UAW Convention Resolves to Fight for Single Payer Health Care and Calls for Passage of the Conyers Bill
Two thousand delegates to the 34th International Convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW), meeting in June, strongly endorsed a single payer health care system and called for passage of legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers that would implement such a system.
The resolution states, “The best solution to our nation’s health care crisis is a comprehensive, single-payer plan to provide quality health care to every man, woman and child in the United States.” Under the section titled “The Solution” the resolution continues: “Legislation to establish a single-payer system for the United States has been introduced by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.”
The resolution spells out the Conyers bill: “The United States National Health Insurance Act, also known as ‘Expanded and Improved Medicare for All,’ would cover every person in the US for all necessary medical care, including prescription drugs….” The resolution notes that the Conyers legislation would end deductibles and co-payments.
“The question isn’t whether we can afford to have universal, single-payer health care; the question is, can we afford not to?” states the UAW resolution.
The UAW set forth an indictment of our current health care system. “Many Americans instinctively claim that the U.S. health care system is No. 1. Regrettably, this is not close to the mark. While we excel in the development of technologies, we still have a dysfunctional system when it comes to actually providing care-the only meaningful standard. Despite the Cadillac prices, our health care system delivers a defective product.”
The resolution sadly noted the 100,000 hospital deaths each year from preventable errors, the 46 million uninsured who suffer mortality rates 25% higher than the insured, and the poor ranking of the US behind other industrialized countries in life expectancy, infant mortality, and childhood immunization.
The UAW warned that the problem will worsen as more health insurers switch to for-profit status. The resolution states: “Rather than a social good, health care becomes just another commodity; a $1.7 trillion market with ample opportunity to siphon off exorbitant profits and executive salaries at the expense of health care services. In 2003 the median total compensation for the CEOs of health insurers was just over $14 million….”
The UAW blasted the ideologues who claim that Americans overuse their health plans and should be forced to pay more out of pocket as the way to lower costs. The union dispelled these claims by showing that Americans don’t demand more health care services and already pay more out of pocket than people in most other countries.
The UAW condemned Health Savings Accounts as a cruel hoax that shifts the costs to the sick, the disabled, and the aged. The resolution also exposed the myth that malpractice litigation is the cause of health care inflation by showing that malpractice costs are less than 2 percent of total health care spending.
The final section of the resolution, headed “Mobilizing for Change” declares: “We must not allow our frustrations with the political process to weaken our efforts to solve the health care crisis;” and “We will continue to educate, organize, mobilize and lobby in support of a universal, single-payer health care system.”
The full UAW Convention resolution is available from the UAW or from:
Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care-HR 676 c/o Nurses Professional Organization
1169 Eastern Parkway #2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
nursenpo@aol.com
HR 676 now has 72 congressional co-sponsors in addition to John Conyers.
HR 676 has been endorsed by 154 union organizations including 28 central labor councils, two state AFL-CIO’s (KY and PA), and 3 area labor federations. The full list of union endorsers and a sample resolution are available at the contact information above.