America Needs YOU! (To explain why the health care bill works for working Americans.)

The other side is running full tilt at what they sneeringly term "Obamacare," a mythical bill that's supposedly already driving up costs for small business and creating soaring premiums. And since most Americans still don't really understand or know much about the health care bill, it's been easy to create that monstrous image of a bloated, expensive bill that hurts, not helps.

But not anymore. Candidates and politicians who voted for health care are starting to run on it now, bringing the immediate benefits of the bill sharply into focus.

As E.J. Dionne points out in his column today:

Why the sudden willingness to run on health care? The key reason is that the law didn't begin to take effect until Sept. 23, and the first elements to kick in are very popular. They include the guarantee that children cannot be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, a requirement that insurance companies allow kids to stay on their parents' health plans until age 26 and a ban on "rescissions" through which insurance companies could abruptly drop sick people from coverage.

Around the country, Democratic candidates are calling these parts of the bill a "Patient's Bill of Rights," as Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), put it in a column in the Huffington Post.

Dionne also points out that Democrats are starting to expose not just the good points of the bill, but also Republicans' lies about the bill. As he puts it, there are two competing visions of the health care bill in this election:

One is the parody Republicans have lovingly created that casts the health-care law as a big-government monstrosity with no redeeming features. The other is the law itself, an admittedly sprawling legislative compromise that nonetheless moves things in the right direction -- and most of whose individual elements voters support.

Democratic politicians are finally starting to expose the monstrosity as a false vision, and the sprawling-but-mostly-good-compromise as the true one. But they can't do it alone. UFCW members, like most union members across the country, had a unique seat in the health care debate and the opportunity to learn the inside and out of the bill like few other Americans. And it's up to us--to progressives and union members and labor supporters and anyone who works for working people--to educate our friends and family members on what this bill is really all about.

We need to tell them that the health care bill does some really good things (kids can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, young adults can stay on their parents' insurance till age 26, people can't be kicked off their health care for getting sick) but also needs improvement, like any big bill. And we need to convey to every one we know that many Republicans--especially Tea Party Republicans--want to repeal health care, and all those great benefits that just kicked in. We need to let them know that voting for those Tea Party Republicans is really a vote to get rid of that health care bill, not to fix it.

Here's a video to help you get started:

FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS LAUD PASSAGE OF SWEEPING HEALTH CARE REFORMS

Statement by Joe Hansen, President of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)

Washington DC— Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed health care reforms that will better serve all Americans. Thanks to the commitment of President Obama and Democratic Members of Congress, we now have reform legislation that has eluded our nation’s grasp for a century.

This is an achievement that will rank among the highest in our national experience.

For the countless hard-working families across the country suffering at the hands of our nation’s badly broken health care system, the passage of this bill represents an unprecedented leap forward in the struggle to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care—and makes good on President Obama’s promise to lead our country through the difficult challenges facing the American people on this issue.

With the passage of this bill comes an end to the worst of insurance company abuses. No longer will Americans have to fear being denied health insurance due to pre-existing conditions. There will be no more lifetime limits on the dollar value of benefits. No more will insurance companies be allowed to retroactively cancel insurance coverage when a policy holder becomes ill.

Aside from reigning in insurance company greed, the bill also extends coverage to millions of Americans who would otherwise go without, reduces prescription drug costs for seniors, while encouraging employers to fulfill their obligation of providing benefits to their workers.

UFCW members participated in the health care debate in nearly every congressional district across the country. They made calls and wrote letters, rallied and marched, visited district offices and traveled to Washington D.C., to meet with elected representatives. UFCW members won’t forget the representatives who voted “yes” on these reforms and stood with working people and families rather than the insurance company lobbyists.

###
About Joe Hansen: President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Joe has played a key role in the negotiation of contracts covering hundreds of thousands of workers in the retail and food manufacturing industries. An original member of the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, Hansen served as the sole worker representative in that congressionally chartered body. The group facilitated a groundbreaking national dialogue that resulted in a bipartisan consensus on the need for affordable, quality care for all Americans. About the UFCW: United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream, and is a charter member of organization Health Care for America Now - a key voice in America’s health care reform movement.

Millions call on Congress to act: it's time for health care reform

Last Wednesday, people across the country sent over one million messages to Congress urging them to finish the job and pass real health care reform.

Five hundred people physically assembled to greet Melanie's March - a group of health insurance company abuse survivors who marched for eight days and 135 miles from Philadelphia, PA to DC in honor of Melanie Shouse, an Obama volunteer and health care activist who died because she didn't have affordable health care and access to the care she needed to detect and treat her breast cancer - at Union Station and walked the last leg together to Capitol Hill.

UFCW members were there along the way to show their support. Local 1776's John Meyerson commended the marchers and lent his voice to the call for health care reform now (see video).

136-mile march to the White House begins

Antoinette Krause, Bill West, Athena Ford, and Amy Fitzpatrick are four Pennsylvania residents who set out this week on a 136-mile march from Philadelphia to DC to bring their message to Congress: it is time to listen to the American people- not the big insurance lobbyists- and pass health care reform.

The four are marching in memory of their friend Melanie Shouse, who lost a long battle with breast cancer after missing out on critical treatment due to a lack of affordable health insurance.

Join the Virtual March!

You can follow the marchers' thoughts from the road at MelaniesMarch.com:

As many of you know, a few of us left Philadelphia yesterday to embark on a mission – to walk 136 miles in 8 days and arrive in DC to tell Congress it’s time to Finish Reform.

A rally in Philly sent us off, over 150 people came and many marched with us the first couple of blocks. A few folks even marched the entire way to Delaware County where we ended the day with a vigil in front of Taylor Hospital.

The actual walking part has been more difficult than expected. We hadn’t accounted for the simple obstacle of snow – four feet of snow iced over covered a good portion of the sidewalks we had been relying on for safe passage. Weaving in and out of snow banks, crisscrossing streets -were able to pull it together to finish the miles of the day. And, amazingly, we’ve been able to keep on pace for the most part in order to make it to our events.

Despite the obstacles and sore legs, spirits are high! Today, a man threw up his window and cheered us on. A Pastor, welcomed us into his church with a rally and a home cooked meal. A clapping group of locals met us at Mr. Pasta for a meet up where they shared their stories and massaged our necks. And a groups of teenagers eagerly awaiting the legal driving age gave us the most quizzical look and asked “why don’t you just drive?!”

The press has been following us closely. Word about the March is really getting around. We’re all so very proud of the volunteers making this such a success. One of our organizers, Dave, is so proud, in fact, that he took two of them to get pedicures tonight.

I’m currently drafting this from the entry way of a church in Wilmington that has shown us incredible hospitality. After finishing up this blog post and brainstorming for final activities, Antoinette and I are going to prepare for tomorrow.

We’ve got another 17 miles of adventure ahead of us.

If Democrats Don't Pass Health Reform, Will They Lose Younger Voters?

As a new article in Newsweek points out, young Americans are the least likely to be insured. And no, not because they're lazy or don't want to pay:

Young Americans are uniquely affected by the nation's broken health-care system. The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that aims to improve health care, found in a report released in December that nearly half of all young adults between 19 and 29 said they were uninsured at some time during the past year. Because this age range brings with it a number of transition points that can lead to coverage being cut off—high school and college graduation, and early internships or jobs that don't provide coverage—it's a decade fraught with peril.

Given the weakness in the economy, says Sara Collins, co-author of the report, young adults looking for insurance through their employers face an uphill battle. If the economy gets worse, so too will the health-care outlook for young Americans.

So it's no surprise that young Americans are more in favor of comprehensive health care reform than any other age group. From the article:

...even after months of demonization, including countless falsehoods about government takeovers and "death panels," young people remain the group that supports health-care reform at the highest rates. When the Commonwealth Fund asked young respondents whether it was important for Congress and the president to improve the health-care system, 88 percent said yes.

Now if Congress lets down young people on health care, will young people turn away from political involvement? If one of the most important issues to young Americans is allowed to wither and die, what will young people think of the politicians they voted for, the ones who promised that this time would be different? From the Newsweek piece:

If the Democrats drop health care, there will be an entire generation of young voters unable to point to a single major legislative accomplishment from the party during their lifetime. And as far they will be concerned, when it came time for the Democrats to act on an issue that was particularly important to them, they folded.

Democrats worried about their re-election campaigns this fall should be very concerned about this. Young people are a crucial part of their base, and were instrumental in Obama's electoral success. If they turn away from the Democrats or from politics, much like my generation did after the promises President Clinton made turned to dust, it will be the party's loss most of all. So Congress should pass health care reform--if not for the country, if not for all the uninsured or under-insured Americans outthere--to at least keep alive the hope, activism, and civic-mindedness of our nation's youngest voters. After all, corny as it sounds, they are America's future. Let's keep them healthy, happy, and politically engaged.

Health Care Advocates Storm Chamber of Commerce

UFCW members and other health care advocates stormed the Chamber of Commerce today, surrounding the building and spilling over the sidewalks and into the street along H Street in front of the White House.

The message was clear- it's time for health care that serves the American people, not wealthy corporate lobbyists.

Photos from today's event:

Call your members of Congress. NOW!!!!

You want to talk about the fierce urgency of now? No better time for your Congressman or Senator to hear from you than today. Why? Because we need to make sure Congress doesn't learn the wrong lessons from the MA election yesterday.

When it comes to the need to make good health care affordable, nothing is different today than it was yesterday. Congress must keep going and finish reform right.

We must fix health care now to keep improving our economy. We cannot continue to allow medical expenses to bankrupt our nation’s families and businesses.

Massachusetts has shown that health reform works, with 98% of people covered and insurers not allowed to deny people based on pre-existing conditions. For voters in Massachusetts, the issue was about what they are worried about now - jobs. It wasn't about health care.

We are on track to pass a strong bill in the next few weeks, and we will stay on track until the President signs that bill into law. But you need to let your members of Congress know that the American people still want health care reform! Call right now--this second--it's not too late! Here's the switchboard number: (202) 224-3121.

Sarah Palin Tells Union Members to Reject Improvements to the Health Care Bill

We recently posted about the improvements to the tax portion of the health care bill for all workers which union members helped to make possible. Well, Sarah Palin apparently thinks union members should reject this bill. At first, she Tweeted this:

"Pls pay attention 2 Big Union backdoor deal struck yest w/Big Govt in sweetheart healthcare deal.Call the folks u elected,say NO! UNFAIR.."

Then she apparently remembered she's supposed to be in favor of unions and working people, so she then Tweeted this:

"good,hardworking pro-business UnionMEMBERS should oppose their UnionBOSSES backroom deal on this;unfortunately/unfairly paints all of'm bad."

What do you think? Should union members tell Congress to go back to taxing union health care plans, and dental and vision for all workers? Union members worked hard to make sure all workers could have better health care--should we drop these improvements to make ex-Governor Palin feel better?

Unions Help Improve Health Care Bill For All Workers

Union leaders have been working hard behind the scenes for the last few days to improve the health care bill for all working people.

Since they know the so-called "Cadillac Plan" tax would unfairly impact union members who have given up wages and other benefits in order to preserve their health care plans, they've been working with the White House and Congress to improve that part of the health care plan. And it looks like union leaders have helped make significant improvements:

• Workers covered by collective bargaining agreements, including state and local employees both union and non-union, will be exempted from the tax until 2018.

• For all workers, the threshold for the tax would be higher for both families and individuals than the Senate bill has proposed.

• After 2015, dental and vision would not count towards the tax, which means employers will not try to cut costs by cutting dental and vision from health care plans.

This is all great news for union members and non-union workers alike. And it's thanks to union members like you making calls to your members of Congress and putting constant pressure on them, and because of our union leaders working tirelessly with the White House and Congress to get the best health care deal for workers.

But like most things in life - there is still work to be done. The bill still is catastrophic for one in four Americans who work part-time, and puts millions at risk of having their hours reduced so their employer can avoid paying for their health care.

UFCW locals across the country are working hard to lobby Congress and get this dangerous provision changed. Join us, and call your member of Congress. Visit www.fixthebill.org to learn more and take part in our effort.

Good News for the Middle Class? Potential Movement on the Unfair Insurance Tax

Potential good news for union members: it looks like President Obama and members of Congress may be willing to negotiate so that fewer people would be affected by the so-called "Cadillac Plan" tax, including fewer union members. AP reports that although many ideas are under discussion, Obama:

is open to adjusting the tax so it would affect fewer people. There has been discussion of raising the threshold for the tax from $23,000 to $25,000 or higher. It has already been raised for first responders and workers in certain high-risk fields, and the levy could be softened for more unionized professions.

The foregone revenue from tweaking the insurance tax would be made up from the investment accounts of upper-income earners. (Pensions and retirement accounts would not be taxed.) The Senate bill already calls for raising the Medicare payroll tax on wages to 2.35 percent for couples making over $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000.

Union leaders, including UFCW President Joe Hansen, met with President Obama yesterday to discuss the tax and its negative impacts on middle-class families and union members. And while it's still too early to say if enough progress has been or will be made, the negotiations are certainly a step in the right direction.

What to Watch for in the Health Care Debate: House and Senate Version

Paul Waldman lays it all out in this rundown in the American Prospect: what we should watch for as the House and the Senate attempt to wheel and deal and merge their bills.

This part in particular should be of great interest to UFCW and other union members who are furious (and rightly so) at the unfair so-called "Cadillac plan" tax in the Senate bill:

Funding: This may be the stickiest difference between the two bills. The House version raises a substantial chunk of the needed revenue by imposing a 5.4 percent surtax on incomes over $500,000, or $1 million for couples. Meanwhile, the Senate bill raises revenue through an excise tax on "Cadillac plans." Many wonks believe the tax will put downward pressure on spending by making these expensive plans less appealing, but there's still concern that the tax could hit many middle-class people. The conference could just split the difference, implementing versions of both taxes.

h/t Ezra Klein.

House Bill passes test; Senate Bill Does Not

Adding to the growing body of research exposing the flaws in the Senate health bill, the Center for Economic Policy Research released a report this morning hammering the effectiveness of the Free-Rider provision.

Final health care reform legislation should include employer responsibility provisions that are consistent with the principle of shared responsibility and do not create perverse incentives and free rider problems. The House bill passes this test; the Senate bill does not.

The report supports the findings of the UFCW report released last week that found the Free Rider provision would incentivize companies shifting from full to part-time workers and would not hold employers accountable for their part in ensuring workers have access to quality coverage.

[BELOW: Snapshot from the report. A good breakdown of the employer, individual, and public responsibilities in the Senate health care bill.]

The Senate Free-Rider Provision or: How in trying to reform health care we could end up with a part-time America

Senate, what on earth is up with the Free-Rider provision in the health care bill?

In the spirit of an encouraging friend offering constructive criticism on decisions that could lead to potentially harmful and unintended consequences (like the time in college when my roommate wanted to sink her life-savings into an industrial dump truck on eBay), we think it is about time to sit down, put the kettle on, and have a heart-to-heart.

In a nutshell, the Free-Rider provision states that employers who don’t offer good coverage pay a fine if their workers qualify for subsidies to buy coverage in the insurance exchange.

Now for the problems:

1. Companies don’t have to pay fines for part-time workers
2. Companies don’t have to pay fines for workers eligible for Medicaid
3. Companies only have to pay a fine for workers receiving subsidies to buy coverage the insurance exchange.
4. The standard for “good coverage” that an employer must offer to avoid paying fines is ridiculously low.

Problem #1: Say you are the owner of Spend-A-Lot Stores and you need to cut costs. Health care is a huge expenditure for you, but you find that if you shift more workers to part-time, you can avoid having to pay for good benefits without having to pay fines. Your arch-nemesis, Fantabulousamazing, Inc. believes in investing in its workers and does offer good health plans. Now responsible Fantabulousamazing is at a disadvantage to your unscrupulous business practices, thus defeating the entire purpose of the provision.

Not only that, but workers in the community who were barely getting by on the wages at Spend-A-Lot now can’t get enough hours to pay the bills and are stuck without access to health care.

Problem #2: If workers qualify for Medicaid, Spend-A-Lot doesn’t have to pay fines for not providing good coverage because the workers won’t be buying insurance in the exchange.

Increase the number of workers on Medicaid = decrease health care costs = keep wages low enough for workers to qualify = further erode the middle class jobs offered by Spend-A-Lot.

Problem #3: By hiring workers who would not qualify for subsidies on the exchange, Spend-A-Lot can reduce the amount of fines incurred by not offering quality health coverage.

Workers not eligible for Medicaid who also do not qualify for subsidies would include those who are covered under their parents plans, older workers eligible for Medicare, and married workers whose spouses offer adequate health plans.

Center for American Progress sums it up pretty well:

Thus, counterintuitively, a “free rider” provision would penalize—and thus disincentivize—employers from hiring workers eligible for premium subsidies: low- and moderate-income individuals. This is a great concern for single mothers in particular, who could be penalized as less attractive hires.

Problem #4: If Spend-A-Lot offers really terrible coverage to workers, the definition of adequate coverage in the provision is so loose that a large share of the burden for health care costs can still remain on the workers while Spend-A-Lot doesn’t have to pay any fines at all. Now workers are left unable to qualify in the exchange and with coverage that will stick them with huge medical bills that they can’t afford.

On Tuesday, we released a report examining the impact of the provision on Walmart workers. Granted, we are not fans of Walmart in general because of its history of poor behavior when it comes to workers, but it also happens to be the largest private employer in the U.S.

The results? To maximize profits, the provision creates the incentive for Walmart to shift to part-time and to keep wages low and workers dependent on public programs. If a bad actor as big as Walmart can slip through the loopholes, what does that say about the bill’s ability to bring down health costs nationwide?

New Report and Ad Campaign Reminds Congress Health Care is Everybody’s Responsibility

A new study released by the UFCW examines the Senate health care reform bill, and finds that a provision meant to hold corporations accountable actually encourages companies to duck their fair share of the costs of health care reform.

The report examines the Senate bill by looking at its impact on America’s largest and most irresponsible private employer--Walmart. As written, the employer responsibility provision--"Free Rider"--would provide no overall health care cost savings because it would:

• Incentivize the hiring of a largely part-time workforce, and encourage reducing workers’ hours as a way to eliminate company responsibility for health care costs

• Force low-income Walmart employees into high-deductible, company-provided insurance.

• Make few, if any, Walmart employees eligible for tax credits to purchase better insurance through the health insurance exchange.

• Continue Walmart’s dependence on federal and state subsidies for Medicaid for its employees, and encourage Walmart to have even more employees dependent on Medicaid.

• Provide little or no incentive for Walmart to provide better care to its workers.

The complete report can be viewed online at www.fixthebill.org

These findings have galvanized a broad coalition of working families and their supporters to call on Senators to fix the flawed provision of the bill to ensure that President Barack Obama achieves his goal of quality, affordable health care for every Americans.

And concerned organizations that have signed on to a comprehensive ad campaign include the Communications Workers of America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, the United Farm Workers, USAction, and the United Steelworkers. Beginning with full page ads in Capitol Hill publications and a national Web presence, the group will roll out print ads across the country over the next few weeks.

The findings of this report put a bright light on just how critical employer responsibility is to health care reform. With much of America’s job growth expected to be in retail over the next few years, it is clear that not including strong employer responsibility provisions will result in a part-time workforce dependent on already overburdened state programs for health care.

Americans Prefer a Public Option to a Bipartisan Bill

It's true. For all the noise made the last few months about making sure the health care bill has bipartisan support, the majority of Americans really don't care--if it means the public option wouldn't be part of the final bill. From the ABC News/Washington Post poll:

"Which of these would you prefer – (a plan that includes some form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance, but is approved without support from Republicans in Congress); or (a plan that is approved with support from Republicans in Congress, but does not include any form of government-sponsored health insurance for people who can’t get affordable private insurance)?"

Fifty one percent said they preferred the public option; 37 percent said they preferred a bill with some support from Republicans in Congress. Six percent said neither and seven percent expressed no opinion.

House Health Care Bill Unveiled

Today's unveiling of the House health care bill represents a decisive milestone reached in the fight to ensure access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

The new bill "covers 96 percent of all Americans, and it puts affordable coverage in reach for millions of uninsured and underinsured families, lowering health care costs for all of us," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she addressed the crowd of Democratic leaders and health care advocates gathered on the west steps of the capitol Thursday morning.

The bill also ensures responsibility from employers by making sure they pay their fair share and accountability from insurance companies so that they can no longer deny insurance to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Not too shabby.

If you're looking for a little light reading, you can now review all 1990 pages of the bill yourself as it is up online.

House Members Push Back on Health CareTax for Working Families

Finally, Congress shows a little backbone. Apparently, 156 House members (a majority, if you're keeping track) have written a letter asking Speaker Pelosi to drop any notion of taxing so-called "Cadillac plans," or higher-cost health insurance. The letter rightfully points out that:

Such a tax would impact regions with high health care costs in the short-term, and, in the long-term, inevitably extend to more and more middle-income Americans across the country.

It also points out the biggest problem for union members with this tax--how grossly unfair it would be. UFCW members and other union members across the country have spent countless hours at the bargaining table trying to secure affordable, quality health care for themselves and their families. And as the costs of health care have skyrocketed, union members have been forced to sacrifice things like wage raises, or pension benefits, in order to keep health care affordable for all--not just for union members, but often for non-union workers in the industry as well.

Or as the Washington Post puts it:

Over the past decade or so, unions in contract negotiations typically chose to forgo large wage increases in exchange for more generous medical benefits, mainly because costs were rising faster than inflation. Now, as the Senate Finance Committee works on health-care legislation, union members say they feel unfairly targeted.

"It's the old Washington, D.C., law of unintended consequences," said Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, a consulting firm. "They went after the Goldman Sachs partner and they ended up with the fireman in Brooklyn."

Taxing union members' good health care plans would be punishing union members for fighting for affordable health care in the first place. It would be the ultimate betrayal of what union members stand for, and have always stood for: raising standards of living throughout our industries. It would be complete submission to the slippery-slope mentality--to the idea that we all fall down together rather than use unity to climb up.

And it's not just union members--it's all kinds of hard-working Americans who would be affected and taxed. As Bob Laszewski points out:

It is pretty clear to me that millions of middle class Americans would get caught in this AMT-like tax trap.

If we want to discourage excessive and inflationary health care benefits, a laudable goal, let's be direct about that. But let's not pretend to be going after some rich guy on Wall Street all the while knowing we have set a tax trap for a retired teacher in Miami.

None of us should be complicit in that pretense. So good for you, the 145 members of Congress who are making that clear today. Thank you from UFCW members nationwide for doing the right thing, for union members and all working families.

H/T to Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake

Listening to Doctors on Health Care Reform

In the health care debate, we've heard a lot from health care executives, insurance mouthpieces, concerned citizens, and politicians. But one group we haven't heard enough from: health care professionals.

The DNC has recently released an ad with a doctor and a nurse speaking about the need for health care reform. They know it all too well.



Yesterday President Obama met with 150 doctors in the Rose Garden to talk about health care reform.

Dawn Cutler has been a Registered Nurse at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington for over 20 years, and a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers. In her work with women and children in a large hospital birthing center, she sees that patients receive the good care they deserve.

We should be embarrassed to live in such wealthy country and have 49 million Americans without health insurance--to have thousands of people die because they cannot afford health care.

We need to say no to a system that says that if you lose your job you lose your health care. As a nurse, these patients, these families, they are people to me and they deserve the best.

Here's the real issue: a man or women who has committed their professional life to making people well has a moral obligation to help people in need. These doctors and nurses are individuals--with individual consciences. A health insurance company is a corporation.

To quote the satirist Ambrose Bierce:

Corporation. (n.) An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.

HCAN on the Colbert Report!

In case you missed it, here's HCAN Director Richard Kirsch on the Colbert Report the other night:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Better Know a Lobby - Health Care for America Now
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Why the Baucus Bill is No Good for Working Americans

Senator Baucus's health care bill is the talk of the town in Washington, D.C. today, and around the country as Americans wonder what this bill would mean for them. UFCW members should know that in the UFCW's opinion, this is not a good bill.

In a statement released today, we stated that:

Rather than advancing the goals of making health care more affordable for working Americans and controlling the spiraling costs of insurance, the bill by Senator Max Baucus aggravates an already dire situation.

This bill encourages large employers to duck responsibility for providing health care to their workers, potentially passes on thousands of dollars in premiums onto hardworking middle class families, and raises taxes on the few who may still have benefits. With no public option to keep insurance companies honest, these premiums will suck up an ever-increasing share of a worker's salary, while reducing benefits in their plan.

As President Hansen said:

There is another more productive, more prudent path. Thanks to the hard work of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives--we know that we can do better. We can have a solution to this health care crisis based on shared responsibility, lower costs for working Americans, and better, more efficient, health care for all.