The AFL-CIO issued the following statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the health care legislation introduced in the House today. Here’s the full text:
Today’s release of a progressive health care reform bill by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi puts America’s working families one big step closer to getting quality and affordable health care, and it’s a model for fair financing. The leadership in the House has crafted a fiscally responsible bill that will provide coverage to 96 percent of Americans and successfully works to lower costs, increase choice, expand coverage and stop insurance company abuses. It will reduce our deficit by $30 billion over the next 10 years.
The inclusion of a public plan option ensures that we reduce skyrocketing health care costs by holding insurance companies accountable and forcing them to compete. The public option also ensures that all Americans can get coverage no matter what.
The bill does not attempt to finance reform on the backs of the working middle class. In addition, the employer responsibility provision ensures a fair share of financing from employers and prevents employers from increasing costs for everyone by dumping people into subsidized programs. We look forward to working with the leadership in both the House and the Senate to continue to strengthen these provisions as we move forward to pass real health care reform.
We strongly believe that these fair financing elements should be included in the final legislation in order to ensure that we are not asking those who struggle to pay for health care to pay even more.
In the coming weeks, working families will continue to reach out to members of Congress to help push health care reform over the finish line.
