Boilermakers support health care reform bill

March 18, 2010 — THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD of Boilermakers joins with the AFL-CIO and the Building and Construction Trades in support of the health care reform bill now before Congress. The bill is to be posted to the Congressional Web site this afternoon, with a final vote expected on Sunday, March 21.

Although this bill lacks many provisions that our Executive Council and our members had hoped would be included, it marks a giant step toward universal, high-quality health care for all Americans. Key provisions of the bill that we have supported are as follows:

• It extends coverage to 30 million Americans who currently have no access to health care.
• It is NOT a government take-over of health care.
• You will be able to keep your current medical insurance, if you choose to do so.
• You will be able to see the doctors you currently see.
• Medicare will continue to pay medical bills for seniors.
• The gap in prescription drug coverage faced by Medicare patients (referred to as the “donut hole”) will be eliminated.
• It creates a temporary reinsurance program to cover retirees over age 55 who are not eligible for Medicare.
• The law will regulate insurance companies, dictating the minimum level of service they must cover, including preventive care.
• Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
• The bill eliminates life limits on coverage.
• It includes measures to bring down health care costs over time.

These are historic advances in our nation’s health care system, and they have been accomplished economically. The bill is affordable and will be paid for without adding to the deficit. A preliminary report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued this morning estimates it will cost about $940 billion over the first 10 years. That’s about half what the Bush tax cuts have already cost in their first nine years. In addition, health care reform will reduce the deficit by $130 billion during that same period and by $1.2 trillion in its second 10 years.

An important victory for union members in the final hours of negotiation involves what is known as the “excise tax on Cadillac plans.” With the help of our allies in the House of Representatives, the threshold for triggering this tax has been raised significantly and is now above the value of the Boilermaker Health & Welfare plan and other plans that cover our members.

Universal health care has been a goal of the labor movement since President Harry Truman first proposed to create a voluntary national health care plan in 1945. Now that goal is within reach.

Contact your senators and congressmen and let them know that Boilermakers support this health care reform.