SEIU 721 Members' Activism Helps Bring Major Health Care Reform to California

SEIU 721 members’ activism and contributions to our political fund have helped bring about historic health care reform legislation that could create the biggest expansion of health coverage for Californians in over 40 years.

AB 8, the bill recently passed by the state legislature, sets a minimum standard - like the minimum wage – for the coverage that employers must provide to their workers.  SEIU members were successful in pressuring legislators to include affordability and cost control protections, and avoid cuts to public medical facilities.

Access to Affordable Coverage

AB 8:

• ensures that 95% of Californians will have access to affordable health care.  

• creates a standard of affordability by guaranteeing that no one will have to accept health coverage if it costs more than 5% of wages.

• requires employers to contribute at least 7.5 % of payroll to employees’ healthcare.

• creates a statewide insurance pool

• preserves funding for our health care safety net, unlike Gov. Schwarzenegger’s plan, which would cut $2 billion from public hospitals & community clinics.

• stops insurance companies from denying insurance on the grounds of pre-existing conditions.
  

• expands protections for small businesses, making it more affordable for them to offer coverage.

Member Activism

We lobbied legislators in Sacramento, many of us told sad personal stories about going broke trying to get treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses. I told them about the people I see at the community free clinic where I volunteer – people like a patient who lost her job and her insurance and couldn’t afford to get the sophisticated diagnostic tests she needed.  Most of the legislators were very receptive.
       -- Daniel Bowler, R.N., LA County Sheriffs' Dept.

SEIU 721 members worked in a coalition of organizations representing about 10 million Californians. Hundreds of us:

• visited legislators in Sacramento and district offices
• hosted health care reform house parties
• made over 1,600 phone calls to elected officials

Nearly 2,000 members also began making monthly contributions to COPE, our political action fund, to help finance our “It’s Our Healthcare” campaign.

We Need to Keep Up the Pressure

Gov. Schwarzenegger says he’ll veto AB 8. But immediately after the bill’s passage, he decided to convene a special legislative session to continue working on reform. We’ll have to keep up the pressure to ensure that the affordability, cost control and safety net protections our coalition worked so hard to achieve will be maintained in the compromise legislation now being hammered out.

Click here to find out how you can help.