Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Health Care Reform Could Save Money and Insure All
Reforming the nation's badly broken health care system would generate savings of at least $320 billion within 10 years and possibly more than $1 trillion, according to proposals being put forth by the broad-based National Coalition on Health Care Reform.
CWA and other unions are among members of the non-partisan coalition, which also includes large and small businesses, consumer, religious and primary care provider groups, and the country's largest health and pension funds.
Laying out four scenarios for change at a recent press briefing in Washington, D.C., Coalition President Henry Simmons said the findings are "unambiguous" in showing enormous cost savings while improving health care and providing coverage for all Americans.
"In short, health care reform is a good investment, a crucial investment, for our nation and our people," said Simmons, a medical doctor who served various posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.
The proposals for change include requiring employers to provide health care coverage, expanding public health insurance programs, creating new public programs and establishing a universal publicly financed system.
In all cases, independent analyses by a researcher specializing in health care financing showed billions in savings through cost management and covering the uninsured, with the universal system providing the largest savings, an estimated $1.136 trillion by 2015. The analyses used conservative fiscal assumptions and Congressional Budget Office methodology, the coalition said.
Without changes researcher Kenneth Thorpe, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University in Atlanta, said not only will costs continue to skyrocket but also the number of uninsured Americans will rise by at least another 8 million within 10 years, to more than 54 million.
CWA President Morton Bahr urged union families to put pressure on government leaders to review the proposals and begin taking action. "The health care crisis is one of the gravest threats to our country," Bahr said. "It affects not only the physical health of our citizens, but the fiscal health of our states, communities, schools and households. Unless we get the costs under control soon and ensure that everyone has medical coverage, our standard of living is destined to decline."
Robert Ray, coalition co-chair and former Republican governor of Iowa, agreed. "The materials released today make a strong case that for serious economic, as well as health, reasons, we - as a nation - must act on health care reform now," Ray said.
CWA and other unions are among members of the non-partisan coalition, which also includes large and small businesses, consumer, religious and primary care provider groups, and the country's largest health and pension funds.
Laying out four scenarios for change at a recent press briefing in Washington, D.C., Coalition President Henry Simmons said the findings are "unambiguous" in showing enormous cost savings while improving health care and providing coverage for all Americans.
"In short, health care reform is a good investment, a crucial investment, for our nation and our people," said Simmons, a medical doctor who served various posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations.
The proposals for change include requiring employers to provide health care coverage, expanding public health insurance programs, creating new public programs and establishing a universal publicly financed system.
In all cases, independent analyses by a researcher specializing in health care financing showed billions in savings through cost management and covering the uninsured, with the universal system providing the largest savings, an estimated $1.136 trillion by 2015. The analyses used conservative fiscal assumptions and Congressional Budget Office methodology, the coalition said.
Without changes researcher Kenneth Thorpe, head of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University in Atlanta, said not only will costs continue to skyrocket but also the number of uninsured Americans will rise by at least another 8 million within 10 years, to more than 54 million.
CWA President Morton Bahr urged union families to put pressure on government leaders to review the proposals and begin taking action. "The health care crisis is one of the gravest threats to our country," Bahr said. "It affects not only the physical health of our citizens, but the fiscal health of our states, communities, schools and households. Unless we get the costs under control soon and ensure that everyone has medical coverage, our standard of living is destined to decline."
Robert Ray, coalition co-chair and former Republican governor of Iowa, agreed. "The materials released today make a strong case that for serious economic, as well as health, reasons, we - as a nation - must act on health care reform now," Ray said.