Hope Sanford, a spokesperson for Houston United/Unido, reports that her
coalition of 16 union and community organizations has endorsed HR 676,
“because we believe that health care for everyone in the U.S., regardless
of citizenship or employment status ensures a better quality of life for
us all and greatly reduces the well documented ill effects of economic
disparity within a nation.”

“Houston United/Unido will work with unions and community groups to build
a groundswell of popular support and action for single payer universal
health care and HR 676 until we make what is morally right for our nation
into what is also politically possible,” the resolution states.

Don McCanne, MD, senior health policy fellow for Physicians for a National
Health Program (PNHP), has summarized what will happen to immigrants under
the health care reform act that was passed in 2010 (ACA).

“Everyone should have health care. How well will the Affordable Care Act
(ACA) work for our immigrant population? It depends partly on immigration
status.

“The ACA provisions apply to naturalized citizens just as they would for
native-born citizens. Thus their barriers will be the same as for most of
the rest of us. They will face the same issues of whether or not the
subsidies will be adequate to purchase private plans, and whether or not
they will be exposed to excessive cost sharing with inadequate subsidies
when accessing care.

“Non-citizen immigrants are faced with the additional problem of having
household incomes that average only half that of the U.S. median. Those
who are lawfully present also must wait for five years before they are
eligible for the Medicaid program. They will be eligible to purchase
programs in the new exchanges, though the subsidies will likely be
inadequate for those with incomes that already don’t cover other essential
needs.

“For immigrants who are undocumented, Congress decided to yield to the
forces of anti-immigrant politics, and not only make them ineligible for
tax credits for the exchange plans, but also to prohibit them from
purchasing the plans with their own funds, even at full cost. It is very
unfortunate that Congress co-mingled heath care justice with immigration
policy. The sanctity of human life should always prevail over the
politics of ideology.

“Yes, some will receive excellent care from our safety-net providers, but
many will not. Community health centers cannot possibly fill in the full
void in coverage.

“Most undocumented workers are productive individuals, just like our
citizens, and there is no reason that they should not contribute to and
participate in a single payer national health program that covers everyone
– absolutely everyone.”

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2012/february/immigrant-coverage-under-health-reform

PNHP has a fact sheet on immigrants and health care. It includes the
following item:

It is estimated that immigrants will pay, on average, $80,000 more in
taxes than they will use in government services over their lifetimes (The
New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration,
National Academy Press, 1997).

PNHP Fact sheet: http://www.pnhp.org/immigrants/Immigrant_Fact_Sheet.pdf

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

HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care including
prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and
preventive care, emergency services, dental (including oral surgery,
periodontics, endodontics), mental health, home health, physical therapy,
rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care and
correction, hearing services including hearing aids, chiropractic, durable
medical equipment, palliative care, podiatric care, and long term care.

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

In the current Congress, HR 676 has 76 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers.

HR 676 has been endorsed by 587 union organizations including 139 Central
Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 40 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, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI, MT, NE, NJ, NY, NV
& MA).

For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample
endorsement resolution, contact:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care–HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayer.org
3/5/2012