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Bush Inaction Deepens America's Health Care Crisis
Health care costs on President Bush's watch have skyrocketed, placing increased pressure on America's working families and leaving 45 million people uninsured.
Soaring insurance premiums have become a major issue in bargaining with every CWA employer, and many are threatening to raise premiums for retirees who live on fixed incomes.
Only 45 percent of private sector workers participated in employer health plans in 2003, a drop from 52 percent in 2000 and 66 percent in 1990, according to Labor Department figures.
The cost of premiums ballooned from about $7,000 to $9,000 between 2001 and 2003, and the National Coalition on Health Care projects they will rise to $14,500 within two years.
The crisis begs a solution from the White House, but under President Bush, none has been forthcoming.
"After battling to hold on to paid health premiums for active and retired workers in every sector - at employers like GE, Verizon, SBC, Lucent, the Boston Globe, US Airways and Bell South - our members get it," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "The pressure to hold on to our hard-won benefits will only increase unless there is a national solution. But nothing is likely to happen until we see a Democratic president in the White House."
Senator John Kerry would repeal part of the Bush tax cut for incomes above $200,000 and spend at least $643 billion to insure 27 million people.
His plan would pick up the full cost of more than 20 million children enrolled in Medicaid and expand state-based programs to insure all children and millions of adults. A Kerry administration would provide aid to states to automatically enroll every eligible school child in the State Children's Health Insurance Program and would expand eligibility for Medicaid.
Kerry wants to extend affordable health coverage to 95 percent of all Americans by making available to them the same health benefits enjoyed by members of Congress. He would help small businesses and families buy into the plan through a schedule of tax credits totaling $177 billion over the next 10 years.
Kerry would cut waste and costs and improve the health care system by making prescription drugs more affordable. He would use the federal government's purchasing power to induce drug wholesalers to pass along rebates from manufacturers. He would get more affordable generic drugs to the market, give states the flexibility to negotiate better deals and allow people to buy quality drugs through Canada.
Bush plans instead to make his $990 billion tax cut for the wealthy permanent but spend only $90 billion on tax credits and health care savings accounts to cover 2.5 million people.
He would provide a subsidy of $3,000 to help families earning $25,000 or less buy health insurance, but those families would have to come up with an additional $6,000 to purchase benefits similar to employer-sponsored plans.
Bush proposes allowing small businesses to organize to purchase "Association Health Plans," but would allow those plans to discriminate against people based on health status,
effectively helping only the young and healthy.
He claims credit for a new Medicare prescription drug card that enables seniors to purchase prescription drugs for 15 percent or more off the retail price. But the AFL-CIO and scores of other critics say the program is confusing and of dubious value. Seniors must pay $30 to obtain a card from one of 73 different plans, and savings are far outpaced by inflation.
Furthermore, Bush would cut nearly $100 billion from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, two proven vehicles for helping people get health insurance.
The Bush record on health care is dismal:
Soaring insurance premiums have become a major issue in bargaining with every CWA employer, and many are threatening to raise premiums for retirees who live on fixed incomes.
Only 45 percent of private sector workers participated in employer health plans in 2003, a drop from 52 percent in 2000 and 66 percent in 1990, according to Labor Department figures.
The cost of premiums ballooned from about $7,000 to $9,000 between 2001 and 2003, and the National Coalition on Health Care projects they will rise to $14,500 within two years.
The crisis begs a solution from the White House, but under President Bush, none has been forthcoming.
"After battling to hold on to paid health premiums for active and retired workers in every sector - at employers like GE, Verizon, SBC, Lucent, the Boston Globe, US Airways and Bell South - our members get it," said CWA President Morton Bahr. "The pressure to hold on to our hard-won benefits will only increase unless there is a national solution. But nothing is likely to happen until we see a Democratic president in the White House."
Senator John Kerry would repeal part of the Bush tax cut for incomes above $200,000 and spend at least $643 billion to insure 27 million people.
His plan would pick up the full cost of more than 20 million children enrolled in Medicaid and expand state-based programs to insure all children and millions of adults. A Kerry administration would provide aid to states to automatically enroll every eligible school child in the State Children's Health Insurance Program and would expand eligibility for Medicaid.
Kerry wants to extend affordable health coverage to 95 percent of all Americans by making available to them the same health benefits enjoyed by members of Congress. He would help small businesses and families buy into the plan through a schedule of tax credits totaling $177 billion over the next 10 years.
Kerry would cut waste and costs and improve the health care system by making prescription drugs more affordable. He would use the federal government's purchasing power to induce drug wholesalers to pass along rebates from manufacturers. He would get more affordable generic drugs to the market, give states the flexibility to negotiate better deals and allow people to buy quality drugs through Canada.
Bush plans instead to make his $990 billion tax cut for the wealthy permanent but spend only $90 billion on tax credits and health care savings accounts to cover 2.5 million people.
He would provide a subsidy of $3,000 to help families earning $25,000 or less buy health insurance, but those families would have to come up with an additional $6,000 to purchase benefits similar to employer-sponsored plans.
Bush proposes allowing small businesses to organize to purchase "Association Health Plans," but would allow those plans to discriminate against people based on health status,
effectively helping only the young and healthy.
He claims credit for a new Medicare prescription drug card that enables seniors to purchase prescription drugs for 15 percent or more off the retail price. But the AFL-CIO and scores of other critics say the program is confusing and of dubious value. Seniors must pay $30 to obtain a card from one of 73 different plans, and savings are far outpaced by inflation. Furthermore, Bush would cut nearly $100 billion from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, two proven vehicles for helping people get health insurance.
The Bush record on health care is dismal:
- Since he took office, according to Families USA, the number of uninsured Americans has risen by nearly 4 million.
- During parts of 2002 and 2003, nearly 82 million Americans between 18 and 65 had no health insurance coverage.
- Since Bush took office, the cost of family health insurance has risen more than $2,700. From 2001 to 2004 workers' share of family health premiums has increased by nearly 50 percent.