Put Single Payer in the Survey!
By Andy Coates, MD
Steward in the Public Employees Federation (PEF), AFL-CIO, A statewide
New York union affiliated with AFT and SEIU
In an attempt to find out what union members think about the health
care crisis and its solution, the AFL-CIO recently asked union members
and supporters to complete a health care survey.
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/survey/index_survey.cfm?source=hc_survey_wfn
The problem with the survey is that it does not present the full range
of opinions union members have, and nowhere in the survey is single
payer, or Medicare for All, or HR 676 even mentioned as an option.
Question #21 in the survey offers only variations on keeping
for-profit insurance companies in the center of health care. There is
no choice to go to a single payer, publicly funded system that covers
all medically necessary care as in HR 676.
Everyone knows that single payer is supported by many within labor.
Over 500 union organizations, including 39 state AFL-CIOąs and 126
Central Labor Councils, have endorsed HR 676 which is co-sponsored by
76 members in the House of Representatives. Recently, Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders, a friend of labor, introduced SB 703, a single payer
bill, in the Senate.
Since a large section of unions and union members supports a single
payer solution to the health care crisis, it is unfair to construct a
survey that completely ignores opinions from single payer advocates.
The AFL-CIO has a crucial role to play in the health care debate now
unfolding. It is important that those who speak for labor in this
debate are able to reflect the vital and growing single payer
sentiment within our union movement.
We encourage you to write President Sweeney, jsweeney@aflcio.org, and
urge him to include the single payer choice in the survey seeking the
views of union members on health care. You could also fax President Sweeney at:
(202) 508-6946.
Distributed by:
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care–HR 676 c/o Nurses
Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org
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