AFL-CIO demands 'Put Single Payer in the Survey'

> Put Single Payer in the Survey!
>
> By Andy Coates, MD
> Steward in the Public Employees Federation (PEF), AFL-CIO,
> A statewide New York union affiliated with AFT and SEIU
>
> In an attempt to find out what union members think about the health
> care
> crisis and its solution, the AFL-CIO recently asked union members and
> supporters to complete a health care survey.
>
> http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/survey/index_survey.cfm?source=hc_survey_wfn
>
> The problem with the survey is that it does not present the full
> range of
> opinions union members have, and nowhere in the survey is single
> payer, or
> Medicare for All, or HR 676 even mentioned as an option.
>
> Question #21 in the survey offers only variations on keeping for-
> profit
> insurance companies in the center of health care. There is no
> choice to
> go to a single payer, publicly funded system that covers all medically
> necessary care as in HR 676.
>
> Everyone knows that single payer is supported by many within labor.
> Over
> 500 union organizations, including 39 state AFL-CIO's and 126 Central
> Labor Councils, have endorsed HR 676 which is co-sponsored by 76
> members
> in the House of Representatives. Recently, Vermont Senator Bernie
> Sanders, a friend of labor, introduced SB 703, a single payer bill,
> in the
> Senate.
>
> Since a large section of unions and union members supports a single
> payer
> solution to the health care crisis, it is unfair to construct a survey
> that completely ignores opinions from single payer advocates.
>
> The AFL-CIO has a crucial role to play in the health care debate now
> unfolding. It is important that those who speak for labor in this
> debate
> are able to reflect the vital and growing single payer sentiment
> within
> our union movement.
>
> We encourage you to write President Sweeney, jsweeney@aflcio.org,
> and urge
> him to include the single payer choice in the survey seeking the
> views of
> union members on health care. You could also fax President Sweeney
> at:
> (202) 508-6946. #30#
>
>
> Distributed by:
> All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
> c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
> 1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
> Louisville, KY 40217
> (502) 636 1551
> Email: nursenpo@aol.com
> http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org
> 04/26/09
>
>