Health Care Reform Backers Out in Force as Support for Public Option Remains High
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While TV news reports continue to focus on the loud, angry and sometimes just plain bizarre antics of health care reform opponents, union members are mobilizing to counter the big lies, at town hall meetings and forums around the country.
Just yesterday, some 100 union members brought their voices to a Clovis, N.M., town hall meeting with Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D) as did another 100 at Democratic Rep. Vic Snyder’s Little Rock, Ark., meeting. More than two dozen union members met AFSCME’s Highway to Health Care tour bus when it pulled into Shreveport, La., yesterday.
Over the weekend, hundreds of people in Rutland, Vt., carrying red placards and wearing T-shirts stating “Healthcare Is a Human Right, took part in a health care town hall, shifting the debate 180 degrees from a similar event less than two months ago. The members of the Vermont Workers’ Center/Jobs with Justice made sure lawmakers at the town hall heard their voices this time, a sharp contrast with the 200-person “Tea Party” event pushed by extremist radio shows weeks before.
Public Option Must Be Part of Health Care Reform
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If Senate and House members vote against including a public health insurance plan option in health care reform, they very well could lose the backing of working families and their unions in the next elections, says AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka.
Trumka issued the warning in an interview with Sam Stein of Huffington Post after recent news reports indicated a public option to allow working families to choose between a private plan or a public plan that offers quality care could be pulled from health care reform legislation. Trumka told Stein:
We’ll look at every one of their votes. If they’re against the Employee Free Choice Act, if they’re against health care for that reason, I think it’ll be tough for them to get support from working people.
Health Care Bill by Senate Finance Committee Should Include House’s Funding Strategy
A health care reform package that includes a public health insurance plan option, shared employer responsibility, cost containment and an end to private insurance company abuses was approved by a key Senate committee this morning.
Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
This legislation demands shared responsibility so families are less burdened. It will make health care more affordable by controlling costs and improving quality. And most importantly, it will provide coverage for all and help reduce the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. Sen. Chris Dodd and Chairman Kennedy’s hard work and dedication have put forth a bill that moves us one step closer to the finish line.
The action by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee comes one day after the House version of health care legislation was introduced. But unlike the House bill, the HELP committee’s measure does not address financing.
Economists Back Health Care Reform, Two Reports Highlight Need for Public Option
Reforming the nation’s health care system to cover everyone “is essential to economic recovery,” say more than 300 leading economists and health care experts in a statement released this morning.
In addition to the statement by the economists, two new reports were released today at a news conference by the Institute for America’s Future (IAF). The reports show a health care reform plan that includes a public plan option and also requires employers to provide health coverage for their workers or pay into a fund—known as play or pay—that will likely create jobs.
Join Your Friends and Neighbors June 6 in the Fight for Real Health Care Reform
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This Saturday, you can join with your friends and neighbors in the fight to win the kind of real health care reform that President Obama describes as vital to ensure quality health care for all and to revitalize the economy.
That’s the day Organizing for America is holding thousands of events in private homes and community centers around the country to discuss real health care reform and craft plans to build local support and help pass health care reform. Click here to find an event near you. Enter your ZIP code and you will get a list of events, contact numbers and names and directions.
Health Insurance Profits Soar as Industry Mergers Create Near-Monopoly
Profits at 10 of the country’s largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007, while consumers paid more for less coverage. One of the major reasons, according to a new study, is the growing lack of competition in the private health insurance industry that has led to near monopoly conditions in many markets.
The report says such conditions warrant a Justice Department investigation and, says Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), provide compelling evidence of the need for a public health insurance plan option as part of the health care reform initiative President Obama and Congress are developing.
Schumer says the report from Health Care for America Now! (HCAN)
is the starkest evidence yet that the private health care insurance market is in bad need of some healthy competition. A public health insurance option is critical to ensure the greatest amount of choice possible for consumers.
