Health Care
- H1N1 Update: Arm yourself with the facts The USW has developed and recently updated factsheets on the H1N1 flu. These resources will help you understand the steps you and your local must take to protect our members against H1N1 so that we can stay healthy and provide the care that will be so greatly needed in our communities. Click here for more.
- USW President Supports Single Payer Healthcare Paul Jay speaks to Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers' union about his fight for single payer health care reform and the unionization legislation. Gerard says that, "the unions are first and foremost going to be very active in the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and the fight for health care reform."
- What Everyone Should Know About the H1N1 Influenza (formerly called Swine Flu) The United Steelworkers has very important recommendations for what employers should be doing now to protect workers, including what employers in hospitals/health care facilities should be doing to protect hospital and health care workers so that they don’t get sick, and are able to take care of those who do get sick. Click here for more info.
- Number of Uninsured Climbs By 8.6 Million A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows the decline in health insurance coverage continued unabated in 2006, driven primarily by the continued erosion in employer-provided health insurance. In 2006, 47 million Americans were uninsured, up nearly 8.6 million since 2000. The rate of those without insurance has grown 2.1 percentage points during this period, from 13.7% in 2000 to 15.8% in 2006.
- Health Care Is A Right, Not A Privilege Bill Fair worked at Butler Manufacturing in Galesburg, Illinois for 38 years and took early retirement in 2003. At that time, health insurance for him and his wife, Donna, cost $486 a month. He took a part-time job to make ends meet. But a year after retiring, his health insurance premiums rose to $1,700 a month. The Fairs were forced to drop out of the plan.
- USW Lawsuit Results in Continental Tire Agreeing to Provide Retiree Health Care The United Steelworkers said today that Continental Tire North America, has agreed to make $158 million in payments to a retiree health insurance fund. The settlement is in response to a lawsuit filed by the USW and a class of retirees when CTNA implemented a $3,000 cap on its payments for retiree health coverage, a change which forced many retirees to pay $1000 or more monthly for coverage.
