HOW WILL THIS IMPACT MY HEALTH COVERAGE AND MY JOB? 

What ACTION can I take?

From left: UHW members Marsha Lavasse, Julianna Lakatos, and  Mary Harms  during a Sacramento lobbying effort.

Our union is committed to fundamental reform that preserves and protects the health coverage we have fought for and won. In other words, we will not support any healthcare legislation that moves our members backward in terms of the healthcare coverage they already have.

If we succeed, here's what it could mean:
• Uninsured Californians would no longer flood ERs, threatening our hospitals' financial stability. Hospitals' improved finances could open the door for more progress on wages, benefits, and staffing, improving conditions for caregivers and patients alike.

• A flood of newly insured Kaiser plan participants could similarly strengthen the position of Kaiser workers to continue negotiating industry-leading contracts and Kaiser patients to continue receiving
the best care.

• Convalescent workers, many of whom have no health coverage, would now have coverage, and some of our residents could be spared their disabilities by getting the care they need when they need it in the first place.

• Homecare workers and our consumers could negotiate much better healthcare benefits based on a much higher statewide floor.

These proposals aren't expected to change the health benefits that we have won through collective bargaining. We'll still have the insurance that we now have, and in the future it should be easier to negotiate improvements at the bargaining table with employers that are in better
financial shape.

Finally, by redistributing existing funding and securing additional funds from the federal government, employers, and individuals who can afford it, we should be able to implement the reform plans currently on the table without squeezing other important areas of state spending.