If Liz were Queen

by James Parks, Dec 24, 2009

The Senate passed health care reform by a 60-39 margin shortly after 7 a.m. today.

While passage of this legislation continues the momentum for health care reform, the Senate bill itself doesn’t live up to the kind of reform we need. The bill has many positive features, but it falls short in three key areas:

• It is paid for by a tax on working families’ health benefits.

• It fails to provide a public health insurance option, which would control costs by giving insurance companies real competition.

• It does not do enough to make sure employers are living up to their responsibility.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said:

For this health care bill to be worthy of the support of working men and women, substantial changes must be made. The AFL-CIO intends to fight on behalf of all working families to make those changes and win health care reform that is deserving of the name.

The House bill is the model for genuine health care reform.  Working people cannot accept anything less than real reform.

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