From the president

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger

 At long last, America is ready to take the step UAW members have been advocating for decades: health care reform that holds down costs and makes quality care accessible to everyone. 

As of this writing, five major reform bills have been approved by committees in the U.S. House and Senate. Our nation is finally within striking distance of the goal, with an approach that builds on the parts of our health care system that work while fixing what doesn’t work.

All the pending bills will allow people to keep their health insurance, with their current benefits and choice of doctor. Job loss will no longer mean medical catastrophe: Unemployed workers will be eligible for affordable health insurance, with assistance to cover the cost. And expenses will be capped to make sure you can’t go bankrupt due to medical bills.

Health care reform will mean greater health security for all Americans. Health insurance companies, for example, will no longer be able to deny coverage or care for pre-existing conditions, or drop your coverage if you become sick. There will be no more annual or lifetime caps on coverage, so you won’t be stuck with tens of thousands in uncovered medical bills. And if you pay your premiums, your insurance company won’t be able to reject a renewal of your insurance plan.

Deductibles, co-pays, premiums and other expenses will be capped at a percentage of your income, so you no longer face exorbitant health insurance costs.

The UAW supports most of the measures incorporated in four of these bills (the three House bills and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee bill). But the Senate Finance Committee bill contains dangerous and costly provisions that are unfair and unwise, and should be excluded from the final legislation. 

One of those provisions is a tax on employer-provided health care benefits. Under the Senate Finance Committee bill, a family of four with an income of $55,100 per year would have to pay $9,100, or 16.5 percent of their income, in additional taxes and premiums.

Taxing workers’ benefits is wrong. The UAW, like President Obama and members of the three House committees, believes the better way to finance reform is through a surcharge on those households making more than $250,000 per year – the same ones who benefited so greatly from President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy.

The Finance Committee includes a wrong-headed tax which should be taken out – but it’s also missing a vital ingredient that’s in the other four bills passed by House and Senate committees: a strong public health insurance option, which would lower premiums by ensuring real competition among health insurers. 

The Senate Finance bill, like the other bills, mandates that everyone purchase health care insurance. But this idea only works if people have an affordable alternative to private insurance.

The UAW and a solid majority of Americans favor the mandate but only if an affordable public insurance plan is available.

Each of us has a stake in making sure we pass health care reform that includes a public option and does not impose taxes on current health care plans. Even those of us who have union-negotiated, employer-funded health care coverage know that maintaining these benefits gets harder each time we sit down at the bargaining table. 

All employers should be required either to provide health coverage for their workers and early retirees or contribute a meaningful sum to help pay for coverage.

But we also recognize that large employers cannot continue to absorb skyrocketing costs any more than smaller businesses or individuals can. Workers and retirees in auto, steel, aerospace and other industries have all been hurt, badly, by out-of-control health care costs. The current “system” of patchwork care is simply not sustainable. 

That’s why meaningful health care reform is vital for UAW members and families.

And let’s not forget that there are 47 million Americans, seven million of them children, without any health care insurance whatsoever. The health reform legislation that is moving through Congress will, at long last, right this tragic and indefensible wrong.

This is no time to let up the pressure. The same special interests that have prevented reform for years are trying to kill it this time around – or working to stall progress by adding costs for working families while letting insurance companies and health care providers off the hook.

Ron Gettelfinger