The Political Bridge

The AFL-CIO's Problems with the Senate Health Care Revision Bill: "Bailout of the Insurance Industry"

From Workday Minnesota

The federation is frustrated with the health care revision bill for several reasons:

• Gone are cost-control measures such as enactment of a “public option” to compete with private insurers and  letting people aged 55-64 buy in to Medicare.

• Provides a tax on everyone’s health insurance, above a floor of $8,500 for an individual and $23,000 for a family.  

 

Many (labor) leaders now view the developing Senate health bill as “a bailout of the insurance industry."

Labor Unions Plan Ads to Counter the Baucus Health-Care Bill

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Teamsters, United Auto Workers and other labor unions plan to oppose health-care legislation being considered by a U.S. Senate panel unless changes are made to the “deeply flawed” bill, according to a draft advertisement prepared for Washington newspapers.

The advertisement, circulated yesterday among the unions, calls for a so-called public option that would compete with private insurers, elimination of a proposed tax on health plans and requiring almost all employers to provide health care or contribute to a fund that would subsidize coverage.