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WEAC members press for health care reform in D.C.
Posted: 6/26/2009 10:47:37 AM
Jane Mandli of Cedar Lake United Educators
holds a sign at a Health Care for America Now
rally in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
In mid-June, Washburn technical education teacher Joe Russo joined a couple of his former students on a roof to see what they did for a living. High atop a building with the contractors, Russo looked down and had a thought: “Do these guys have health insurance.”
“No,” they replied.
The next week in a cab cruising down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., holding a sign reading “Reform Health Care Now,” Russo asked the cab driver: “Do you have health insurance?”
“No,” the driver replied.
To both statements, Russo said the same thing: “I’ll fight for you.” And so he did Thursday along with a delegation of WEAC representatives who joined a rally in Washington, D.C., calling for health care reform and visiting with Sen. Russ Feingold and the staffs of three other Wisconsin delegates in Congress to say that now is the time for health care reform. We cannot wait any longer.
Russo told Wisconsin’s D.C. delegation that a standard family health care plan has jumped in price 1,508 percent since 1982. The health care system is just not sustainable anymore, Russo said.
“We can’t go on like this much longer,” he said. “Health care shouldn’t be traded on the stock exchange.”
As a partner with Health Care for America Now (HCAN), WEAC joined the group’s rally in Washington, D.C., pressing Congress to act on a health care reform package that will guarantee access to coverage for everyone in the country and create competition for those who have coverage.
Russo joined WEAC Vice President Guy Costello, NEA Directors Britt Hall and Glenn Schmidt, Lynn Goss of West Central Education Association, Michelle Frola of Central Wisconsin UniServ Council, Jane Mandli of Cedar Lake United Educators, Bryan Milz of Green Bay Education Association, and Nan Weymier-Killeen of Cedar Lake United Educators.
Goss told an aide for Sen. Herb Kohl of some education support professionals who can’t afford health insurance and others who owe the district money after health insurance premiums are deducted from their paychecks. “It’s a negative paycheck,” she said to a representative for Congressman Dave Obey.
Weymier-Killeen told Obey’s representative about a student whose rotting teeth due to lack of insurance has resulted in speech impediments and educational setbacks.
Hall said to Obey’s rep that “this might be the only chance we have to get health care reform in the next four to eight years.” Schmidt told the legislative director for Congressman Ron Kind that Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation needs to be a champion on health care reform to bring affordable access to those living without insurance.
And the WEAC reps weren’t alone in the push, being joined with Health Care for America Now partners AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees), AFT (American Federation of Teachers), SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Together the groups represent upwards of 300,000 people across Wisconsin.
Those 300,00 people will have to keep up the fight for health care reform because, as the Wisconsin delegation in Congress said, there is a major push from the insurance industry against reform. One aide told the WEAC and HCAN members who ventured to D.C. that they were some of the few who have stopped by to support reform, and that most visits are from industry reps arguing against a government program that would create affordable access for every American.
Sen. Feingold, who joined more than 40 people in his D.C. office to listen to their concerns on health care, went even further in pushing for more support: “Without pressure from your coalition, we don’t have a chance,” he said.
Like Feingold said, the need is huge to pressure elected officials in Congress to act on health care. They will act only if they have the support of their home base.
“That’s an important notion to bring back,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, director of public policy for the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals, one of the groups joining WEAC in the lobbying and rally trip. “We’re in an uphill battle.”
What our representatives in Congress need to hear is that 1) Health care costs are skyrocketing and the system is unsustainable for those who have insurance and potentially deadly for those who don’t. 2) There are much better funding options than taxing benefits. 3) The time to act is now before the problem gets any worse.
“We are being outgunned on health care,” Schmidt said. “Because of the no-holds-barred press being put on by people with a stake in our dysfunctional health care system, we need to contact our members of Congress and we need to do it now.”
To get involved, check the NEA’s Legislative Action Center for a list of your elected officials and let them know we need health care reform now.
