How Occupy Wall Street is Affecting Healthcare and Social Media

Kelly Mehler | Government Health IT | October 17, 2011

The advocacy group Health Care for America Now has had a loud voice in the healthcare reform debate over the past three years. The company started a Tumblr blog titled "We are the 99 percent," where followers submit photos of themselves holding a sheet of paper, with a message as to why they choose to occupy Wall Street. The site states: "We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution." The list goes on.

One 17-year-old freshman attending community college posted this week: "A job should not be the difference between getting to be able to pay for dialysis or suffering from kidney failure. I am the 99%" Another blogger explained that her father is unemployed due to disabilities obtained on the job. "He's in need of health insurance," the young woman wrote on her section of paper. "But he is not eligible for Medicare because he could be covered on my mom's health insurance... if she adds him, she would owe her job $$ each month and have no take home income. We are the 99%."...