Unions and the Healthcare Crisis

Across America, working families are suffering because of the problems with our health care system. In 2006, 47 million U.S. residents, including 8.7 million children, had no health insurance. These numbers continue to grow as health care costs increase, causing employers to increasingly shift costs to employees. According to surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, health care premiums have increased 78 percent since 2001, while wages have increased only 19 percent.

Some workers are losing their employer-based coverage, while those who still have coverage struggle to pay higher premiums, deductibles and co-payments. One in four families had trouble paying for medical care in the past year, and more than two-thirds of these families had insurance. It is critical that elected officials address health care reform, either by making fundamental changes to the system or completely rebuilding it. Astronomical health care costs are devastating American working families, and with America's per person health care spending projected to double by 2016, there is no relief in sight unless decisive action is taken.

Health Care and Unions

Unions have been involved in the fight for health care benefits for working families for decades. After World War II, unions supported universal health care coverage as part of the Fair Deal agenda. When they lost that fight and the nation adopted an employer-based health care system, union members fought in contract after contract to improve health care benefits. Through this relentless fight, they raised the standards for the nation and created a national standard of comprehensive health care benefits funded by employers. Today, health care costs are increasingly the crux of many union negotiations, and union members say they are simply unable to take on increased costs.

AFL-CIO Health Care Campaign

The goal of the AFL-CIO's health care campaign is to secure high quality health care for all Americans through education, outreach and mobilization. The unions of the AFL-CIO are creating a 1-million-member health care mobilization team and working with a broad alliance of grassroots organizations. By providing working Americans with the knowledge they need to make informed choices, the AFL-CIO hopes to win progressive health care reform.

The AFL-CIO advocates for a unique American plan for secure, high-quality health care. This plan calls on the government to act as a watchdog regarding costs, quality, and fairness. In addition, the plan will:

• Build on what is best about American health care
• Control health care costs
• Ensure that everyone gets high-quality health care as good as or better than they have now
• Cover preventive care
• Allow people to choose their own doctors and other health care providers
• Divide responsibility among employers, government and individuals
• Offer the choice of a public alternative to private insurance