Labor Councils in Three States Endorse HR 676. Total Now 89

I just received this news from White River Labor Council President Jackie Yenna today.

Three more Central Labor Councils have endorsed HR 676 raising the number of CLC’s that have endorsed Congressman Conyers’ (D-MI) single payer healthcare legislation to eighty-nine.

In Tacoma, Washington, the Pierce County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, has endorsed HR 676, reports Council Secretary Treasurer Patty Rose. The Council has 90 affiliates representing 34,000 union members.

In Columbus, Ohio, the Central Ohio Labor Council, AFL-CIO, has endorsed HR 676, reports Walt Workman, Executive Director. The Columbus Council is the seventh Ohio CLC to endorse HR 676.

In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, which has 60 affiliates, has also endorsed HR 676, reports Council Secretary Treasurer Jon Weissman. Weissman said, "Many of our affiliates own or control health insurance plans and know all too well that the current system is a too costly mess."

HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system in the U.S. by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to every resident.

HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care.

HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.

HR 676 currently has 82 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers. Co-sponsors and bill text are here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:7:./temp/~bdF7dv::|/bss/d110query.html|

HR 676 has been endorsed by 318 union organizations in 48 states including 89 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 23 state AFL-CIO's (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO, MN, ME,
AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, & AZ).