IS THIS CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN?

The Senate passed health care reform by a 60-39 margin shortly after 7 a.m. on December 24.

Washington, D.C.-- While passage of this legislation continues the momentum for health care reform, the Senate bill itself doesn’t live up to the kind of reform we need. The bill has many positive features, but it falls short in three key areas:

• It is paid for by a tax on working families’ health benefits.

• It fails to provide a public health insurance option, which would control costs by giving insurance companies real competition.

• It does not do enough to make sure employers are living up to their responsibility.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, "For this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made. The AFL-CIO intends to fight on behalf of all working families to make those changes and win health care reform that is deserving of the name."

He added, the House bill is the model for genuine health care reform. Working people cannot accept anything less than real reform.

The Senate’s bill does make some important improvements. It would cover 30 million more people, providing subsidies to lower- and middle-income people to help them pay for health coverage. It also sets necessary regulations on insurance companies to prevent some of their worst practices. It creates important reforms to our medical system, provides relief to early retirees and begins to close the “donut hole” in Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Unfortunately, in many ways the bill is too tilted toward the insurance industry and away from working families—it does not do enough to hold insurers accountable or keep costs down for families.

The U.S. House passed a bill that was far better on critical points like funding, employer responsibility and a public option. The Senate could have, and should have, passed a better bill. But the intransigence of Republicans who refused to participate or even support a vote on health care reform, the powerful leverage of the insurance industry and the rules of the Senate, which allow a small number of Senators to hold legislation hostage, left the Senate with a disappointing and inadequate bill.

Unions should be adamantly opposed to the Senate plan, which would impose a 40 percent tax on high-cost health insurance above $8,500 for an individual plan, $23,000 for families. Organized labor sees the tax on so-called Cadillac plans as a hit on its members, who have fought for years for better-than-average coverage. Unions are a core Democratic constituency and many House Democrats want to knock out the insurance tax.

The Obama administration, however, supports such a tax. In a recent session with reporters, White House economic adviser Christina Romer called the tax "a very effective cost-growth containment mechanism," arguing that it will force people into more efficient plans.

House and Senate leaders now must come together and craft a combined bill that each side will need to vote on once more. The process of creating this combined bill is a vital opportunity for real health care reform, and we must let our members of Congress know what real reform means.

Senators:

Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - (D - NY) 
478 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4451

Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY) 
313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washigton, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6542


U.S. House:

Dan Maffei
New York-25th, Democrat
1630 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3225
Phone: (202) 225-3701

Chris Lee
New York-26th, Republican
1711 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3226
Phone: (202) 225-5265

Louise Slaughter
New York-28th, Democrat
2469 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3228
Phone: (202) 225-3615

Eric Massa
New York-29th, Democrat
1208 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515-3229
Phone: (202) 225-3161