health and Hospitals (H+H) are ready to go on strike. They may work at public (H+H) hospitals, but their employers are corporate health systems, such as Mount Sinai, NYU, and PAGNY. The doctors — who are organized with the Doctors Council, an SEIU affiliate (DC-SEIU) — are denouncing chronic understaffing. They understand this problem to be the result of uncompetitive contracts, both in terms of salary and benefits. Since the announcement on January 2, Mayor Eric Adams interceded to ask for a 60-day “cooling-off” period, trying to avert the work stoppage, and negotiations are still underway.
On January 13 — after the following interview was conducted — the union leadership announced a Tentative Agreement with the bosses. The rank and file will now read the contract and vote on whether to ratify or reject it.
Left Voice’s editor Juan Cruz Ferre sat down with Dr. Gray Ballinger to discuss doctors’ working conditions and the looming strike. Gray Ballinger is a primary care physician at Queens Hospital. They are a union member with DC-SEIU. They spoke with us as a physician, not on behalf of DC-SEIU.
***
Please tell us a little bit about you and about the current conflict.
GB: I am a primary care doctor at Queens Hospital Center. I completed my residency in Internal Medicine in Manhattan from 2018 to 2021, which was certainly an interesting time to do residency in Manhattan. And this is my first job out of residency. I adore it.
Three and a half weeks ago, my clinic, specifically at my hospital, got fed up with the recent implementation of cutting our new patient visits from 40 minutes to 20 minutes. We had been in a lengthy — and at that point, completely stalled — 16-month contract negotiation, if you can call that a negotiation, because it was not being conducted by the other parties, our employers, in good faith. This was the last straw. We spent the night texting each other and, even though this only applied to primary care, we reached out to the other physicians and were surprised to find that they were with us. We voted among the global physicians in our hospital — without even telling our union — for strike authorization, and we got a 97 percent supermajority on the first vote.
Three days later, I was appointed to the strike committee and, after arguing about the timeline quite fiercely (some of us were more moderate and wanted to announce in eight weeks instead of two weeks), we voted with a 90% supermajority to announce in two weeks. We did that unilaterally. We surprised our union rep, though he did attend that meeting, and we didn’t expect to be joined by anyone. We are a 200-bed hospital, which, in the grand scheme of things, is tiny. There are 140 attending physicians. Yet five days later, we were joined by three other hospitals for a total of 1000 physicians within our system, and counting.
It seems that there was a lot of pressure building up in New York City hospitals, especially since many other medical centers and hospitals have now joined the struggle. Can give us an idea of what doctors are demanding right now and why they are going on strike?
GB: If you’d asked the general physician population of the United States 20 years ago if they thought they needed to be in a union, they would have looked at you like you had two heads. Not all of them would have said unions weren’t important or useful for many professionals. But we always thought that the degree of respect that we have from our patients would somehow translate to our employers. With the increased corporatization of medicine, we find ourselves up against these sprawling leviathans with infinite money, and they are perfectly happy to subjugate us the same way they do unlicensed professionals within the hospital.
The city hospital system is a system where we have insurance options for people regardless of documentation status. So this is essentially socialized medicine in the United States. It’s not a pipe dream. It’s literally happening right now, and unfortunately, our corporate masters are trying to choke the system to death. Physician salaries are so low, benefits are so meager, the retirement plan is completely absent, and there are no opportunities for increasing your salary. With increased years of service within the system, you get “cost of living raises,” which don’t even cover inflation, and we can’t recruit new physicians.
This is the job that I want to do. I would do it for less. But the fact of the matter is, if we don’t ask for more money, we’re not going to get what we actually want, which is not more money or more benefits. It is more colleagues. We need more people to come to this hospital. In the past year, at my 200-bed hospital, two elderly physicians decided not to retire, and only vacated their positions by dying because they understood that they would not be replaced, that no one would take the job. And sure enough, neither of those positions are filled. One of those people passed away almost a year ago.
As a consequence, the wait time to see a cardiologist, even if you just had a heart attack, is currently three months for a referral, it’s nine months for a rheumatologist who treats serious autoimmune diseases that can kill you in short order, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. It’s similar for any surgical subspecialty, sometimes 12 months, and our patients are suffering. They are not getting the care that they desperately need.
How many physicians are needed? Would you say the system needs twice as many?
GB: I would say a blanket statement of twice as many would be erring on the side of caution. That is definitely true. In some departments, it is much more critical than that. For example, a sub-specialist surgeon — who lost his visa mysteriously — was one of two. There is now one surgeon who can do those surgeries, who is on call 24/7. I have two patients who are booked with my colleague with the visa issue. One of them has a very serious, life-threatening medical condition, and one of them is in constant pain. They both had their surgeries bumped out by six weeks.
LV: You work at a public hospital, but your employer is a private company. This is the case for all the doctors that are now threatening to go on strike. Can you explain how this works?
GB: Well, that’s one of the points of contention: how little explanation we get as far as how this works. In the late 90s, under the Giuliani administration in New York, they privatized the contracts of physicians. It was part of a Republican privatization trend that started around that time and continues today. The contract between the city and my employer, Mount Sinai, or the two other pass-through organizations, PAGNY and NYU, is not available to the public or to the physicians. We do not know how this money is being spent. We just know that the dollar amount being received from the city suggests that there is enough money to go around. If they wanted to focus on physician salaries, they absolutely could. There are plenty of other things that could be cut down and that could be cost-saving measures, such as, for example, overstaffing primary care and under-staffing the emergency room. Then if you come in sick, you can be seen in seven to 14 days. My waiting list is currently four months for a scheduled patient in primary care, and 12 months for a new patient. And I have a panel of 600 patients.
LV: Can you explain how this private management instills a market logic into your everyday practice, and how that affects patient care?
GB: Market logic always figures into medical care, because in the United States, unfortunately, even if we’re providing free care, we are buying from all the suppliers that are charging steep prices in this sort of dystopian system. Any hospital system is affected by this, regardless of if we were direct city employees, which is what we would prefer, or if we were [Mount] Sinai, if they were playing fair. The market logic gets very problematic with [Mount] Sinai in particular. Mount Sinai is a huge health system, and most of their doctors work at their private hospitals in New York, a 15-minute Uber ride away from us.
So you have their hospitals, where they make tons of money, where patients have good insurance that pays well — they can pay the co-insurance, or co-pays, [in other words] the thousands of dollars that people frequently get charged out of pocket. And then you have a city hospital where they don’t get any of that. They get managed Medicaid plans at best, usually city health insurance, which doesn’t compensate nearly as well even as Medicaid. Additionally, the patients can’t pay anything out of pocket, and so they don’t. So why wouldn’t they try to starve us to death? Why wouldn’t they make it so that people who have a need for a procedure but can’t afford co-insurance decide to go to a city hospital and get it done there?
People won’t do that right now, not because our surgeons aren’t excellent, but because the wait time for a necessary surgery is exactly what I described to you before. Mount Sinai, PAGNY, NYU — these are private hospital systems that are being put in charge of doctor staffing in socialized medicine that is competing with them.
LV: The conditions in all these facilities are unbearable, and this obviously hurts patient care. The mayor and the employers are trying to avoid the strike and negotiations are still underway. Last week, the Doctors Council postponed the strike for ten days. Are rank-and-file doctors in all these facilities ready to go on strike?
GB: After almost 17 months of stalled negotiations, and choosing to be the first ones in the system to notify our employers of an impending strike action, we remain committed to our goals. We’re excited about the ongoing flurry of negotiations, but if they stall again, Queens will go on strike. The Rubicon was several rivers back; we’re willing to do what it takes.
You are on the strike committee at your hospital. Can you tell me a little bit how decisions are made and how you’re organizing within the hospital and within your union?
GB: Currently, there’s only two significant committees at the hospital. The bargaining committee is that one that has informed us, to the extent of their full knowledge, where bargaining has been over the past year, and where it is now. They have always been dissatisfied with the level of information that they get from the main bargaining teams. Our employers have really used secrecy as a huge weapon against both us and our union as a whole. They have always refused to participate in anything that is recorded, they always bring a bunch of attorneys and give us very short notice before bargaining.
As for the strike committee, there are people from every department, but we’re a small hospital. We all know each other really well. There’s not really any rank or disagreement with who gets appointed to whatever. And as for how we’ve organized overall, using electronic means has been vital for us. We all rely on WhatsApp, and we have multiple groups. This is how I have met hundreds of doctors at other hospitals in the past three weeks, and I now communicate with several of them daily. Dr. Patel and I are in the media work group for the entire system right now. We’ve been producing videos, and we’ve been liaising with SEIU International and our PR staff to get those up on social media.
There are working groups for everything, from the actual strike planning to picket captain work-groups. It’s just been incredibly active. And what’s really incredible about it is that we tasked some of our union reps with things — and in particular, SEIU International has been very helpful with a lot of the higher level PR stuff — [but] we have been doing this as physicians. There is nobody who has been directing this overall.
LV: If I understand correctly, there’s a larger negotiation committee at the city level, right? This committee is negotiating with the city and with the private employers. How does this negotiating team get input from the rank and file? Is there a flow of information or voting system to exert your right to decide on the direction of the strike?
GB: Essentially one of the benefits of this is that everyone has ended up more or less at the same table with the city, which does fund the pass-through organization.
I would say that Doctors Council has existed for a while, but this is a really big growth moment for our union, and for leadership, and for us. This is the first time where this union has been thrown into a sudden crisis. We didn’t start the crisis. We finally reacted. This is the first time when we have been challenged, and our organizational structure has been challenged, and even the staffing of the union. But you know, right now our poor union reps, it’s not that we don’t want them. They’ve been awesome. It’s just like, there’s three or four of them available to us, and we’re on a really short timeline. We joke when they call it the People’s Republic of Queens Hospital, which we committed them to.
But hey, this union has not been tested like this before. The communication structures were what they were, and now we’re starting to see — I’m sure the leadership is seeing it too — that we need a more active say. The way we’ve been running things at the individual centers [is] so that everything gets put to a vote. There’s really not anyone in charge, because we don’t think that anyone deserves to be. We’re all representing our departments and our personal practice styles. And I think that our union has, over the years, become a lot more top-down than is actually preferable to us. And I think that those are changes that our union leadership is totally going to be receptive to. It’s just that right now, I think all of them are getting about two hours of sleep a night, which is pretty understandable. So we’re making a lot of discoveries and changes on the fly to how our union functions.
LV: I want to take a step back a little bit and ask you about the larger picture. There are residents organizing in unions. Just yesterday, Temple Hospital voted to join CIR-SEIU. They won by 450 votes to 11. And there are five other hospitals in Philadelphia alone that are having a union vote this month. There’s this threat of doctor strikes in New York. There’s a strike in Oregon, involving thousands of health workers. Do you think there’s something larger happening in the health sector?
GB: I think that there is something larger happening in America right now, with unionization and with workers fighting back. Our hearts go out in solidarity to the workers at Amazon. One of the groups of people that I see are Amazon employees, and I could spend hours and hours explaining to you their working conditions and how it impacts their health. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle has nothing on it. Employees, citizens: we are all being faced by larger and larger corporations who are no longer respecting workers, and that is the only way we are going to stop the systematic abuse of workers worldwide.
Any time they tell me residents are unionizing, I tell them, yes, do it. It could make my job very hard for a month and a half, but it will make your lives better. These doctors don’t have a choice of when they are scheduled. They don’t get a choice of when their vacations are. They get two weeks of vacation every year, two to four, if they’re lucky, and they work 80 hours a week the rest of the time, mandatorily, days, nights, that’s up to the boss. These young people are the best and brightest. They deserve better than this system. We have complete solidarity with residents. But the other thing is that, when one system goes on strike, others look in our direction, whether or not we are in direct contact.
Residents at my hospital have asked if they can wear the strike buttons if they’re not going on strike. Nurses, nurse managers, front desk staff, they’ve stopped by my office to get information, and ubiquitously, they’ve said, well, we’re glad you guys did it, because we didn’t want to do it first.
Regarding recent events in Midtown, there was this outpouring of American rage across the political spectrum. We were cheering on a horrible event that none of us would want to have happen to anyone, simply because that is how angry we [are]. A physician much older than me came into my room the day after the death of the United Healthcare CEO and said, “Did you hear what happened?” and I said, “Yes;” I didn’t want to be crude. And she said, “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer man,” and walked away. I have never seen this woman frown. I have never heard her say a mean thing about anybody. And it shocked me, because, in my private conversations, I had been far less pleasant than that. But the idea that someone who is such an exemplary… kind of a person would have that amount of anger towards any human being… it tells you that we are at a tipping point.
Everyone needs to do something. If you are a patient, if you are a nurse, if you are a doctor, if you are a resident, a trainee, an assistant, a janitor in a hospital, if you are understaffed, underpaid, overworked, abused: unionize! We’re with you.
In a deadlock with the bosses and the city over contract negotiations, one thousand doctors across New York City are fighting for their rights and…
www.leftvoice.orgScores of L.A. teachers lose homes; students from 2 burned-down L.A. schools to resume class
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-14/scores-of-teachers-lose-homes-students-from-two-burned-down-l-a-schools-to-resume-classes
L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho watches …cleaning crew work with brooms.
L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho watches cleaning crew prepared for the Monday reopening of school as he tours Brentwood Science Magnet on Sunday. Students from burned-down Palisades Charter Elementary are being relocated to the school. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
By Howard Blume
Staff Writer
Jan. 14, 2025 5:24 PM PT
Two Palisades elementary schools have relocated in their entirety to other campuses in LAUSD.
The teachers union said it has identified 148 employees it represents who lost their homes.
Students from two burned-down Los Angeles elementary schools will resume classes Wednesday in new locations in neighborhoods near fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades as employee unions estimate that at least 150 district staff, including many teachers, have lost their homes.
Students who were attending Palisades Charter Elementary will shift to Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet in Brentwood, a neighborhood adjacent to Pacific Palisades. Students who had been at Marquez Charter Elementary will report for class at Nora Sterry Elementary in the Sawtelle neighborhood, which is south of Brentwood.
Officials announced the opening of the relocated schools at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
The relocation plan keeps the two displaced school communities intact, with the same teachers instructing the same students.
Inside the dramatic air attack that saved Brentwood and Encino from the surging Palisades fire
Over the weekend, some teachers at the receiving schools worked to move out of their current classrooms to allow the entering groups to be together in a designated portion of campus. At the same time, the arriving teachers were organizing to move in.
All of the district’s 1,000 campuses were closed last week on Thursday and Friday. All reopened on Monday except for the two destroyed campuses and seven others affected by evacuation zones.
The teachers union said it has identified 148 employees it represents who lost their homes. United Teachers Los Angeles represents about 38,000 teachers, counselors, psychologist and nurses. The union said it knew of 550 displaced as of 3 p.m. Monday.
A separate union, the California School Employees Assn., which represents library aides, said two of its members had lost homes.
Together those two unions account for about half of district employees.
A week after the L.A. firestorms began, the threat continues as the unprecedented losses sink in
For affected employees, the district will provide five flexible paid days off, a number that is likely to rise, said L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho.
Teachers union President Cecily Myart-Cruz and administrators’ union president Maria Nichols sharply criticized Carvalho’s administration for not shutting down campuses sooner after the Palisades and Eaton Canyon fires ignited on Tuesday and also for poor communication that left principals and parents scrambling.
Carvalho acknowledged the problems but said it wasn’t for lack of diligent attention. The district’s actions, he said, were based on protocols developed in 2021 after a major fire.
“This guide actually contemplated a single event,” Carvalho said. “And by the way, this is consistent with level of readiness and response that fire departments, municipal entities, CAL FIRE have declared. At no point has there ever been a level of preparation for three, four, five or six simultaneous fires with hurricane-level strength, winds with a degree of instability and wind shifts that were hard to predict.”
On Wednesdasy, Carvalho said air-quality dashboards were “inconsistent with with what I was seeing” and conditions that were reported to him by principals.
Carvalho decided to expand school closures and even to shut down schools in progress on Wednesday, which caused logistical problems, but seemed more prudent than waiting out the school day, he said.
He added that the district would review and improve procedures for the future.
Remaining closed this week is Palisades High School, an L.A. Unified property that is managed by an independent charter school.
About 40% of the structures were either damaged or destroyed, wrote Principal Pamela Magee in a post to the school community.
Pali High intends to open next Tuesday, offering classes online while it looks for a temporary location.
Also on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced measures to help schools recover and maintain funding. Among other elements, the order suspends attendance, class size and residency requirements for affected campuses.
Districtwide on Monday, attendance was 87% across L.A. Unified, compared to 91% for the year as a whole. The attendance rate at Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet was 65%; at Sterry it was 79%.
The Eagle Rock area was affected by heavy smoke and high winds and attendance was below normal in that area as well. At Eagle Rock Elementary, the attendance rate was 84%, at Eagle Rock High School, it was 90%.
Fire largely destroyed Palisades Elementary and Marquez Elementary. Each school has been relocated in its entirety to a different LAUSD campus.
www.latimes.comProtesters At J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Meeting Demand An End Of Profiting From Healthcare
https://youtu.be/AN5_6kxNuiY
The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors conference in San Francisco at the St. Francis Hotel on January 13, 2025 was met with angry healthcare workers, …patients and people
protesting the profiteering and denials of healthcare for millions of Americans leading to their deaths from these capitalist practices. Speakers said that millions of people in the US who
need healthcare aren't getting it because of a corrupt healthcare system run by the billionaires and CEO's who the conference is organized for.
The rally was called by United Front Committee For A Labor Party and it called for a public worker controlled healthcare system run not for profits but for the needs of people. They also called for the formation of a labor party to oppose the two corporate parties the Democrats and Republicans which take money from the healthcare and insurance industries and and helping ot
privatize medicare.
United Healthcare which was involved in massive denials using AI to increase their profits and also the privatization of medicare was also charged with crimes against their patients and the
people of the United States.
Speakers also talked about the trillions of dollars going to the wars in Ukraine and against the Palestinian people while people in the United States can't get national healthcare, housing and
public services.
Additional Media:
Palestinian allies, labour unions protest US healthcare investment conference
https://www.newarab.com/news/us-healthcare-investment-conference-faces-palestine-protests?amp
Who Is The Real Assassin, Luigi Mangioni or Brian Thomson, The CEO Of United Healthcare
https://ufclp.org/who-is-the-real-assassin-luigi-mangioni/
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conference & United Healthcare:A Marriage In Capitalist Heaven
https://youtu.be/HL-rz6SVjMo
Workers-Call-on-J.P.-Morgan-to-Cancel-2025-Healthcare-Conference-in-San-Francisco-as-Strikes-Affect-27.5-of-Citys-Hotel-Rooms
Refusal of Recovery: How Medicare Advantage Insurers Have Denied Patients Access To Post-Acute Care
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.10.17-PSI-Majority-Staff-Report-on-Medicare-Advantage.pdf
Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ Probe
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789
For More Info:
United Front Committee For A Labor Party
www.ufclp.org
Production of WorkWeek
www.labormedia.net
Protesters At J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors SF Meeting Demand An End Of Profiting From Healthcare
Protesters At J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Meeting Demand An End Of Profiting From Healthcare
https://youtu.be/AN5_6kxNuiY
The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors conference in San Francisco at the St. Francis Hotel on January 13, 2025 was met with angry healthcare workers, …patients and people protesting the profiteering and denials of healthcare for millions of Americans leading to their deaths from these capitalist practices. Speakers said that millions of people in the US who need healthcare aren't getting it because of a corrupt healthcare system run by the billionaires and CEO’s who the conference is organized for.
The rally was called by United Front Committee For A Labor Party and it called for a public worker controlled healthcare system run not for profits but for the needs of people. They also called for the formation of a labor party to oppose the two corporate parties the Democrats and Republicans which take money from
the healthcare and insurance industries and and helping ot
privatize medicare.
United Healthcare which was involved in massive denials using AI to increase their profits and also the privatization of medicare was also charged with crimes against their patients and the
people of the United States.
Speakers also talked about the trillions of dollars going to the wars in Ukraine and against the Palestinian people while people in the United States can't get national healthcare, housing and
public services.
Additional Media:
Palestinian allies, labour unions protest US healthcare investment conference
https://www.newarab.com/news/us-healthcare-investment-conference-faces-palestine-protests?amp
Who Is The Real Assassin, Luigi Mangioni or Brian Thomson, The CEO Of United Healthcare
https://ufclp.org/who-is-the-real-assassin-luigi-mangioni/
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conference & United Healthcare:A Marriage In Capitalist Heaven
https://youtu.be/HL-rz6SVjMo
Workers-Call-on-J.P.-Morgan-to-Cancel-2025-Healthcare-Conference-in-San-Francisco-as-Strikes-Affect-27.5-of-Citys-Hotel-Rooms
Refusal of Recovery: How Medicare Advantage Insurers Have Denied Patients Access To Post-Acute Care
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.10.17-PSI-Majority-Staff-Report-on-Medicare-Advantage.pdf
Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ Probe
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789
For More Info:
United Front Committee For A Labor Party
www.ufclp.org
Production of WorkWeek
www.labormedia.net
Palestinian allies, labour unions protest US healthcare investment conference
Labour organisers, Palestinian allies and others protest a healthcare investment conference amid growing frustration over US for-profit medical care.
www.newarab.comPalestinian allies, labour unions protest US healthcare investment conference
https://www.newarab.com/news/us-healthcare-investment-conference-faces-palestine-protests?amp
Brooke Anderson
Washington, DC
14 January, 2025
Labour organisers, Palestinian allies and others protest a …healthcare investment conference amid growing frustration over US for-profit medical care.
Police separate attendees of a healthcare investors conference from protesters. [Brooke Anderson_TNA].jpeg
Police separate attendees of a healthcare investors conference from protesters. [Brooke Anderson/TNA]
A healthcare investment conference in San Francisco one month after the murder of a CEO in New York that unleashed nationwide rage over for-profit healthcare was met by dozens of protesters Monday afternoon.
In front of the Westin St. Francis Hotel in the heart of the city's downtown, demonstrators, led by labour union organisers and pro-Palestinian activists, stood on both sides of Powell Street while holding signs and chanting as executives were dropped off by guarded black SUVs.
"We believe as working people that everyone has the right to healthcare. Healthcare is a human right," said Steve Zeltzer, a labour journalist, as the first in a series of speakers stationed directly across the street from the hotel entrance, which was heavily fortified by metal barricades and shoulder-to-shoulder police officers.
"The reason in this country that we don't have healthcare is because of these people. These billionaires, United Healthcare, J.P. Morgan, these people are rapacious. All they care about is how to make more money by denying healthcare," he said.
"The main reason we don't have healthcare is because these billionaires don't want us to have healthcare unless they can make a profit from it," he said, as protesters continued to gather. He added that in addition to healthcare, J.P. Morgan is also investing in bombs, referring to its long-criticised financing of cluster bombs.
The four-day conference held by J.P. Morgan, is considered one of the largest of its kind in the world with 14,000 worldwide participants, 8,000 investors and 550 global healthcare companies, according to the event's website.
A mobile electronic billboard near the hotel used to promote the conference described the gathering as "The premier investor conference" and stated that more than 350 companies were presenting, and more than 1,200 were attending, representing a collective capital of over $400 billion.
It was a bold showing of the increasingly corporatised global healthcare industry amid a growing resistance against the sector, ranging from nearly daily demonstrations to online testimonies by people sharing their personal stories of their healthcare coverage that has been denied or exorbitantly priced.
Americans pay more per capita for healthcare than any other country in the world, with more than 37 citizens living without insurance and an additional 41 million having inadequate access to healthcare, according to The Lancet medical journal.
It is not uncommon for Americans to pay $1,000 per month in private health insurance premiums (without doctors' visits), or for patients to get charged tens of thousands of dollars for emergency room visits. The most common reason for bankruptcy in the US is healthcare bills.
The long-time simmering public anger reached a boiling point last month after the brazen murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan, who was on his way to a shareholders' conference.
It was soon reported that he had been under investigation by the Department of Justice for insider trading, that his company had used artificial intelligence incorrectly to assess their denials of patient claims, and that UnitedHealthcare had the highest rate of claim denials of any other US healthcare company.
The suspect, Luigi Mangione, quickly became something of a folk hero, with the words "Free Luigi" repeatedly written in comments and spray-painted on walls across the country.
Countless songs have been made in tribute to a murder suspect, who appears to have garnered far more public sympathy than a murdered CEO, showing Americans' growing intolerance of an increasingly expensive and complex healthcare system. On Monday afternoon, multiple musicians played their own healthcare songs.
Also at Monday afternoon's demonstration, a number of protesters blamed Americans' lack of affordable healthcare on US taxpayers' money going towards Israel and other military commitments overseas. In fact, many of the same people have also been staging demonstrations in support of Palestinian healthcare workers affected by Israel's war on Gaza.
One of the main speakers at Monday's demonstration was Elizabeth Milos, a Spanish/English medical interpreter with the University of California, San Francisco, who supports Palestinians through her labour union.
"It's amazing that we're giving billions and billions of dollars to Israel, which happens to have universal healthcare on our dime, while we have here people dying in the streets," she said.
"I, as a Chilean American who have been fighting against fascism all my life, find it completely disgusting that Palestinians and people who support Palestinians are being accused of antisemitism," she said, referring to resistance to American medical professionals protesting the conditions of their counterparts in Gaza, including from the group Canary Mission.
"This healthcare investment conference is made up of people, profiteers, who support the genocide of Gaza," she said.
On the other side of the street, in front of the entrance to the hotel, protesters stood along the curb as they chanted at the attendees, at times making reference to US funding for Israel as a reason for Americans' lack of healthcare.
A man in a suit, standing where conference attendees were gathered, behind the police barricade, yelled to the protesters that he wanted a genocide against them. As he was repeatedly yelling at the protesters, another man in a suit wearing a J.P. Morgan lanyard pulled him aside to calm him down.
As the evening wore on, some of the attendees walked over to the areas where the protesters were gathered, and journalists who had been inside covering the conference went outside to speak with the demonstrators. Activists were already planning for the second day of the conference, which will feature as a guest speaker First Lady Jill Biden.
Labour organisers, Palestinian allies and others protest a healthcare investment conference amid growing frustration over US for-profit medical care.
www.newarab.comPeople Fed Up With J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conf Profiteering On Denials In San Francisco
https://youtu.be/XptX_PRaoFo
At the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors conference in San Francisco at the St. Francico Hotel on January 13, 2025 and it was met with angry healthcare …workers, patients and people
protesting the profiteering and denials leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the US who need healthcare but aren't getting it because of a corrupt healthcare system run
by the billionaires and CEO's.
The rally was called by United Public Workers For Action and it called for a public worker controlled healthcare system run not for profits but for the needs of people. They also called for the formation of a labor party to oppose the two corporate parties the Democrats and Republicans which take money from the healthcare and insurance industries and and helping ot privatize medicare.
United Healthcare which was involved in massive denials using AI to increase their profits and also the privatization of medicare was also charged with crimes against their patients and the people of the United States.
Speakers also talked about the trillions of dollars going to the wars in Ukraine and against the Palestinian people while people in the United States can't get national healthcare, housing and
public services.
Additional Media:
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conference & United Healthcare:A Marriage In Capitalist Heaven
https://youtu.be/HL-rz6SVjMo
Workers-Call-on-J.P.-Morgan-to-Cancel-2025-Healthcare-Conference-in-San-Francisco-as-Strikes-Affect-27.5-of-Citys-Hotel-Rooms
Refusal of Recovery: How Medicare Advantage Insurers Have Denied Patients Access To Post-Acute Care
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.10.17-PSI-Majority-Staff-Report-on-Medicare-Advantage.pdf
Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ Probe
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789
Production of WorkWeek
www.labormedia.net
People Fed Up With J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conf Profiteering On Denials In San Francisco
https://youtu.be/XptX_PRaoFo
At the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors conference in San Francisco at the St. Francico Hotel on January 13, 2025 and it was met with angry healthcare …workers, patients and people
protesting the profiteering and denials leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the US who need healthcare but aren't getting it because of a corrupt healthcare system run
by the billionaires and CEO's.
The rally was called by United Public Workers For Action and it called for a public worker controlled healthcare system run not for profits but for the needs of people. They also called for the formation of a labor party to oppose the two corporate parties the Democrats and Republicans which take money from the healthcare and insurance industries and and helping ot privatize medicare.
United Healthcare which was involved in massive denials using AI to increase their profits and also the privatization of medicare was also charged with crimes against their patients
and the people of the United States.
Speakers also talked about the trillions of dollars going to the wars in Ukraine and against the Palestinian people while people in the United States can't get national healthcare, housing and public services.
Additional Media:
J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors Conference & United Healthcare:A Marriage In Capitalist Heaven
https://youtu.be/HL-rz6SVjMo
Workers-Call-on-J.P.-Morgan-to-Cancel-2025-Healthcare-Conference-in-San-Francisco-as-Strikes-Affect-27.5-of-Citys-Hotel-Rooms
Refusal of Recovery: How Medicare Advantage Insurers Have Denied Patients Access To Post-Acute Care
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.10.17-PSI-Majority-Staff-Report-on-Medicare-Advantage.pdf
Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Was Accused Of Insider Trading Amid DOJ Probe
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789
Production of WorkWeek
www.labormedia.net
At the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Investors conference in San Francisco at the St. Francico Hotel on January 13, 2025 and it was met with angry…
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