House Unveils Health Care Bill with Public Option, No Benefits Tax

Working Americans saw real and historic action today in the efforts to
fix our broken health care system with the release of the House of
Representatives bill, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act.”
We applaud the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education
and Labor Committees for their hard work and solid work product. We
especially recognize the contributions of Chairmen Rangel, Waxman and
Miller in coordinating Herculean efforts to produce a single bill for
committee consideration so that reform efforts can move forward
smoothly and expeditiously.

The House proposal meets President Obama’s goals by controlling
runaway health care costs, offering the American people real choices
and expanding access to quality health care. It has a high quality
public health insurance plan that provides real choices and real
competition for private insurance from day one. It calls on
corporations to pay their fair share. Like the President’s proposal,
it calls on those who can afford it to contribute to funding health
coverage expansion – in the House bill through a modest tax
surcharge. It does not ask the American people to pay more for what
they already have. In fact, this legislation offers the real promise
of improving quality, increasing access and reducing costs, all at the
same time.

Voters want their elected representatives to guarantee quality
affordable health care. They want a quality public plan that will
provide a real alternative to confusing private plans that profit from
denying care and shortchanging coverage. They want everyone to pay
their fair share. We urge the Representatives to move forward with
reform and vigorously resist any attempt to dilute this bill during the
legislative process. We call on Congress to act swiftly on health care
reform and deliver much needed relief to working families.

--STATEMENT BY AFL-CIO PRESIDENT JOHN SWEENEY ON HOUSE HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL, July 14, 2009