DEMAND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE
Everyday SEIU members have the courage to
fight for affordable health care.
Together we work with our employers to try to make sure we have access
to health care we can afford. Sometimes
that means long hours of bargaining, negotiating beyond a contract deadline,
taking a strike vote, or even going on strike.
We do whatever is in our power to make sure that we all have access to
affordable health care.
Now SEIU members call on you - our State
Legislators – to do every thing in your power
to guarantee affordable health care coverage for all!
We believe that we need a
dramatic overhaul of how we pay for and deliver health care in order to truly
sustain affordable and high quality health care. Many of the proposals in 2008 do not provide
the overall solution, but they include pragmatic steps that take us closer to a
system that does. We encourage Legislators to support the
following proposals, but to also recognize that these do not add up to be the
entire solution to our health care crisis.
In the future, we will need to go further.
SEIU
supports the following efforts to
guarantee
affordable health care coverage for all!
Pool K-12 Employees. (SF2747/HF3112) This bill would
pool all public school employees in order to provide affordable and high
quality health insurance at lower cost to the state. It is estimated that the state will save $223
million over six years, which is a 4.1% cost savings.
Allow Long-Term Care Workers Access to MN Care. (SF3353/HF3400)Including increasing reimbursement rates, this bill would remove the
barrier to MN Care for long term care employees whose employer pays over 50
percent of private insurance. For many,
it is impossible to pay up to 50 percent of the health care costs, so many long
term care workers go without.
Oppose Governor Pawlenty’s Cuts to Health Care. In the past, Governor Pawlenty has said he is going to cover all kids,
increase emphasis on public health campaigns, and make efforts to enroll
everyone that is currently elligible for health care programs. However, actions speak louder than words. The Govenors’s budget proposal cuts funding
for 20,000 children to have health insurance, cuts funding for youth tobacco
prevention programs, and cuts funding for outreach to individuals that are
elligible for health care programs.
SEIU is opposed to Governor Pawlenty’s
proposed budget cuts to health care providers.
Please stand up to the Governor and
balance the budget without
negatively impacting the health of our
communities.