Tea parties top of mind

The report that claims UnitedHealth Group is telling employees to participate in “tea parties,” is simply not true, according to a UnitedHealth e-mail.

UnitedHealth spokesman John Parker said the company doesn’t share third-party event listings, but only information about town halls sponsored by members of Congress.

“It’s beneficial for United from a business perspective to educate others about town halls sponsored by members of Congress early in the healthcare debate process,” says Georgette Pascale, president, Pascale Communications LLC, a healthcare public relations firm in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“They are being proactive about information and getting to the forefront of the debate on the future structure of healthcare delivery in the United States,” she says. “In the current environment, I feel that sometimes big insurers are painted as bad guys so with this approach, they are not being left out of the conversation; they are simply educating/disseminating public information in a timely manner.”

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