Despite all the promise of cooperation between the insurance industry and Washington to pass health care reform, the insurers have steadily emerged as the enemy of reform efforts, especially after a much-criticized memo from America's Health Insurance Plans saying the reform plan would raise premiums. In a conference call with reporters, representatives from Health Care for America Now and MoveOn.org launched another salvo against insurers with a new ad campaign and a rally focusing on personal stories. Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for HCAN, said that the time was right to target the industry.

"The tremendous anger that the American people have with the insurance industry has spilled into Congress," Kirsch said, noting that members of Congress as well as President Obama have stepped up their criticism of insurers.

Justin Ruben, the executive director of MoveOn.org, invoked memories of President Clinton's reform efforts in the '90s.

"Last week the insurance industry declared war on health care," Ruben said. "They killed reform last time and we're not going to let them do it again."

The new offensive comes as AHIP holds its annual meeting in D.C. HCAN is planning a rally outside of the Capitol Hilton Hotel, where the meeting will be held, with supporters holding up signs bearing the names of people who have been wronged by insurers. Susan Pearl, whose son Ian has muscular dystrophy but is facing a cancellation of coverage by Guardian Insurance, joined in on the call. She said that the case her family has launched against Guardian has served to expose the industry's misdeeds.

"Insurance companies are used to getting away with describing options in a way that will get them off the hook if they need to," Pearl said. "We were able to publicly lift the veil of not just what goes on behind closed doors, but the veil of anonymity. We have been able to put faces and names, conversations and memos, on the kind of conduct that probably goes on every day."

The protests and ads are also designed to boost the public option. To that end, MoveOn has launched a TV spot with actress Heather Graham that preaches the benefits of the public option. Kirsch said he was encouraged by new CBO numbers (subscription) that showed a House health care plan with a public option would lead to savings.

"This isn't just an ideological battle," Kirsch said. "It's also about saving money to make things more affordable. Here's a plan that saves money for taxpayers, saves money for families and saves money for small businesses."

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