The week of April 2nd to April 8th will provide multiple opportunities for participation in activities focusing on opposition to the attacks on working families, seniors, children and the vulnerable in our communities.
On April 2nd, at 2:00 p.m., there will be an International Solidarity Event at Peace Arch State Park at the Canadian/U.S. border in Blaine, WA. Union members and their allies from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, will send a message of international solidarity with workers who are struggling to keep their right to organize and collectively bargain.
On Monday, April 4th , 5:30 - 7 p.m. at MLK Memorial Park, 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Seattle -- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn., where he was standing with sanitation workers supporting their dream of a better life. We are now seeing the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a decent life under attack. As part of the National Call to Action on April 4, there will be a local event with the message that we stand against a political agenda that is attacking working families, their human rights and their dignity. This event is sponsored by the Communications Workers of America.
Beginning April 5th, the action will shift to Olympia. The common message of all the actions will be:
-End corporate loopholes and give-aways to big business.
-Stop scapegoating public workers, immigrants and the poor.
-Don’t balance the budget on the backs of women, people of color, and the most vulnerable,
-Defend public schools and affordable tuition.
-Hands off collective bargaining. No layoffs or givebacks. Create jobs!
On Tuesday, April 5th, our South Sound based PSARAmembers are invited to join the Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget, a coalition of students, church groups and peace activists. Beginning at 10 a.m. at the mural on State St. and Capital Way, there will be a march to the Capitol. Special attention will be devoted to the Chase Bank and Bank of America along the route of the march and the significant tax loophole they enjoy. A rally will begin on the Capitol steps between 11 and noon (depending on when the march arrives) with music and speakers continuing for the remainder of the day.
Wednesday, April 6th, is Community Action Day. WA Community Action Network will lead a large coalition of community based organizations in a “Mobilization for Human Needs and Education”. “We know right from wrong and we cannot stand by any longer in silence. We have rallied, marched, lobbied and testified. Now it’s time to turn up the heat.” Buses will depart from Seattle at 10 a.m. and activity will stretch throughout the day and late into the evening. For more information email Jill@washingtoncan.org or call (2060 805-6678). To sign up to participate go to http://wearewashington.wordpress.com/sign-up-to-attend/
Thursday, April 7th, SEIU will lead action wit the theme “Medical Care and Health Care for All”. Long term care workers, mental health workers, clients and community members will take action to stop the statewide cuts to necessary healthcare services. Starting the day at 11am in the big white tent on the diagonal of the Capitol campus, it will wind down with an action in downtown Olympia. For more information contact event organizer Shaine Truscott (Shaine.Truscott@seiu775.org) …
Friday, April 8th at 12 noon on the Capitol steps. Washington State Labor Rally. sponsored by the WA State Labor Council and its affiliated unions: The theme will be “We Are One-Put People First”. “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Working families are tired of being blamed and punished for the damage done by Wall Street banks and corporations.”
PSARA will try to get all of our members who wish to attend this event to Olympia. There will be buses sponsored by various unions and car pools. If you can drive, please email Maureen Bo at adminvp@psara,org or call the office (206) 448-9646. If you wish to attend and need a ride, please email Maureen or call the office.
It is time to turn up the heat. There are many choices for participation. We will work to have a PSARA presence at these events!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
We Are One: We Demand: Put People First!
by Robby Stern
On March 17th, I was asked to deliver the following statement to approximately 1500 participants in a “Rally To Protect Our Future” on the Capital steps in Olympia. This letter was then delivered by a contingent from the rally to Governor Gregoire and the legislative leadership:
Budget cuts have undermined our state’s quality of life, and have placed the burden for a recession caused by Wall Street greed squarely on the backs of the most vulnerable.
We the people - workers, children, youth, seniors, students, people with disabilities, poor people, the middle class, and disproportionately people of color and immigrants – have already borne the brunt of the recession.
You – the Governor and the State Legislature – have a responsibility to provide moral leadership and call on big corporations and the very wealthy to pay their fair share.
We the people are suffering due to cuts to every public service that supports our American Dream. We are losing our health care and we can no longer see a doctor when we are sick. We are losing our wages and benefits and we struggle every day to put food on the table. Our schools are underfunded and our children are falling behind. Tuition is skyrocketing and our opportunities for a college education are disappearing. Workers compensation, dental care, food assistance, mental health care, and child care have all been slashed. Because of all of these actions, racial inequality in our state is increasing.
Every opportunity that we had to work hard and get ahead is being cut, while billions in tax breaks for the Wall Street banks and wealthy special interests that caused the recession in the first place remain untouched.
To add insult to injury, the state has continued to grant millions in special tax exemptions to the same corporate interests that caused the recession in the first place.
We the people have sacrificed enough.
The wealthiest in our state have not shared in this sacrifice. Millions in tax breaks for big out-of-state banks continue unabated. The wealthiest 1 percent in our state already pay the least in state taxes, but enjoy millions more in tax breaks when they purchase a private jet or pay for non-essential cosmetic surgery.
The state currently has 567 tax breaks on the books that cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Instead of cutting vital services, the legislature should be cutting the billions in wasteful corporate tax breaks that aren’t even being reviewed.
It is time for corporations and the wealthiest Washingtonians to share the sacrifice.
By the week of April 4th, we demand that you, the Governor and State Legislature, develop a responsible budget plan that:
• Stops the cuts to public services that support our communities and create jobs, by ending unjustified tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
• Pursues other revenue sources that will restore funding to core services.
• Makes government more accountable and transparent by reviewing and sunsetting wasteful tax breaks when they fail to create jobs or benefit our communities.
• Prevents any new spending on unnecessary tax exemptions that would make the budget deficit worse.
You – the Governor and the State Legislature - have a choice. You can create a budget that lessens human suffering and inequity, or you can protect corporations and the wealthy from sharing the sacrifice.
The people of Washington await your response.”
The wealthy interests and their political and media allies have determined that they will use this Wall Street created economic crisis to implement even deeper attacks on the standard of living and the future well-being of the majority of people in our country. The “Shock Doctrine” is being applied and it is happening at both the federal and state level.
PSARA members and our allies are now being challenged, as never before, to engage in a long term fight to right these wrongs and to put our state and country on a humane and moral path.
On March 17th, I was asked to deliver the following statement to approximately 1500 participants in a “Rally To Protect Our Future” on the Capital steps in Olympia. This letter was then delivered by a contingent from the rally to Governor Gregoire and the legislative leadership:
Budget cuts have undermined our state’s quality of life, and have placed the burden for a recession caused by Wall Street greed squarely on the backs of the most vulnerable.
We the people - workers, children, youth, seniors, students, people with disabilities, poor people, the middle class, and disproportionately people of color and immigrants – have already borne the brunt of the recession.
You – the Governor and the State Legislature – have a responsibility to provide moral leadership and call on big corporations and the very wealthy to pay their fair share.
We the people are suffering due to cuts to every public service that supports our American Dream. We are losing our health care and we can no longer see a doctor when we are sick. We are losing our wages and benefits and we struggle every day to put food on the table. Our schools are underfunded and our children are falling behind. Tuition is skyrocketing and our opportunities for a college education are disappearing. Workers compensation, dental care, food assistance, mental health care, and child care have all been slashed. Because of all of these actions, racial inequality in our state is increasing.
Every opportunity that we had to work hard and get ahead is being cut, while billions in tax breaks for the Wall Street banks and wealthy special interests that caused the recession in the first place remain untouched.
To add insult to injury, the state has continued to grant millions in special tax exemptions to the same corporate interests that caused the recession in the first place.
We the people have sacrificed enough.
The wealthiest in our state have not shared in this sacrifice. Millions in tax breaks for big out-of-state banks continue unabated. The wealthiest 1 percent in our state already pay the least in state taxes, but enjoy millions more in tax breaks when they purchase a private jet or pay for non-essential cosmetic surgery.
The state currently has 567 tax breaks on the books that cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Instead of cutting vital services, the legislature should be cutting the billions in wasteful corporate tax breaks that aren’t even being reviewed.
It is time for corporations and the wealthiest Washingtonians to share the sacrifice.
By the week of April 4th, we demand that you, the Governor and State Legislature, develop a responsible budget plan that:
• Stops the cuts to public services that support our communities and create jobs, by ending unjustified tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
• Pursues other revenue sources that will restore funding to core services.
• Makes government more accountable and transparent by reviewing and sunsetting wasteful tax breaks when they fail to create jobs or benefit our communities.
• Prevents any new spending on unnecessary tax exemptions that would make the budget deficit worse.
You – the Governor and the State Legislature - have a choice. You can create a budget that lessens human suffering and inequity, or you can protect corporations and the wealthy from sharing the sacrifice.
The people of Washington await your response.”
The wealthy interests and their political and media allies have determined that they will use this Wall Street created economic crisis to implement even deeper attacks on the standard of living and the future well-being of the majority of people in our country. The “Shock Doctrine” is being applied and it is happening at both the federal and state level.
PSARA members and our allies are now being challenged, as never before, to engage in a long term fight to right these wrongs and to put our state and country on a humane and moral path.
Remembering Irene Hull, 98
By Will Parry
Irene Hull, a founding member of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans and for seven decades a feisty, diminutive dynamo at numberless meetings, rallies, marches and picket lines, died of pneumonia March 20. She was 98.
Born in Republic, Kansas, in 1913, Irene joined the Communist Party in 1942 and remained a member throughout her long life. She never lost confidence that, in good time, the working people who were close to her heart would vanquish capitalism and establish a socialist United States, with liberty and justice for all.
She waged a lifelong struggle to bring that day closer.
Irene was a labor activist, a member of Bookbinders Local 87, a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and a delegate to the King County Labor Council. Among her many awards was a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Labor Council.
For half a century she worked for peace, in Seattle Women Act for Peace and in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
An iconic photo of Irene being carried limp between two hulking Seattle police officers after being arrested during a demonstration at local Republican headquarters was reproduced in quantity by Jobs With Justice and is displayed in union halls across the country.
A memorial is being planned. At the family’s request, memorial contributions may be made to the People’s World, 235 W. 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10011.
Irene Hull, a founding member of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans and for seven decades a feisty, diminutive dynamo at numberless meetings, rallies, marches and picket lines, died of pneumonia March 20. She was 98.
Born in Republic, Kansas, in 1913, Irene joined the Communist Party in 1942 and remained a member throughout her long life. She never lost confidence that, in good time, the working people who were close to her heart would vanquish capitalism and establish a socialist United States, with liberty and justice for all.
She waged a lifelong struggle to bring that day closer.
Irene was a labor activist, a member of Bookbinders Local 87, a founding member of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and a delegate to the King County Labor Council. Among her many awards was a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington State Labor Council.
For half a century she worked for peace, in Seattle Women Act for Peace and in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
An iconic photo of Irene being carried limp between two hulking Seattle police officers after being arrested during a demonstration at local Republican headquarters was reproduced in quantity by Jobs With Justice and is displayed in union halls across the country.
A memorial is being planned. At the family’s request, memorial contributions may be made to the People’s World, 235 W. 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10011.
One leg at a time
If you ever go to a meeting, make a pitch for membership in the Puget Sound Alliance, and sign up fifteen new members, good for you.
You’re the champion.
Most of us pull our pants on one leg at a time.
If you belong to the latter group, read on.
This appeal is to you.
One new member is an accomplishment to be proud of, because it’s true – every new member makes us stronger.
And every one of our more than one thousand members can get that one new member.
Every one of us. Without exception.
So what are you waiting for?
Use The Retiree Advocate as bait. Pick your target – that friend, neighbor, relative or workmate.
And go get ‘em.
Sure, two hundred and fifty new members in 2011 is an ambitious goal But we’ll get there, because we understand that the times demand a larger, stronger Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans.
We pull our pants on one leg at a time.
And we’ll get those 250 new members the same way.
You’re the champion.
Most of us pull our pants on one leg at a time.
If you belong to the latter group, read on.
This appeal is to you.
One new member is an accomplishment to be proud of, because it’s true – every new member makes us stronger.
And every one of our more than one thousand members can get that one new member.
Every one of us. Without exception.
So what are you waiting for?
Use The Retiree Advocate as bait. Pick your target – that friend, neighbor, relative or workmate.
And go get ‘em.
Sure, two hundred and fifty new members in 2011 is an ambitious goal But we’ll get there, because we understand that the times demand a larger, stronger Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans.
We pull our pants on one leg at a time.
And we’ll get those 250 new members the same way.
Wisconsin: It ain’t over till it’s over…
By Mike Andrew
"Madison is just the beginning!" AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a union rally in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 14. "Like that old song goes, 'You ain't seen nothin’ yet!'"
The Annapolis rally was only one in a series of labor rallies reacting to stunning developments in Wisconsin.
Late in the night on March 9, Republicans in the state’s Senate cut out all fiscal provisions from Gov. Scott Walker’s so-called “budget repair bill,” thus freeing themselves from a constitutional requirement to have a 20-vote quorum.
They then voted 18-1 to strip public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights. Only one Republican voted No. All the senate’s Democrats were still boycotting the session.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the dead-of-night legislative action a “coup d’etat.”
The next day, the state Assembly followed suit, and Walker signed the bill on March 11.
It was a month to the day since Walker introduced the “budget repair bill.”
That month had been filled by daily rallies at the state capitol in Madison, with crowds of workers and their allies sometimes topping 100,000.
Still more rallies followed, including a raucous and joyful “Welcome Home” rally on March 12 for the 14 Democratic senators who fled the state to deny Republicans their 20-vote quorum.
The AFL-CIO has called for a National Day of Action on April 4, the anniversary of the 1968 assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, were he’d gone to support the rights of city garbage workers.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Judge Maryann Sumi stayed implementation of the new law on grounds that Republicans may have violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law.
Recall petitions have been filed for Republicans who voted for the Walker bill, and Republicans have also filed recall petitions for Democratic senators who left the state.
Legislation limiting collective bargaining rights has also passed the Ohio state senate, and Indiana’s legislature is considering a “right to work” bill.
The stakes of this fight are not hard to figure out.
With the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision lifting most caps on campaign spending, money has become even more “the mother’s milk of politics,” as Jesse Unruh used to say.
Of the top 10 contributors to the 2010 election campaigns, only four were unions. Of the four, three – AFT, NEA, and AFSCME – are public sector unions. The third – SEIU – also represents many public sector employees.
Cripple the unions and you deny people any organized vehicle to challenge the corporate political agenda. Period. Game over.
That’s why poll after poll – in Wisconsin, Ohio, and nationally – show that voters strongly disapprove of stripping workers’ collective bargaining rights.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on March 18, the AFL-CIO’s Trumka called for continuing the campaign to defend collective bargaining rights.
“Walker turned a moment into a movement…” he said.
"Madison is just the beginning!" AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told a union rally in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 14. "Like that old song goes, 'You ain't seen nothin’ yet!'"
The Annapolis rally was only one in a series of labor rallies reacting to stunning developments in Wisconsin.
Late in the night on March 9, Republicans in the state’s Senate cut out all fiscal provisions from Gov. Scott Walker’s so-called “budget repair bill,” thus freeing themselves from a constitutional requirement to have a 20-vote quorum.
They then voted 18-1 to strip public sector workers of their collective bargaining rights. Only one Republican voted No. All the senate’s Democrats were still boycotting the session.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the dead-of-night legislative action a “coup d’etat.”
The next day, the state Assembly followed suit, and Walker signed the bill on March 11.
It was a month to the day since Walker introduced the “budget repair bill.”
That month had been filled by daily rallies at the state capitol in Madison, with crowds of workers and their allies sometimes topping 100,000.
Still more rallies followed, including a raucous and joyful “Welcome Home” rally on March 12 for the 14 Democratic senators who fled the state to deny Republicans their 20-vote quorum.
The AFL-CIO has called for a National Day of Action on April 4, the anniversary of the 1968 assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr King was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, were he’d gone to support the rights of city garbage workers.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Judge Maryann Sumi stayed implementation of the new law on grounds that Republicans may have violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law.
Recall petitions have been filed for Republicans who voted for the Walker bill, and Republicans have also filed recall petitions for Democratic senators who left the state.
Legislation limiting collective bargaining rights has also passed the Ohio state senate, and Indiana’s legislature is considering a “right to work” bill.
The stakes of this fight are not hard to figure out.
With the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision lifting most caps on campaign spending, money has become even more “the mother’s milk of politics,” as Jesse Unruh used to say.
Of the top 10 contributors to the 2010 election campaigns, only four were unions. Of the four, three – AFT, NEA, and AFSCME – are public sector unions. The third – SEIU – also represents many public sector employees.
Cripple the unions and you deny people any organized vehicle to challenge the corporate political agenda. Period. Game over.
That’s why poll after poll – in Wisconsin, Ohio, and nationally – show that voters strongly disapprove of stripping workers’ collective bargaining rights.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on March 18, the AFL-CIO’s Trumka called for continuing the campaign to defend collective bargaining rights.
“Walker turned a moment into a movement…” he said.
Meet our new Associate Editor
Mike Andrew, an experienced journalist and gay activist, is now the associate editor of The Retiree Advocate. In that capacity, he will work closely with President Robby Stern and Editor Will Parry in preparing, writing and editing the newsletter.
For the past 12 years, Mike has been active in Pride at Work, the LGBT constituency affiliated with organized labor, including the unions in Change to Win and independent unions as well as the national AFL-CIO. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the King County chapter.
A member of the National Writers Union, Mike’s work is regularly seen in the Seattle Gay News.
“We’re lucky to get so capable and experienced a writer as part of our staff,” Parry said. “Robby and I are looking forward to working with Mike. The newsletter will be the stronger for his contributions.”
For the past 12 years, Mike has been active in Pride at Work, the LGBT constituency affiliated with organized labor, including the unions in Change to Win and independent unions as well as the national AFL-CIO. He currently serves as secretary-treasurer of the King County chapter.
A member of the National Writers Union, Mike’s work is regularly seen in the Seattle Gay News.
“We’re lucky to get so capable and experienced a writer as part of our staff,” Parry said. “Robby and I are looking forward to working with Mike. The newsletter will be the stronger for his contributions.”
Happy Birthday, Health Care Reform!
By David Loud
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), the biggest step towards achieving health care for all in our country in 100 years of trying. One year later, let us consider some of what has been accomplished so far.
For people on Medicare:
Free preventive care: In 2011, for the first time, 44 million beneficiaries are entitled to a free annual wellness visit, as well as free preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies.
Lowering drug costs: In 2010 over 3.7 million people received $250 rebate checks for falling in the “donut hole,” including 62,543 in Washington State. In 2011, prescription costs will be further lowered by a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole (which will close completely by 2020).
Strengthening Medicare: The ACA has extended the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years, to 2029. There are new tools to crack down on Medicare fraud and abuse, and a record $4 billion was recovered for taxpayers in 2010.
For early retirees:
Over 5000 health plan sponsors that cover retirees not yet eligible for Medicare, including union health & welfare trusts, are benefiting from lower costs through ACA’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. These sponsors, including 79 in WA, received $535 million in reimbursements in 2010, helping more than 4.5 million retirees.
For young adults:
People can now stay on their parents’ health plans until their 26th birthday if they do not have coverage of their own. Data are not available yet, but the US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) estimates that 180,000 young adults in WA may benefit from this provision.
For children with pre-existing conditions:
Children under 18 can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Enrollment data are not available yet, but DHHS estimates that around 250,000 kids nationally could get coverage through this provision. (The ACA will ban insurers from pre-existing condition exclusions and denials for everyone in 2014).
For small businesses:
Tax credits: More than 4 million small businesses are estimated to be eligible for tax credits starting in 2010, covering up to 35% of the cost of insuring employees (this goes to 50% in 2014). The percentage of employers with fewer than 10 employees that offer health coverage rose from 46% in 2009 to 59% in 2010.
For everyone with private insurance:
No more lifetime limits on coverage: Starting in 2010, plans are no longer able to place a lifetime limit on a person’s coverage. Annual limits on coverage will be banned in 2014.
No more recissions: Starting in 2010, plans are no longer allowed to drop people from coverage simply because they become sick, previously a common insurance industry practice.
Limiting insurance companies’ profiteering: Insurers must now spend at least 80% of their premiums (85% for large plans) for medical services, rather than for administration, profits and CEO pay. Before ACA, insurers sometimes kept 30-40% or more of their premiums for themselves.
For bringing cost under control:
The ACA takes strides towards bending the cost curve that was going out of control, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit over 10 years. Many innovations in the delivery of care, spurred by provisions of the ACA, will help achieve greater savings by moving us from a fee-for-service system that pays for quantity and a focus on disease to one that pays for quality, outcomes of care, and a focus on wellness and prevention.
THE FIGHT TO FULFILL THE PROMISE
There’s plenty to celebrate on the anniversary of ACA. But many of the biggest gains we will see under ACA lie ahead, especially in 2014 when more than 30 million people will gain access to quality and affordable health care coverage through state-based Insurance Exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid eligibility.
In the meantime, the Great Recession has increased the ranks of the uninsured to 59 million just as crises in state budgets are resulting in the shredding of the safety nets, including Medicaid and other programs for the working poor like WA’s Basic Health Plan. The Republican/corporate-led onslaughts against healthcare reform, unions, reproductive rights, the social safety net and democracy itself are inflicting great damage and threatening our well-being and future.
But with Wisconsin’s mass movement of resistance to Republican union-busting leading the way, it looks like a “sleeping giant” may finally be awakening and that the American people are taking up the challenge to change the country’s course away from the bleak future the Republicans are trying to impose on us. In this struggle, one of our most important battlegrounds will be to defend the gains of the Affordable Care Act and build on them to fulfill the promise of healthcare for all.
---------------------
Sources for this article: Dept. of Health & Human Services, Congressional Research Service. For comprehensive and authoritative information on the Affordable Care Act, its implementation and how it may affect you, see www.HealthCare.gov.
David Loud is community liaison for Congressman Jim McDermott and a member of PSARA.
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), the biggest step towards achieving health care for all in our country in 100 years of trying. One year later, let us consider some of what has been accomplished so far.
For people on Medicare:
Free preventive care: In 2011, for the first time, 44 million beneficiaries are entitled to a free annual wellness visit, as well as free preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies.
Lowering drug costs: In 2010 over 3.7 million people received $250 rebate checks for falling in the “donut hole,” including 62,543 in Washington State. In 2011, prescription costs will be further lowered by a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the donut hole (which will close completely by 2020).
Strengthening Medicare: The ACA has extended the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund by 12 years, to 2029. There are new tools to crack down on Medicare fraud and abuse, and a record $4 billion was recovered for taxpayers in 2010.
For early retirees:
Over 5000 health plan sponsors that cover retirees not yet eligible for Medicare, including union health & welfare trusts, are benefiting from lower costs through ACA’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. These sponsors, including 79 in WA, received $535 million in reimbursements in 2010, helping more than 4.5 million retirees.
For young adults:
People can now stay on their parents’ health plans until their 26th birthday if they do not have coverage of their own. Data are not available yet, but the US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) estimates that 180,000 young adults in WA may benefit from this provision.
For children with pre-existing conditions:
Children under 18 can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Enrollment data are not available yet, but DHHS estimates that around 250,000 kids nationally could get coverage through this provision. (The ACA will ban insurers from pre-existing condition exclusions and denials for everyone in 2014).
For small businesses:
Tax credits: More than 4 million small businesses are estimated to be eligible for tax credits starting in 2010, covering up to 35% of the cost of insuring employees (this goes to 50% in 2014). The percentage of employers with fewer than 10 employees that offer health coverage rose from 46% in 2009 to 59% in 2010.
For everyone with private insurance:
No more lifetime limits on coverage: Starting in 2010, plans are no longer able to place a lifetime limit on a person’s coverage. Annual limits on coverage will be banned in 2014.
No more recissions: Starting in 2010, plans are no longer allowed to drop people from coverage simply because they become sick, previously a common insurance industry practice.
Limiting insurance companies’ profiteering: Insurers must now spend at least 80% of their premiums (85% for large plans) for medical services, rather than for administration, profits and CEO pay. Before ACA, insurers sometimes kept 30-40% or more of their premiums for themselves.
For bringing cost under control:
The ACA takes strides towards bending the cost curve that was going out of control, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit over 10 years. Many innovations in the delivery of care, spurred by provisions of the ACA, will help achieve greater savings by moving us from a fee-for-service system that pays for quantity and a focus on disease to one that pays for quality, outcomes of care, and a focus on wellness and prevention.
THE FIGHT TO FULFILL THE PROMISE
There’s plenty to celebrate on the anniversary of ACA. But many of the biggest gains we will see under ACA lie ahead, especially in 2014 when more than 30 million people will gain access to quality and affordable health care coverage through state-based Insurance Exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid eligibility.
In the meantime, the Great Recession has increased the ranks of the uninsured to 59 million just as crises in state budgets are resulting in the shredding of the safety nets, including Medicaid and other programs for the working poor like WA’s Basic Health Plan. The Republican/corporate-led onslaughts against healthcare reform, unions, reproductive rights, the social safety net and democracy itself are inflicting great damage and threatening our well-being and future.
But with Wisconsin’s mass movement of resistance to Republican union-busting leading the way, it looks like a “sleeping giant” may finally be awakening and that the American people are taking up the challenge to change the country’s course away from the bleak future the Republicans are trying to impose on us. In this struggle, one of our most important battlegrounds will be to defend the gains of the Affordable Care Act and build on them to fulfill the promise of healthcare for all.
---------------------
Sources for this article: Dept. of Health & Human Services, Congressional Research Service. For comprehensive and authoritative information on the Affordable Care Act, its implementation and how it may affect you, see www.HealthCare.gov.
David Loud is community liaison for Congressman Jim McDermott and a member of PSARA.
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