The drive to win quality health care for all—one of voters’ key issues—gets a huge boost today as a new coalition, Health Care for America NOW!, unveils plans for a nationwide campaign to build support for health care reform when a new president and Congress take office in 2009. With support from grassroots, netroots, think tanks and broad based organizations, the dynamic new coalition is positioned to give advocates for reform a stronger voice and seize the moment for guaranteed, affordable high-quality reform.

“Working families are suffering mightily under health care that costs too much, covers too little, excludes too many and is getting worse,” said Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, saluting the launch of Health Care for America NOW!. “The unions of the AFL-CIO and our members are campaigning to Turn Around America on health care and will continue to do so until the job is done.”

Saying health care is a top concern of working families, Holt Baker said America’s unions are calling for action soon after the 2008 elections. “Uncontrolled health costs mean health care in America is failing those with insurance and dramatically boosting the number of people without insurance,” she said, “so real reform must deal with both groups.”

“Union members are very concerned that health care policies proposed in this election year by John McCain and others will leave all Americans on their own to deal with giant insurance companies and will tax hard won health care benefits,” Holt Baker added.

Since Labor Day 2007, the AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions have mounted a nationwide push for health care reform. Recent efforts include over 300 Labor Council meetings on health care in April, Labor Walks that brought the issue to over 40,000 households in May, and an online survey that produced well over 25,000 responses that underscored the extent of the healthcare crisis. One in three survey participants said their families had to skip medical care because of cost, a quarter had serious problems paying for the care they needed and a huge majority—70 percent—say health care is a voting issue. Ninety-five percent say that big changes are needed in the health care system.

 For more information about the AFL-CIO health care campaign, go to http://aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/

Contact: Steve Smith (202) 637-5018