Remarks of Bruce Popper, Healthcare Reform

(Rochester & Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation)SEIU International Union Convention Resolutions Committee
San Juan, Puerto Rico
June 1, 2008

Remarks of Bruce Popper, Vice-president 1199 SEIU United Health Care Workers East

Re: Proposed Resolution #114 “Single Payer Universal Healthcare”
(submitted by Local 1199 UHE)
and Proposed Resolution #113 “Support of the ‘United States Health Insurance Act’
(HR 676 and SB 840 in CA)”
(submitted by Local 1021)
and Proposed Resolution #105a “Justice for All: Reforming our National Healthcare
System”
(submitted by IEB)

My name is Bruce Popper, I am a Vice-president of 1199 SEIU United Health Care
Workers East in Upstate New York. I am also a trustee of the 1199 SEIU National Benefit Fund - a Taft-Hartley plan providing health benefits for almost 300,000 people. I have served on the boards of the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, the Rochester Health Commission, and SEIU’s Healthcare Division.

I live in Rochester, New York. Our healthcare system was once known for good access,
low cost, and high quality. Running for President in 1992, Bill Clinton cited Rochester as a
national model while debating George Bush. In the 1980s, Rochester actually had a well planned, single-payer system for its hospitals, albeit corporate not governmental, but one of the principal reasons for its lower cost. Since that time, deregulation and the loss of manufacturing jobs, have made Rochester look like the rest of the nation. Costs have escalated dramatically. Employers have responded by shifting premium costs onto employees. Insurers have rolled out high copay, high deductible, less comprehensive plans. Most service sector employers, now dominant in Rochester, offer plans that are totally unaffordable for most employees.

While our union in New York has had amazing legislative successes in defending and
expanding Medicaid and Child Health Plus, and in launching Family Health Plus, the greatly
increased number of people enrolled in these programs has barely kept pace with the destruction of employer based health benefits. In spite of our efforts, the percentage of uninsured New Yorkers has not materially changed in a decade. And in Rochester, it has gotten worse.

I have been a strong supporter of single payer health care for many, many years. My local union, my labor council, my area labor federation are all single payer advocates. The most visible health care reformers in my community stand for a single payer solution.

So, I urge this body to recommend adoption of proposed Resolution #114 submitted by
my local union. I also believe that proposed Resolutions #113 and #105a deserve adoption.
We should renew our commitment to the ideals of universal and single payer health care at
this convention. We should continue to stand with our allies on this issue.

But I also want to urge you to lead us in a different direction in the coming months. If
there is one lesson to be learned from the 1993 health reform effort, it is that any plan is doomed to failure that does not start with a grassroots political movement demanding change. Not only did we lose health care reform in 1993, but an emboldened right wing swept the 1994 elections and won majorities in both houses of Congress.

The stakes in health care reform are just as high again.

Recently, at the annual meeting of our area labor federation, of which I am the Executive
Vice-president, the AFL-CIO’s Nick Unger gave an incredibly incisive analysis of our present
condition. For me, it was one of those “light bulb coming on” moments.
I borrow from his presentation:

Unger: “We have to win the 2008 health care battle to win the 2008 election war.”

Unger: “All you need to know about health care is:
- It costs too much.
- It covers too little.
- It excludes too many.
- And it’s getting worse.”

Unger: “In all our polling of members and voters, cost is the number one issue: the cost
of premiums, the cost of medical care, the cost of drugs, and the cost of deductibles.”
Most union members and most registered voters are insured. Three-quarters believe their
health coverage is excellent or good. Three-quarters believe that major reform is needed. They
blame the government. They want the government to fix the problem. They fear government
involvement.

On the face of it, these opinions look contradictory. On closer inspection, they make
perfect sense. The crisis in health care is perceived by our members and by voters as primarily
an economic issue, an issue of cost.

My members covered by the 1199 SEIU National Benefit Fund like their benefits a lot.
They don’t want anyone to mess with their benefits, but they are tired of escalating costs that
take away from their ability to negotiate larger salary increases. They are fearful that medical
prices jeopardize the future viability of their plan. They are concerned about copays.
Nick Unger’s message makes sense. “Health care costs too much. It covers too little. It
excludes too many. And it’s getting worse.”

John McCain plans to tax our health benefits. His plan will costs us more, not less.
Barack Obama plans to change health care in the interest of the people.
We must leave the debate about which plan works, single payer or something else, until
the day when we can actually enact a plan. That day is the day after our candidate wins the
White House.

Let us refresh our commitment to the complete solution - single payer. But let us also
work tirelessly in the coming months to be smart about how we talk about health care reform.

* Bruce presented a briefer version of these remarks to the full SEIU Convention on June 3, 2008.