About 200 advocates of a single-payer health care system, which would eliminate the private health insurance industry, chanted and sang in front of the Market Street offices of United HealthCare starting in the early morning of October 28. At about 8:00am they then marched to the Blue Shield office on Beale St., where 30 of the demonstrators staged a sit-in, blocking access to the health insurer's office.

The San Francisco demonstration was part of a national day of direct action against the insurance industry. Protests at ten other locations took place the same day in other cities; a similar national day of civil disobedience at insurance company sites was held earlier this month. Protesters advocated a single-payer system in which the state or federal government would create one system of health insurance to cover everyone, as would be created by Rep. John Conyers’ H.R. 676.

At the Beale Street location, protesters were joined by a local contingent of “Billionaires for Wealthcare” in formal wear and accompanied by a maidservant. The Billionaires held signs supporting the status quo and sang several numbers including “We Shall Overcharge” to the traditional tune "We Shall Overcome". Other artistic action included music and chants led by Brass Liberation Orchestra and a giant "Octopus of Death" representing insurance industry profiteering. The octopus extended large tentacles choking protesters who portrayed needy patients denied care by Blue Shield.

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