October 30th, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Even as House Democrats yesterday revealed their version of a major overhaul to the nation’s health-care system, activists on both sides of the debate were marshaling a potent force to push their viewpoints.

The force? Senior citizens.

Polls have indicated that concerns about the overhaul are strongest among senior citizens, an influential bloc because people 65 and older are the most reliable voters. Their power is magnified in midterm elections because turnout is usually much lower than in presidential years.

That is why America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, is spending millions to run these advertisements in 10 states, including Pennsylvania, which has one of the largest populations of senior citizens in the nation.

And it is why a tiny band of elderly activists, marshaled by two statewide organizations promoting President Obama’s plan, rallied briefly outside the headquarters of Cigna Corp. in Philadelphia yesterday.

“I get so angry I see red,” said one of them, Clara Jellinek, 83, of Center City. She said the advertisements were confusing and intended to scare senior citizens. “They are very effective.”

She said senior citizens would be helped when more people were covered and when their choices included a government option, which insurers such as Cigna oppose.

Read more at the Inquirer.