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House Approves Historic Health Care Reform
In a historic vote more than 60 years in the making, the U.S. House of Representatives late Sunday night voted to approve (220-211) what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls a ”momentous step toward comprehensive health care.”
The bill survived a $100 million lie-and-distortion campaign by Big Insurance to kill it—the same kind of tactics these groups have aimed at health care proposals for six decades. Trumka says the bill is not “a baby step or half measure,” but a solid step forward to set our country on a path to health care that actually works for working families.
After personally calling dozens of House members on Friday, Trumka spent the weekend meeting with House members to firm up votes in favor of the bill. On Capitol Hill today, Trumka joined two workers—among the millions in this nation—for whom passage of this health care bill means the difference between food and health care.
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One of the workers, Liz Stender, lost her job in August while four months pregnant and described how she cannot afford to pay for COBRA, which extends her health coverage. Now working part-time, Stender, a member of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, won’t be able to afford health coverage for herself or her small daughter—and today’s passage of the health care bill literally means the difference between groceries and insurance. Judy Cato, a member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, who also joined Trumka, described how the legislation will allow her and other Medicare beneficiaries to get mammograms and other preventive screenings without co-payments.
In a letter Friday to House members urging passage of the bill, Trumka wrote, “the bill is not perfect.”
But we are realistic enough to know it’s time for the deliberations to stop and for progress to begin. And we are idealistic enough to believe this is an opportunity to change history we can’t afford to miss.
Union Members Made the Difference
Throughout the health care battle, mobilized union members provided a strong and visible counterpoint to the insurance giants’ television and lobbying blitz. Union members made more than 4 million phone calls and sent more than 1 million e-mail messages to lawmakers. Leaders flew to Washington, D.C., and visited members of Congress in their districts, making more than 10,000 contacts.
In addition, canvassers from Working America talked to more than 210,000 people about health care at their front doors, generating 30,000 health care petition signatures, 31,000 phone calls to Congress, 40,000 e-mail messages and 75,000 hand-written letters urging lawmakers to pass health care reform.
The contacts not only helped win approval of health care reform, they improved the bill and ensured that its financing would be fairer. Pressure from working families and visits and phone calls from union leaders to lawmakers eliminated 85 percent of a tax on health care benefits that would have slammed working families—union and nonunion. That same activism helped strengthen the bill’s employer responsibility provisions by requiring employers to shoulder more of their fair share.
In the days leading up to the vote, union members (see video) and leaders were on Capitol Hill and at representatives’ home district offices urging wavering lawmakers to back the health care bill.
In Fresno, Calif., union members rallied outside Rep. Jim Costa’s (D) office on Friday. Later, Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, flew to Washington to meet with fence-sitting California lawmakers. Yesterday, Costa announced he would vote in favor of health care reform.
AFL-CIO President Emeritus John Sweeney was on the phones, too. Several Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the bill’s language on abortions. Sweeney, a devout Catholic, talked to the representatives about the Catholic Church’s long history of fighting for social and economic justice and how providing health care for 32 million additional people follows that teaching.
While union members attempted to persuade the undecided, they also warned lawmakers they would be held accountable if they turned their backs on working families and voted against health care reform.
On Friday in Pennsylvania, Rep. Jason Altmire (D), who courted and won union support for his election, announced he was voting against the bill. Yesterday, several dozen United Steelworkers (USW) members and retirees staged a sit-in at his Aliquippa office. Said Rick Galiano, president of USW Local 9305 in Beaver Falls, Pa.:
We busted our humps working for Jason Altmire and many other politicians who time and time again promise us that they’ll work for us and working families across America. We are tired of the broken promises. We helped Congressman Altmire win this seat because he vowed he would vote for health insurance reform. We’re here today urging him to keep that promise.
Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y), who narrowly won his last election—union family votes put him over the top—announced Thursday he would vote against the bill. On Friday, New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes and 20 other New York labor leaders sent Arcuri a letter saying his health care vote will have consequences.
Our members look for elected officials who have the courage to stand up to lies, distortions and political scare tactics. Your vote this Sunday will tell them what kind of elected official you are. Please do not disappoint them or us.
Yesterday, Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes and more than two dozen Bay State union leaders urged Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) to reconsider his announced “No” vote. They wrote:
If Congress passes this legislation, together, we can continue to strengthen consumer protections, increase market competition, and ensure that insurance companies no longer have a stranglehold on consumers. If Congress doesn’t pass the bill, none of this is possible. All we are left with is the status quo.
Congressman, we will not be able to explain to the working women and men of our union why you voted against their interests.
What Does the Bill Do?
In a video message to working families, Trumka says that at its core, the bill
means long-term health security—and that’s the most important thing for your future, and your children and their children.
Among other benefits, the health care reform bill bans coverage denials or higher rates due to pre-existing conditions and outlaws the practice of insurers dropping coverage when someone files a claim or is diagnosed with a condition requiring expensive treatment. It covers an additional 32 million people, or 95 percent of the population.
The bill ends gender discrimination in setting insurance rates and establishes a procedure to review insurance premium increases and take action against unreasonable rate hikes.
It also makes improvements in the original Senate-passed version, such as not placing the cost of the bill on the backs of working families.
- It eliminates 85 percent of the tax on benefits that would have penalized working families.
- It substitutes in its place a progressive tax on the wealthy that requires Medicare contributions be paid on unearned income for the first time.
- It increases subsidies to purchase health insurance for low- and moderate-income people.
On the benefits tax, Trumka says:
We continue to think the excise tax is the wrong way to contain costs, but the changes included in the corrections bill cut the tax back deeply, so that it now eliminates 85 percent of the tax for all working families—both nonunion and union—whose health benefits cost more due to factors beyond their control.
The bill also cuts brand-name drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries by 50 percent in 2011 and closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” completely by 2020. Stella Johnson, a retired school teacher and member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, is one of 3 million seniors who each year falls in the donut hole.
At a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, Johnson said her prescriptions become even more costly when she is forced to pay full price as a result of the donut hole.
It is very hard for me to make ends meet. I have to choose between taking the medicines I need and paying my monthly bills. Because my prescriptions cost so much, I fall behind on some of my bills. When I get hit with late penalties, things get even worse.
The health care bill will help seniors like me who struggle every day to afford the prescriptions they must have.
Trumka says the bill is a “solid foundation” and the union movement will “continue our efforts to improve our health care system.”
We need to do more to bring employers into the system. We need to do more to bring down costs—and one of the best ways to do that is with a public health insurance option. And it will be critical to build on the reforms in the bill designed to change the way health care is delivered, so that we reward value rather than volume.
The House last night actually voted on two health care reform bills. The first was the reform bill passed by the Senate late last year. That bill passed 219-212. Then the House passed a series of fixes to the Senate bill, known as reconciliation. That bill passed 220-211.
The reconciliation bill now goes to the Senate, but this time Republican obstructionists will not be able to filibuster the bill because it will only require a simply majority to pass.
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22 Comments
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YES WE DID!!! Thanks to everyone, especially all the union people that made this possible!
Finally….change we can believe in!!!
If by now, you are unable to detect the overt racism of the so-called “Tea Party Movement”, you’re not paying attention.
It was so much fun watching these pathetic GOP lawmakers “warning” the Democrats how badly the passage of health care reform would hurt them at the polls in November. What can I tell you? They’re beneath contempt.
Is this the perfect bill? Far from it. I am reminded of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. You’ve never heard of it either, huh? Don’t be embarrassed if you haven’t. It wasn’t much of a law – a mere pittance, really. Nothing more that a few scraps tossed out in order to appease the “American Negro” (in the parlance of that day and age). But its passage made the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the one we remember) a little easier to get though seven years later.
We’ll live to fight another day.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
I would like to thank all the union members of the AFL-CIO for your hard work in taken care of working families. Now that the vote has passed, what are us in the labor movement going to do with the likes of PA (so called) Democrat’s Jason Altmire and other Dem’s, who made a promise to labor of the AFL CIO and the Change to Win to support health care
In my opinion, we as labor should withdraw ALL SUPPORT and MONEY from the Dem’s who voted against the working people.
NOW IS THE TIME TO SEND THE MESSAGE TO POLITICIANS!!!!!!!!
I hope that this health care reform is good for the american people. I just don’t like the Ideal that it was shoved down our throat’s. It seam to be more of a party issue on who was going to win not what was good for the American people. I guess we will all find out if it was good or not as time passes.
Often times when I attend my union meetings there a lot of my brothers and sisters who have said they are against National Health Care. It is clear to me me there is a disconnect between the leadership and the rank-in-file. I strongly urge all of you after a brief moment of celebration for your hard fought victory that the Internationals conduct an in-depth seminar for the local leadership about this legislation so the information can be disseminated out to the people who are good trade unionists. We cannot fall asleep now. We need to build on the foundation that we historically passed for all Americans. Continue to educate…..
Perhaps if you were one of the 14,000 Americans that would have died this year,you would have thought differantly!
It is definitely a step forward, johnny mp. I know I rest a lot easier thinking I can not be dropped because of pre-existing conditions, or have coverage end so soon that you could go bankrupt paying health bills even though you have insurance. Of course most of us wanted medicare for all. It would have been simpler and better, but considering the wall of corporate money we were up against, this is a great victory.
Saver the moment but we must all be vigilant that the Republicans don’t take it away.
Your leadership is a disgrace. Shilling for the Democrats who are handing us over to the greed of the for-profit insurance companies. Shame on you. Shame on you. You have undone any good work you were doing with immigrants, with suffering low-wage workers, with middle class workers who will pay up to 9% of their income to subsidize the insurance companies.
Shame on you!
Remember the old “Quaker Oil,” you can pay me now, or pay me later” ad. Well the same applies to the public option; you know as well as I that the health insurance companies will figure out how to circumvent the new legislation, they’ll figure out how to raise premiums and cheat people out of their coverage. You know that 6 months or 6 years from now a public option is going to be essential; so why not do it now. Show us what you’re made-of, Senate Democrats.
They had to start with a plan that shored up capitalism and portrayed the insurance companies as helpful and essential instead of the greedy murderous parasites that they are. If we came up with a national health plan providing free health care for all, which is what we need, the private insurers would be exposed as so useless and 19th century. Then, what of the drug companies, or private utilities, oil companies, the banks? — people would begin to see how much more of a just, efficient and livable society we could create if we ended production for profit and instead produced for human need. It could lead many to conclude that capitalism is a burden we can no longer tolerate, and one that we can get rid of. That is the worst-case scenario for all of the corporation’s politicians, including Obama – a real movement toward democratic socialism.
I for one am not celebrating. The Physicians for a National Health Program are absooutely correct. This so-called “reform” is nothing more than another government give away to the corporate healthcare cartel!
My desire to retire and spend the rest of my life where there is a national health care plan has just grown by leaps and bounds!
Despite the doublespeak and twisted portrayal of this sham bill as a victory, it’s big insurance who will benefit from this corporate welfare scheme. I hope that when i am forced to buy their expensive plans and refuse to do so, others will join me in a class action lawsuit to resist the fines Obama wants to impose on me and you. Single Payer is the only real solution but single payer advocates were left out of the debate, even arrested, and the AFL failed to demand real change. Power concedes nothing without a demand.
Single Payer is the only solution. The truth will ‘catch up’ w/ the Dems and Labor’s leadership. And we will all suffer the consequences of their short sighted corporate compliance. And this truth will set us free. Speed the day. US LABOR PARTY!
I am a life long liberal Democrat and a union representative. I agree that no one had the back bone to say no to the big insurance companies. I have members who work for health insurance. While the Districts pick up part of the cost, the insurance companies have raised the rates so much that the employee has to pay. I know of one small school district who pays almost $1000 per month per employee and the members pick up the rest. One of those member’s take home pay is $73.00 a month, and she has co-pays. Another school district has 6000 employees, their cost of insuring those employees is over $25 million a year. That money could be put into a single payer health care and save that district $10 million and the employees would keep theri same coverage. Plus it wouldn’t take taxes to pay for it. We in California are still fighting for this. The cost of subsidizing the insuranse companies are going to be born by those of us who have decent health coverage from our employers because we gave up raises to pay for them and now because they are considered “cadallac” plans we are going to be taxed on them. The government has been wanting to get a foot in the door to tax the one thing that has been hands off and now they have that have that chance and we will all eventually be paying for it. The politicians want to be reelected and will do anything to keep their jobs. As my late brother kept saying “vote out the incumbants and in 12 years there would be a change”.
Be careful what you ask for or you will get it. The Physicians for a National Health Program make some sense. This new Health Care Plan will bankrupt the country and if you think your health insurance cost too much now wait until this plan goes into high gear.
Or you happy with the health care bill or mad as hell?
Tell the world what you think at http://www.keepamericaatwork.com/mad_as_hell.htm
Another rah-rah, flag-waving epistle for the Obama/Pelosi/DNC machine.
This healthcare bill has to be one of the most offensive government actions toward working Americans and most don’t even know it’s happened to them…guaranteeing they will remain indentured to their jobs for health care, falling behind in REAL wages, which will now be subsidizing the medical industry cartel more than ever in its profit-driven health care delivery scam.
I’m a registered Democrat no more and a health care provider and have good, affordable health care through my employer.
I was hoping President Obama could have used his ‘hope and change’ leadership to restore a sense of social responsibility and the common good by working for a classless Medicare for All solution and lead us back to the rest of the civilized world.
I’m not waving any flag today for this so-called ‘reform’.I was hoping for so much more.
Sea star RN
Thanks for the post. It has helped me in understanding the concept.
I’m thankful that we’re this far in Health care reform, i lost my best freind due to no health care. He was in a motorcycle accident self employed with no health care because he couldn’t aford it
. so the just put him in a nursing home until he passed away . A local fire fighter had the same injury and with health insurance ,they worked and treated him until he’s back and doing fine.
also lets don’t just blame the insurance company’s . I’ve seen the hospitals give out there bills for treatment to be turned into the insurance companies but when told they had no insurance they would refigure the bill to be a lot less , if it could have been figured that way without insurance it should have been figured that way with insurance
“Stand up for what is right even if you are standing among ignorant and arrogant people”
God Bless President Obama and all the people who voted for HEALTH CARE REFORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen Layla , looks like the approval rating is rising faster than most expected , I guess some of the republican people can read after all.
PETER G PETERS0N – WH0 REALLY WANTS T0 K1LL GRANNY &GRAMPY!
PETERS0N+WallStreet are again trying to STEAL S0CIAL SECURITY RETIREMENTS:
1. Peters0n IGNORES $3 TRILLION L00TING of Social Security SURPLUS by Republicans!
2. So he says Social Security is BANKRUPT and so do HIS PA1D Po1iticians!
3. Social Security once PAID BACK with INTEREST will surv!ve 30 Years without a TWEAK!
4. Workers NOW retiring have been PAYING for 40+Years into SSFUND!
5. Baby B00MERS have paid D0UBLE to make System So1vent to cover for their Parents!
6. Peters0n+Gregg+C0NRAD (ca_ught w/D0DD in C0untrywide scanda1) HIDE FACTS&L1E!
7. Peters0n Videos DEM0N1ZE Retirees in their marketing to Young Peop1e in US!
8. Fact: SS trust Fund Created a huge surpluses so Gov. borrowed it to spent on Wars&Tax Cuts!
9. In 10 to 12 Years US Treasury will have to start paying back its I0Us to SS Fund.
10. MUCH of Borrowed FAKE Accumulated wealth by RICH be1ongs to Retirees who paid F1CA!
11. If Washington stiffs Retirees it will be “a bait&switch swind1e” larger than Wall Street CR1MES.
12. Peters0n made $Bi11ions as CE0 of LEHMAN and as C0-founder of BLACKST0NE Group.
13. Peters0n wrote in The Atlantic “Senior Entitlements are unsustainable, undeserved, unprincipled, and unfair.” COMPLETE L1E as they have PA1D INTO SS FUND FOR 40+Yrs.
14. Peters0n’s Foundation+ConcordCoalition+Fisca1 Times (Starving journalists) G0AL:
Slash entitlements – Social Security&Medicare – K1LL Granny&Grampy!
15. Peterson&Wall Street want to PUT THEIR F1LTHY HANDS on $3Trillion in SS Reserves!
16. $3Trillion in SS Fund is in Treasury Bonds + $3Trillion OWED by Treasury!
17. SS gave 6% raises and according to mostly Republican trustees is safe&solvent for 30+Yrs!
18. 2009 SS took in $180Billion MORE than PAID OUT according to CBO is good to 2043!
19. FACT: Social Security COSTS Federal Budget $ZERO!
20. This is another ATTEMPTED THEFT BY WALL STREET CRIMINALS!
21. William Greider said 0bama played footsie with Peterson to put him on “fiscal responsibility”
22. The Nation wrote a fierce attack on billionaire’s looting of SocialSecurity Scheme.
23. Nations cover showed photo of Mr. Peterson resembling a Mafia don.
24. 0bama White House abruptly downplayed the summit and dropped Peterson’s keynote!
25. Peterson’s assault on SS+Medicare came back as members of Obama’s WS Team endorse it.
26. Orszag, exGoldman, co-authored PLAN to raise PayrollTax on Young &Cut Retirees’ Pay!
27. Billionaire Peterson Lost During Bush ERA but is cranking up another fight!
28. Candidate 0bama said all the right things about SS describing modest adjustments to extend!
29. But we learned last year not to trust 0bama’s fuzzy expressions of good intentions!
30. President must make clearly state support for Retirees &NO THEFT BY WALL STREET!
31. Peterson+Conrad+Gregg+.. Better look OUTSIDE THEFT from Americans for solutions!
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100111/greider”
http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2010/01/gray-matters-pete-peterson.html”