Unions to oppose Baucus bill

[JohnBrowdie]

this is when the fissures within the dem party are really going to become evident.  the progressives and the unions dislike the baucus bill as much as the republicans do.

Unions to oppose Baucus bill

A coalition of labor unions will announce its opposition to the Finance Committee's healthcare bill tomorrow, the AP reports.

Unions are upset that the legislation lacks a public option and would tax insurance comapnies for "Cadillac" healthcare plans. Several unions have negotiated over time to secure top notch benefits for their workers and are worried that such a tax will result in higher premiums.

The coalition will run a full page newspaper ad tomorrow stating their position. The group includes AFL-CIO and the Communication Workers of America.

The Baucus bill still has to be merged with the HELP Committee's legislation before the full Senate votes

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[JohnBrowdie]

and insurers are opposed, predictably enough.  unions . . . insurance companies . . . strange bedfellows.

The insurance industry said it wouldn't support health-overhaul legislation that passed in the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday after ratcheting up concerns in recent days that provisions in the bill would raise the cost of insurance.

"We cannot support this legislation in its current structure," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group, said in an interview.

AHIP released a PricewaterhouseCoopers report Monday saying that a family health-insurance policy that costs $12,300 today would increase to $25,900 on average by 2019 under the Senate Finance bill. The report provoked a heated reaction from Democrats including Sen. John Kerry, who said before the committee's vote Tuesday that, "The insurance industry ought to be ashamed at this report."

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[JohnBrowdie]

the unions will get what they want.  the public option will be in the final bill, and the tax on cadillac plans will either be shifted to employers or done away with altogether. 

WASHINGTON — A coalition of labor unions is emerging as a leading critic of an $829 billion health care bill heading toward a Senate vote, complicating debate among Democrats over how to pay for the measure.

Unions had largely supported President Obama's effort to revamp the nation's $2.6 trillion health care system, but 27 labor groups have launched a campaign against key provisions in the bill passed this week by the Senate Finance Committee.

Many groups with a stake in the health care fight have objected to the legislation — including the insurance trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans — but labor has traditionally had closer ties to Democrats, who control Congress.

Unions spent $75 million on contributions to federal candidates in 2008, 92% of which went to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

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[JohnBrowdie]

taxing "cadillac plans" will only serve to reduce the number of people with cadillac plans, by the way.  and that is the whole point, or one of them.  a big part of the dems unspoken agenda is to do away with "better" plans in the first place.  it's unfair.  and only rich people have great health care plans anyway, and they are the same evil people that "did well during the past eight years" (we are hearing THAT line a lot more these days).  apparently, being successful in the past is grounds for punishment today.  success is unfair.  and government is here to do something about that.

well, union members have great plans, too, but they will get a pass.