Protesters rally against WellPoint

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - It was a full-court press kind of day for advocates of health care reform.

In Indianapolis, about 100 people gathered in front of WellPoint's headquarters on Monument Circle protesting what they call the insurance company's denial of health care to its customers.

The public policy advocacy group MoveOn was behind the protest.

Yvonne Margedant was one of the protestors. She is unemployed, uninsured and has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

"I couldn't put my kids through college because of medical issues," Margedant said. "And even when you do have insurance, for most of us, the deductibles are so high and what you have to pay is so high, you can't feed your family and do insurance."

Michelle Russell is with MoveOn's Indianapolis office.

"I'd like to see WellPoint not deny coverage. I'd like to see them not drop people who have pre-existing conditions," she said. "I'd like to see them not continue to raise premiums and deductibles at fantastic rates."

The protestors chanted, told stories of dealing with a lack of health insurance and knocked on WellPoint's door, hoping to deliver a message to administrators there.

WellPoint did not allow the protestors in, nor did it provide anyone to speak with 24-Hour News 8.

The company did release a written statement.

Part of it said, "The actions of the group today do nothing to forward the efforts in Congress and with the Administration to expand access to affordable health care to the uninsured, reduce the cost of health care in this country or to increase the quality of health care received by Americans."

Indianapolis was not the only place health care reform received attention Tuesday.

In National Harbor, Maryland, Vice President Joe Biden released a White House report indicating health insurance premiums rose between 90 and 150 percent during the past decade.

The White House's analysis found that families' premiums in Indiana went up 136 percent, outpacing wage growth of 42 percent.

Seventh-district Congressman Andre Carson put out a news release Tuesday saying the survey shows nearly one in five of his district's residents had no health coverage in 2008.

"It's easy to see why my constituents are calling for comprehensive health-care reform," Carson said.