SEARCH
Sebelius: Now Is the Time for Health Care Reform |
|
 |
||||
|
||||
This is the year for passing real health care reform and to begin rebuilding the nation’s middle class by passing laws that give workers a free choice to join a union. And union retirees, one of the most active political groups in the country, will play a big role in bringing about change, top government leaders said.
Speaking in the opening session of the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference last night, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the seniors they can be a big part in the historic shift in health care policy.
This is the time [to pass health care reform]. This is the moment. We cannot let it pass by. This is the year for health care reform to be passed. It’s the president’s number one priority.
Tomorrow, delegates will spend the afternoon lobbying their lawmakers for health care reform, passage of the Employee Free Choice Act and legislation to protect and strengthen Social Security. Speakers urged them to use that opportunity to tell lawmakers about the urgent need for a new health care system.
The nation cannot continue to pay the escalating costs of prescription drugs and health care, Sebelius said. It makes our workers less competitive in the global marketplace and the nation less healthy.
High cost doesn’t necessarily mean high quality. We need transformative health care reform that expands primary care. The current system is unacceptable and unsustainable.
Both Sebelius and AFSCME President Gerald McEntee told the delegates that any health care reform must include an option for a public plan and must not tax the health benefits that workers and retirees receive through their employers.
Pointing out that President Obama received a higher percentage of votes from union retirees than any other group of voters, McEntee, who heads the AFL-CIO Political Committee, said health care reform is just one of the ways that “we’re taking back our nation for working families and retirees.”
They [Republicans] are trying to take away our victories. George Bush stole part of the American Dream. He decimated the middle class, created the biggest gap in wealth in decades and left us with two wars.
McEntee urged the seniors who will lobby lawmakers tomorrow to send a message to Capitol Hill.
This is our best chance [to take back America]. We have to take it. We know what we’re up against. Go to Capitol Hill and tell them we’re kicking ass and taking names.
Another message lawmakers must hear is that the Employee Free Choice Act is vital to rebuilding the nation’s middle class, Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen said in today’s opening session. Passing the Employee Free Choice Act would allow unions to build the bargaining power to keep the health care benefits retirees worked so hard to gain, said Cohen, who chairs the AFL-CIO Organizing Committee.
Without bargaining rights, we have no power. If workers have no right to organize, it weakens us all. When we go into a meeting on Capitol Hill or with a state legislator, there is no difference between a retired member and an active member. This is a movement for social change and we’re all in it together.
Some 70 industrialized nations give workers a free choice on whether they want to join a union, Cohen said, with the United States standing apart.
The [union] election process has become a torture chamber. People should have the right to join a union without sacrificing their job. It should be a basic right.
No Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
