AFL-CIO-Led Coalition Moves Boardroom Votes on Universal Health Reform

Shareholders scored victories in corporate boardrooms across the nation this spring, gaining the right to vote on universal health care proposals spearheaded by the AFL-CIO, as Daniel Pedrotty from the AFL-CIO Office of Investment explains.

Because of an initiative led by the AFL-CIO and a broad coalition of investors, shareholders have won the right to vote on universal health reform proposals at several corporate annual board meetings this spring.

The proposals urge corporations to adopt the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies’ principles on health care reform, namely that:

1. Health care coverage should be universal.
2. Health care coverage should be continuous.
3. Health care coverage should be affordable to individuals and families.
4. The health insurance strategy should be affordable and sustainable for society.
5. Health insurance should enhance health and well-being by promoting access to high-quality care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered and equitable.

In the current system, ever-rising premiums hurt the competitiveness of companies that provide health insurance for their employees. A significant portion of these premiums, some $1,000 a year, covers the health care needs of the uninsured. As a result, companies that provide health insurance for their employees subsidize the health care needs of the uninsured.

Employees and retirees also are struggling with rising health care costs, and this is a big factor in the squeeze on U.S. families. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the cumulative growth in health insurance premiums between 2002-2007 was 78 percent, compared with cumulative wage growth of 19 percent and cumulative inflation of 17 percent.

Many companies, including IBM & General Electric Co., have adopted these principles after engaging with investors. Investors also have voted on this proposal at several company annual meetings, including Boeing, General Motors Corp., Comcast and United Technologies.

As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney puts it:

Shareholder efforts on health care have made clear that fixing America’s health care system is an urgent matter for businesses and investors, just as it is for workers.

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