In the coming weeks UE members need to phone the U.S. House of Representatives to urge their members of Congress to pass legislation to repair the broken U.S. healthcare system. Passage of the United States National Health Insurance Act/Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act (HR 676) would begin a process of sweeping healthcare reform. The health insurance companies would be removed from the system, along with their waste, redundant paperwork, second-guessing of doctors, profit greed and sky-high CEO salaries and bonuses.
Your representative can be reached via the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121. When you call, ask to be connected to your representative, and be ready to leave a brief message with their staff member. Give them your name, address, your UE local number, and tell them you want the Congressperson to “Support HR 676, the single-payer Medicare for All Act.” The bill is called “single-payer” because under this legislation, all medical and hospital bills would be paid by a single insurer, the federal Medicare system. Medicare is not perfect, but it delivers care to tens of millions with administrative costs of about 2 percent. Compare that with the typical 30 percent administrative costs by private health insurance corporations.
An updated issues briefing on HR 676 is available from our union -- please review it before making your call. The UE policy resolution, Healthcare for All, explains our union's view of the problems and solutions for the American healthcare system. This resolution was debated and adopted by rank-and-file delegates to the last UE National Convention in 2007. If you do not know who your lawmaker is, you may find it by entering your zip code in the box on the right margin of the main UE Political Action page under “Be Heard.”
Also visit the website of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care for more information on the progress of HR 676. Two other informative websites are the Labor for Single Payer and Unions for Single Payer Health Care.