Health Care Reform

Let Senator Schumer know we appreciate his leadership on health care reform. And that we can count on him to lead the way.

We can’t afford to wait. Health care reform must:

Provide a strong public health insurance plan that makes reform work.
Pay or Play: Every employer must pay their fair share, not just union employers.
No taxation of health benefits.

Please send this letter to Senator Schumer to make your voice heard today before it's too late!

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Reform Health Care Today!!!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation for your leadership on health care reform, as you shepherd this most important issue through the Senate Finance committee.

I'm writing to you today because I think that one of the top priorities this year for Congress, and President Obama is to make quality, affordable health care for everyone in America a reality.

As you know, the longer we wait to fix the broken the health care system, the worse it's going to get. Right now, during the worst financial recession that many of us have known, 14,000 people are losing their health care coverage each day. State budgets are feeling the pressure as more and more people look for assistance from Medicaid. Businesses are cutting back on benefits and shifting more costs to their employees.

There are some who say that we can't afford to fix the health care system now. But the truth is we can't wait any longer for real health care reform. We need quality, accessible, and affordable coverage with benefits that meet our needs. And we need the choice of keeping our private insurance, or joining a new public health insurance plan, so that we won't be at the mercy of the profit-driven private insurance industry.

Also, workers who get their health care coverage through employment and the employers who provide it should not be penalized for doing the right thing by providing coverage.

As such, health care benefits should not be taxed. Workers already have seen their costs climb through the years as a result of higher premiums, bigger co-pays and larger deductibles; while their coverage shrinks. On top of that, workers' paychecks have stagnated as they have given up pay raises in order to funnel those funds to cover the higher health care costs and maintain coverage.

Senator, once again thank you for having the courage of your convictions in making health care reform a top priority. Your leadership on this issue continues to be essential in getting this done.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
June 04, 2009

Background Information

A Public Health Insurance Plan Makes Reform Work

What we are asking for: A public health insurance plan should be an option for everyone alongside private health insurance plans. The public health insurance plan would compete on a level playing field with private plans and would be administered by government but funded through premiums.

A public health insurance plan makes coverage more affordable.

Escalating health care costs are a growing burden for working families, employers and the government. A public health insurance plan will have lower administrative costs than private health insurance plans and it does not have to earn a profit. These features, combined with its ability to establish payment rates, will result in lower premiums for coverage through a public health insurance plan.
Through competition, even those purchasing coverage through a private health insurance plan will benefit from lower costs.When premiums are lower, that means less spending on federal subsidies for those who qualify for financial help.

Taxing Health Benefits: The Wrong Prescription

What they want to do: The Senate Finance Committee is considering capping the current tax exclusion so that some of current health care benefits would be subject to taxes. The committee is considering capping the tax exclusion based on income, benefit amount or a combination of the two. But capping the tax exclusion is the wrong way to go.

Taxing health benefits will raise costs for workers when they need relief.

One approach would tax health benefits for only the highest income workers. But that won’t raise much revenue for health reform.
Another approach would tax only high cost plans. But the exact same family plan could cost well under $15,000 in one company and more than $20,000 in another depending on the age and health status of the workforce or even where the company is located.

Pay or Play Makes Health Reform Work

What we are asking for: As a part of getting to universal health coverage, employers must be required either to offer coverage to their workers or pay into a fund to finance coverage for uninsured workers. And employers that contribute to pre-Medicare retiree benefits should get relief.

Health reform must build on what works, which for 160 million Americans is the employer-based system.

A pay or play requirement will build on the current employer-based system by encouraging more employers to offer coverage and penalizing those that do not.
The vast majority of the uninsured are in families with at least one full time worker. Making employer-based coverage stronger will help cover more uninsured workers.