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       IT’S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK!!

What am I talking about? I’m talking about the yearly rip off that affects all of us. I’m sure that you, like myself, and thousands of other federal workers are sick and tired of being ripped off by the health insurance companies. Sure we get to pick the plan we want but they’re all pretty much the same. Ever increasing premiums, reduced benefits and larger co-pays and other out of pocket expenses. Over the past few years they have gotten way out of control. The premiums have all skyrocketed. I believe that the average cost of the plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Administration or FEHBA have had double digit increases in each of the past several years. To add insult to injury as the premiums go up the benefits and coverage goes down!!! There is copay for everything now. It’s sickening!  It seems like no one can do anything about it. The increased cost of our health benefits far surpasses the meager wage increases that we have received over the past few contracts.

The surprising thing is that it’s not just happening to us Federal workers. Everyone’s health benefits costs have skyrocketed. With that being the case it would seem to me that since we are the majority, then we should be doing something about it. It’s not like this in other countries. In most European countries every citizen is covered by universal health care. This country spends more on health care then any other nation and yet there are about 60 million Americans who have no coverage at all. If other countries, such as those in Western Europe, can provide health care coverage to every citizen why can’t we? Could it be because the large insurance companies, who employ hundreds of lobbyist and contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to our elected representatives, are calling the shots and making sure that laws are passed that benefit “them” rather then us, the consumers. Could it be because every time someone puts forth reforms that will benefit the citizens the insurance industry spends millions on television adds calling the reforms socialism and we the majority fall for their propaganda. When are we going to take a stand and say enough is enough? Our senior citizens can’t afford to pay the high cost, the poor can’t afford them and now we the working class can’t afford them.

We have to quit falling for the insurance companies Madison Avenue ads and do what is best for us, for our parents and for those who have no insurance. We need a single payer plan where everyone and everything is covered. They have it is Europe, they have it in Canada, we need it here. Enough is enough!!!

It doesn’t have to be this way and we can force them to change it. However in order for us to be successful we have to be organized, educated and focused on what we want. We can’t be swayed and divided by their slick media campaigns. They count on their ability to divide us. They will try and brand what we want as socialism or communism. They will tell us that similar plans in Canada and Europe don’t work. Well the truth is that they do work and have worked for years.

They will tell us that jobs will be lost, that you won’t get the best of care, that you will have to go on long waiting list. These are all lies. The bottom line is that if these plans didn’t work and if the people were not satisfied with the quality of care that they receive. Then would have been changed years ago. The Labor Party, which is not a political party, in that they do not run candidates for office. It is more like a think tank for the working class. They have studied the health care system in this country for years and they are proposing that we adopt a single payer plan that will provide coverage for every American. They have outlined how the plan will be funded, how it will work and why it is best for all Americans. Brothers and Sisters we need this plan, our parents need this plan, our friends and neighbors need this plan. Health care costs have gotten way out of control. The mission of the health care industry should be to provide quality health care for all Americans, not just those few who can afford it. The mission of the current system is the fill the pockets of the shareholders and executives who run the plans.

Greed has replaced need.

Why is it that cost of medicine in this country is so much more expensive then the same medicine in Canada and Mexico? Why do our senior citizens have to cross the border to get their prescriptions filled? The answer is that our system is run for profit and greed and our neighbors system is based on need. Have you had enough? I have and millions of other working class Americans has also, had enough. It’s time for action. It’s time we got organized. It’s time for us to put our interest before the interest of corporate America.

Now you might ask what can we as individuals do? Well for starters you can take a serious look at the plan that the Labor Party is putting forth. You can see what kind of health care systems they have in Europe. You might want to make sure that the information you’re reading is put out by legitimate sources and that it isn’t biased and distorted information produced by people working for the insurance industry. Use the internet, keep an open mind. Also keep in mind that those who are profiting from our current system and who are making millions of dollars will go to great lengths distort the facts, spread false and misleading information in their efforts to keep us divided. They are very good at what they do; they have been doing it successfully for years.

What gives us a fighting chance to change things now is that their uncontrolled greed has pushed us too far. Too many people have been victimized Too many people cannot afford the high cost of insuring their families. Too many people on fixed incomes cannot afford the high cost of their medicine. Too many working people cannot afford the high premiums, reduced benefits and increased co-pays. The ever-increasing cost of health care far outpaces any wage increases we get. The time for change has arrived. If we don’t act now it will only get worse. We have the numbers; therefore, we have the power. The question is, do we have the resolve to do what’s in our best interest? Check out the plan put forth by the Labor Party if you agree with it. Support it! It’s a first step.