USA: Historic win on health

AFL-CIO

In an historic vote more than 60 years in the making, the House of Representatives late last night voted to approve (219-211) what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls a ”momentous step toward comprehensive health care.”

The bill survived a $100 million lie-and-distortion campaign by Big Insurance to kill it-the same kind of tactics these groups have aimed at health care proposals for six decades. Trumka says the bill is not “a baby step or half measure,” but a solid step forward to set our country on a path to health care that actually works for working families.

After personally calling dozens of House members on Friday, Trumka spent the weekend meeting with House members to firm up votes in favor of the bill. On Capitol Hill today, Trumka joined two workers-among the millions in this nation for whom passage of this health care bill means the difference between food and health care.

One of the workers, Liz Stender, lost her job in August while four months pregnant, and described how COBRA, which extends her health coverage, will run out next month. Now working part-time, Stender, a member of the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America, won’t be able to afford health coverage for herself or her small daughter–and today’s passage of the health care bill literally means the difference between groceries and insurance. Judy Cato, a member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, who also joined Trumka, described how the legislation will allow her and other Medicare beneficiaries to get mammograms and other preventive screenings without co-payments.

In a letter Friday to House members urging passage of the bill, Trumka wrote “the bill is not perfect.”

But we are realistic enough to know it’s time for the deliberations to stop and for progress to begin. And we are idealistic enough to believe this is an opportunity to change history we can’t afford to miss.

Union Members Made the Difference

Throughout the health care battle, mobilized union members provided a strong and visible counterpoint to the insurance giants’ television and lobbying blitz. Union members made more than 4 million phone calls and sent more than 1 million emails to lawmakers. Leaders flew to Washington and visited members of Congress in their districts, making more than 10,000 contacts.