Fwd: qotd: AFL-CIO reaffirms support of single payer

_______________________________________________
Quote-of-the-day mailing list
Quote-of-the-day@mccanne.org
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/quote-of-the-day

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: qotd: AFL-CIO reaffirms support of single payer
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 09:13:13 -0700
From: Don McCanne <don@mccanne.org>
To: Quote-of-the-Day <quote-of-the-day@mccanne.org>



AFL-CIO
2013 Convention

September 11, 2013
Adopted Resolutions

Resolution 54: AFL-CIO Convention Resolution on the Affordable Care Act

WHEREAS, in 2009, the AFL-CIO Convention passed two health care
resolutions—Health Care Reform Now and the Social Insurance Model for
Health Care Reform—which reaffirmed the labor movement's commitment to
health care for all, ultimately through a single-payer system. In 2010,
Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA);

(23 more WHEREASs)

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the AFL-CIO reaffirms the health
care resolutions adopted by the 2009 convention, including the
commitment to pursue health care for all ultimately through a
single-payer system;

(8 more BE-IT-FURTHER-RESOLVEDs)

http://www.aflcio.org/About/Exec-Council/Conventions/2013/Resolutions-and-Amendments/Resolution-54-AFL-CIO-Convention-Resolution-on-the-Affordable-Care-Act


Comment: There are two important health care reform issues before us
today. The most important by far is that this nation desperately needs a
single payer system. The other is that the Affordable Care Act is well
on its way to being fully implemented, with all of its intolerable
flaws. Yesterday, AFL-CIO passed a resolution dealing with both of these.

The first WHEREAS and the first BE-IT-RESOLVED reaffirmed organized
labor's support of single payer reform. It is an imperative.

The other twenty-three WHEREASs and eight BE-IT-FURTHER-RESOLVEDs can be
accessed at the link above. They concern very serious flaws in the
Affordable Care Act, especially applicable to union members, which will
be very difficult to correct. They are important to understand because
flaws such as these permeate the entire Act.

Maintaining and expanding our highly dysfunctional health care financing
system while adding administrative complexity is precisely what we did
not need. All of this could have been avoided by moving directly to a
single payer system. We can still do that, even if we have already
wasted much time and money, while prolonging hardship and suffering.

Although organized labor's targeted attack on the Affordable Care Act is
making headlines today, they passed another resolution that is also very
important:

Resolution 15: Protecting and Expanding Medicare Benefits

Excerpts:

Instead of cuts and cost shifting, we call for improvements to Medicare.
Doing so is an essential prerequisite to establishing it as a model for
a universal, single-payer system.

Instead of looking for ways to destroy Medicare, which has been a leader
in improving our dysfunctional health care system, we must build on its
experience as a single-payer program, demonstrating that single payer is
the most cost-effective and equitable way to provide quality health care.

http://www.aflcio.org/About/Exec-Council/Conventions/2013/Resolutions-and-Amendments/Resolution-15-Protecting-and-Expanding-Medicare-Benefits