Healthcare activists around the country, meanwhile, staged a national day of sit-ins at insurance companies Wednesday to demand public universal healthcare. The groups Mobilization for Health Care for All and Healthcare-NOW! say at least thirty-seven people were arrested nationwide. More than 115 people have been arrested since the first sit-ins were held last month. Here in New York, nine people were arrested at the offices of WellPoint insurance.

Protester: “I’m here because, at the moment, the private insurance companies are controlling the outcome of healthcare reform in this country by contributing millions of dollars in lobbying efforts to our elected officials. The private insurance companies are the real death panels. We want a system that covers all Americans and cuts costs, and that system is Medicare for all.”

Other protest sites included New Jersey, where seven people were arrested after blocking the Newark offices of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. In Florida, two people were arrested outside the Sunrise offices of CIGNA. Seven were arrested outside CIGNA’s offices in Glendale, California. In Seattle, eight people were arrested at the offices of Regence BlueShield. And in San Francisco, more than thirty people took part in a blockade of the offices of UnitedHealth and Blue Shield of California. No arrests were made. More sit-ins are scheduled to continue today.