The Communications Workers of America issued this statement on today’s Senate passage of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, and the final House reconciliation vote:
With today’s votes by the Senate and House, the decades-long struggle to make health care accessible, affordable and available to all has been achieved. CWA commends House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and all members of Congress who supported this effort for their determination to move forward on real health care reform.
Among the positive changes: it establishes some penalties for “free-rider” employers that don’t provide coverage for workers and over time, it closes the Medicare “donut” hole that forced seniors to choose between paying for their prescription drugs and other necessities.
CWA’s campaign focused on fairer financing, and the legislation now calls on the wealthiest Americans to pay their share and makes changes to the excise tax that goes into effect in 2018. By removing the cost of drug and vision benefits and making adjustments that include age and gender, the impact of the 2018 tax on CWA member plans is minimal.
The reconciliation package also restores needed fairness to the student loan program, ending unnecessary subsidies to the banking industry. Those dollars now will give more students the opportunity to attend college by expanding Pell grants and providing additional funds for community colleges and other institutions.
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