How things changed--for the worse--on health insurance
William Barry
Incoming A.F.L.-C.I.O. Chief Warns Democrats Not to Side With Insurers
By STEVEN GREENHOUSEThe man who is set to take the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s helm next month warned Democrats on Monday that organized labor would challenge those who ultimately supported insurance companies in the push for a health care overhaul.
“Today, more than ever, we need to be a labor movement that stands by our friends, punishes its enemies, and challenges those who, well, can’t seem to decide which side they’re on,” Richard L. Trumka, who is running unopposed for the presidency of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said in the text of a speech to be given Monday morning to the Center for American Progress in Washington.
Mr. Trumka added, “I’m talking about the politicians who always want us to turn out our members to vote for them, but who somehow, always seem to forget workers after the votes are counted.”
Mr. Trumka, who has been the labor federation’s secretary treasurer since 1995, gave examples on the type of lawmakers he had in mind: “Legislators who don’t understand that their job isn’t to make insurance companies happy; it’s to keep Americans healthy. Legislators who say they’re are all for health care reform, but refuse to stand up for a public system that puts people before profits.”
The A.F.L.-C.I.O., a federation of 56 labor unions representing nearly 10 million workers, has been lobbying hard in support of President Obama’s health care effort. The federation has long backed universal health coverage and is eager for Mr. Obama and Congress to include a government-run health option that would compete with private insurers, as a way to press the industry to reduce costs and premiums.
Mr. Trumka is set to be elected the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s president on Sept. 16, during the federation’s quadrennial convention, which is being held in Pittsburgh.
In his remarks, Mr. Trumka attacked high salaries for chief executives and said that American working families were not just being squeezed, but were being crushed. “Women and men – working parents – who ought to be living the American Dream,’’ he said, “instead are losing their health care, their pensions, their jobs, their homes and their patience.”
Mr. Trumka devoted only a portion of his speech to the health care debate. His talk covered a wide range of labor issues, including proposed legislation that would make it easier to unionize, the economic troubles faced by young workers and ways that unions could help young workers.
Mr. Trumka said that the labor movement’s goals included making sure that every job was a portal to the middle class, that young people were not denied the opportunity to go to college and that Americans didn’t “have to worry whether the health insurance you have is going to pay for the health care you need.”
During the question-and-answer session, Mr. Trumka noted that some companies backed health care reform, but he voiced surprise that more were not supporting it.
He said medium-size companies were getting “creamed” by the current health care system, and he said many small companies would like to provide coverage to their employees, but could not because premiums were so high.
He spoke out strongly for a public option, saying that most local insurance markets were highly concentrated, “which means a few companies dominate them, and they keep the price up.”
He said a government-run plan would give Americans an option for more affordable health insurance, helping to put pressure on private insurers to provide better coverage and lower premiums.
“That’s why the public option is so important,” Mr. Trumka said.
He estimated that 50 percent of Americans now participated in government-run health plans, if one includes not just Medicare and Medicaid participants, but also government employees and members of the military.
Mr. Trumka said the Democrats had to learn more about how to do collective bargaining because he said they were too quick to grant legislative concessions in the face of Republican opposition and conservative complaints at Town Hall meetings.
“Don’t let this small minority of people stop what the vast majority of the American people want and demand,” Mr. Trumka said.