Group Pickets Health Care Provider in 9-city Protest
WellPoint locked the lobby doors and police stood on guard. The protest was peaceful but pointed -- with participants blaming the insurance companies for current problems and accusing the president of breaking his campaign promise to bring real reform.

Meet UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley, Opponent of Reform

Last Thursday, fifty protesters, holding umbrellas and candles, stood outside Helmsley's mansion, in the rain, and screened a video that contrasted his exhorbitant income and lifestyle, and UnitedHealth's huge profits, with the millions of Americans who go without insurance or bankrupt themselves with medical bills.

Businessweek

UnitedHealth's relationship with Democratic Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia illustrates the industry's subtle role. Elected last fall, Warner, a former governor of his state and a wealthy ex-businessman, received a choice assignment as the Senate Democrats' liaison to business. The rookie senator landed in the center of a high-visibility political drama—and in a position to earn the gratitude of a health insurance industry that has donated more than $19 million to federal candidates since 2007, 56% of which has gone to Democrats.

Digby links this excellent reporting on the pay for parasites:

* United Health Group
CEO: William W McGuire
2005: 124.8 mil
5-year: 342 mil

* Forest Labs
CEO: Howard Solomon
2005: 92.1 mil
5-year: 295 mil

* Caremark Rx
CEO: Edwin M Crawford
2005: 77.9 mil
5-year: 93.6 mil

* Abbott Lab
CEO: Miles White
2005: 26.2 mil