A Message from John Sweeney: President, AFL-CIO

Thanks to my State Rep. Mike Sells for passing this along:

For Immediate Release
Contact: Caren Benjamin 202-637-5018

Statement from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Report Showing Health
Premiums Rose Nearly Twice as Much as Wages in 2007
September 11, 2007

"The new survey on health insurance by the Kaiser Family Foundation and
the Health Research Educational Trust should sound alarm bells. The
fact that the price of employer-provided health insurance grew almost
twice as much as workers* paychecks is yet more compelling evidence
that it*s well past time to fix our broken health care system.

Workers paying 6.1 percent more in premiums this year than last are not
getting 6.1 percent better health care for their hard-earned money. They
are being forced to take bigger hunks out of comparatively smaller
paychecks and deposit that money into the pockets of insurance company
CEOs and others who wring profit from the health care marketplace.

To CEOs, paying $3,281 a year for health care may be no big deal. But
for many working families, the additional money that must now go to
health insurance is the same money that pays the mortgage and the
grocery bills. As a result of steadily rising price increases, working
families are being forced off the rolls of their employer-sponsored
health plans and into the growing ranks of the uninsured.

These uninsured are people who live by the unwritten rule of the
American dream: Work hard and you will be able to take care of your
family. The American dream * of a world where work pays and everyone
can see a doctor when they need one * must remain attainable in our
country. In America, no one should go without health care, and no family
should be bent to the breaking point by out-of-control costs for basic
medical care."

And the choir sings, Amen.....

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue