Health Care For All

Lou Sinniger, President, Oregon AFSCME Retirees Subchapter 41:  I spent a 30 year career as a Union Representative fighting for justice and well being for our union members mostly in the public employer sector. The problems with employer provided healthcare in the public sector are three fold. 1) The cost is enormous for both the employee and the employer who is paying 20% or more of payroll for health insurance. The employees also  pay a portion of their wages on the premium, out of pockets, deductibles, Rx copays, and other point of service expenses. 2) What people usually don't realize is that these public employer expenses are being paid with tax dollars. In other words the extreme cost of health insurance including pharmaceuticals are already adding to the tax burden. Often this goes unnoticed or is lumped into the "total compensation package". 3) The health insurance is only provided while the person is employed. As we saw when the pandemic hit people who lost