AFL-CIO Calls for Urgent Action on Health Care
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Steve Smith 202-637-5018
AFL-CIO
Calls for Urgent Action on Health Care,
Pledges Support for Health Care for
America NOW!
Washington, July 8 -- The
drive to win quality health care
for all-one
of voters’ key issues-gets
a huge boost today as a new
coalition,
Health Care for America
NOW!, unveils plans for a nationwide
campaign
to build support for health
care reform when a new president
and
Congress take office in
2009. With support from grassroots,
netroots,
think tanks and broad based
organizations, the dynamic new
coalition is
positioned to give advocates
for reform a stronger voice and
seize the
moment for guaranteed,
affordable high-quality
reform.
“Working families are suffering
mightily under health care that
costs
too much, covers too little,
excludes too many and is getting
worse,”
said Arlene Holt Baker,
Executive Vice President of the
AFL-CIO,
saluting the launch of Health
Care for America NOW!. “The unions
of
the AFL-CIO and our members are
campaigning to Turn Around America
on
health care and will continue to do
so until the job is done.”
Saying health care is a top concern of
working families, Holt
Baker
said America’s unions are
calling for action soon after the
2008
elections. “Uncontrolled
health costs mean health care in America
is
failing those with insurance and
dramatically boosting the number
of
people without insurance,” she
said, “so real reform must deal
with
both groups.”
“Union members
are very concerned that health care
policies proposed
in this election
year by John McCain and others will leave
all
Americans on their own to deal
with giant insurance companies and
will
tax hard won health care
benefits,” Holt Baker added.
Since
Labor Day 2007, the AFL-CIO and its affiliate
unions have mounted
a
nationwide push for health care reform.
Recent efforts include over
300
Labor Council meetings on health care in April,
Labor Walks that
brought the
issue to over 40,000 households in May, and an
online
survey that produced
well over 25,000 responses that underscored
the
extent of the healthcare
crisis. One in three survey participants
said
their families had to skip
medical care because of cost, a quarter
had
serious problems paying for the
care they needed and a huge
majority-70
percent-say health care is a
voting
issue. Ninety-five percent say that
big
changes are needed in the health
care system.
For more information
about the AFL-CIO health care
campaign, go to
http://aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/
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