Responding to the Health Care Crisis

Affiliates Push for Reform

Talking Health — Minnesota Council 5 members attend a two-day town meeting to launch a campaign aimed at winning affordable health care.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Munt

This February, 325 members of Minnesota Council 5 gathered for a two-day, electronic town meeting to develop skills that will enable them to talk with—and mobilize—co-workers, legislators and the public about providing affordable health care for all Americans.

Their message is simple: No resident should spend more than 5 percent of their household income on health care. That's especially significant this year. More than 1.1 million Minnesotans expect that more than 10 percent of their household income—which averaged $54,000 in 2006—will go toward medical expenses.

Participants used interactive keypads and laptop computers to answer questions about their personal medical expenses. Among them was Jerome Council, a maintenance worker at the Minneapolis Veterans Home and a member of Local 744. "People can't support a family, save for retirement, and pay more than 5 percent for health care," he says. Sixty percent of the session's participants said they are paying more than that, and the problem is expected to grow with each passing year.

Other states are taking action, too. In Wisconsin, Council 24 helped organize public health care forums to rally support for a plan known as "Healthy Wisconsin." The proposal would guarantee health coverage for all state residents and significantly lower costs through a statewide catastrophic reinsurance program. The state Senate approved the measure as part of the current state budget, but it has since been dropped. AFSCME will resume its efforts to get it passed when the bill is reintroduced in January, after the Legislature begins a new session.

Meanwhile, New York City's DC 37 is signing up health care activists and educating members about the need for federal reform of the nation's failing health care system.

In California, AFSCME members last year rallied to support a universal health care bill that would have provided coverage to nearly all residents—including 6.8 million who currently lack it. The measure, which also mandated that employers provide coverage or pay into a state pool for providing care, failed to win majority support in the Senate. The bill's supporters, including the governor, hope to revive it. Connecticut also considered major health care reforms aimed at covering all residents.