CWA’s Priorities for Real Health Care Reform

1. Employers Should be Responsible for Covering Their Own Workers

Requiring all employers to either provide coverage or pay into a public fund, "pay or play," achieves several important CWA goals:

• CWA members will keep the health benefits and insurance that we've negotiated over the years.
• It will end the health care freeloading by employers that don't provide coverage and whose workers and their dependents are covered by other employers. Currently 16 million workers are covered by their spouse's or partner's plan.

2. No Taxation of Health Care Plans

This disastrous idea, at the current time a part of the Senate Finance Bill, is exactly the wrong approach to financing real health care reform. It's an idea that's unacceptable to CWA and members, and we will fight to defeat it.

3. Protections for Pre-Medicare Retirees

Workers who are 55-64 are especially vulnerable to losing their health care and a growing number of employers are looking to drop retiree health care altogether. CWA is working with an alliance of small business, union, senior and other organizations to make sure health care for retirees is safe.

4. A Public Plan Option

A public plan option is critical to keep the private insurance industry competitive and to provide an alternative for workers and families who lose their employer-based coverage. 

There are three legislative proposals on health care reform: 

• H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act, is the bill that best meets CWA's priorities. This bill combined the work of three House committees: Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means and will be on the House floor for a vote in October. 
• The bill produced by the Senate HELP Committee (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) makes some improvements in our health care system but doesn't do enough on employer mandates and other key CWA priorities. 
• The Senate Finance Committee bill (the Baucus bill) is a disaster for working families. CWA and our allies are working hard to defeat this proposal. 

Note: Initial Baucus proposal called for 35 percent excise tax on health care.