Real Health Care Reform Now!

Join the 23,460 people who took the 2009 Health Care for America Survey—and the 6,409 who submitted heart-wrenching personal stories—and demand real health care reform. The real-world toll of soaring health care costs, lack of insurance and systemic flaws in our health care system must come to an end.

Health care reform is moving quickly in Congress, and critical decisions about the shape of the final legislation are being made right now. We need you to share the 2009 Health Care for America Survey, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and Working America, with your senators and representative in Washington and remind them of our three key principles of reform:

A strong public health insurance plan must be available to lower costs and make sure everybody has a health care option.
All employers should be required to either provide health care to their employees or pay into a system to make sure everyone is covered.
Workers' health care benefits must not be taxed—we’re already paying too much.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

The more than 23,000 people who took the online 2009 Health Care for America Survey, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and Working America, made it clear: Our health care system is failing us, and we need relief from health care costs that are bankrupting families, endangering our health and hobbling businesses.

We need you to get health care reform done right this year.

To get a sense of what is in the survey, nearly one-third of respondents reported skipping important medical care because of costs and almost everyone is dissatisfied with health care costs--including nearly three-quarters of people with insurance.

You can review the survey results online here: http://2009healthcaresurvey.aflcio.org and read some of the more than 6,000 stories submitted, which you can sort by category and by state.

As you work to fulfil our demand for health care reform, here are the three key principles of real health care reform that I'd like you to keep in mind.

1) A public health insurance plan makes reform work. It will bring down costs and guarantee quality, affordable health care for all.  Giving everyone the choice of a strong public health insurance plan will inject needed competition into the market and drive lower costs and improved quality across all plans. It also will mean that health care will be there for all of us, no matter what.

2) Employers must pay their fair share. They must be required to either offer coverage to their workers or pay into a fund to finance coverage for uninsured workers.  "Play or pay" at fair and reasonable levels will level the playing field so free-rider firms cannot continue to shift costs to the employers that offer good benefits.

3) Workers health care benefits must not be taxed. Taxing health benefits will raise costs for workers when they need relief.  Putting a new tax on job-based benefits will raise costs for workers in plans that cost the most because they cover people with more medical problems and older people--and that's wrong.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

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