Legislative: BMWED Endorses State-Based Universal Health Care Act Published: Nov 15 2019 8:37AM
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters today joins several other labor unions nationwide in endorsing U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna’s (CA-17) “State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2019.”
The House Bill, once enacted, would empower states to expand health coverage to every resident through a series of regulatory flexibility and federal waivers, utilizing several programs like the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.
Health insurance coverage remains astronomically expensive for the majority of Americans and the status quo is not working. This is a major problem affecting us all and doing nothing but protecting the current system is not going to fix it. The BMWED is committed to support policies and legislators who advocate for lowering cost and expanding coverage. The federal government seems committed to dragging its feet in this regard, so empowering states to pursue comprehensive and complete health coverage to all residents is a novel and smart idea.
We join unions like the National Nurses United, the National Union of Health Care Workers, and several others in supporting Rep. Khanna’s bill and we hope to see it enacted into law.H.R. Bill: State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 2019