Unions Win Key Concessions in Health Care Negotiations

“It is appalling to me that this White House and union bosses have struck a back-room deal to strong arm the 90% of Americans who don’t belong to unions into either pay more health care taxes or joining a union,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who said this “so-called deal punishes Texas and 21 other ‘right-to-work’ states.”
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Amen, Mr. Brady. It is unfair, to say the least to those of us who are lower to middle class hard working Americans NOT involved in a union. When does the bargaining stop? What group or organization will be next? This is all about winning votes in the next election by pleasing those who they want on their list.
And, of course, this all goes on behind closed doors. Transparency my ***.

So now the unions get their cut. What about the American WORKER!!!

Has anyone explained who is going to pick up the tab on that $60 billion now that the unions are off the hook?

I say we all form the UOVA..union of voting Americans, and give this govt more than they “bargained” for this NOV..they are turning us into millions of greedy cat fish.. flopping and thrashing all over each other as we desperately grab for ANY benefits, even at the expense of other americans…the unions, the old folks, wall street,main street, blacks, whites,Nebraskans..A house divided cannot stand… We are DOOMED as a country if we don’t stop cannibalizing off each other!

No explanation needed…It will all be explained to us when we see it deducted from our paychecks…well most of us non-union labor that is…Never mind that most companies consider your “Cadillac” medical benefits as part of your salary and the Obama Administration considers it as just another perk for those that truly can afford the hit……………..”We’ll endorse it proudly.”..GEE YA THINK?????

Obama may go down in history as one of America’s most corrupt Presidents. But it will not stand because free Americans will not let it stand. President Obama, we will not allow a communist to transform this country into a third world country. For those Democrats who contributed to this? Your futures in politics are not bright.
And for the ABCs and other liberal outlets of the world? Where were you when all of this happened to our country?

The President forged a compromise agreement – how awful. That someone would actually meet someone half way in a negotiation.

Where were you when all of this happened to our country?
Posted by: donc | Jan 14, 2010 7:29:41 PM
Where were you when the Bush administration sold the country to the Chinese communists?

“the Senate bill would impact family plans costing more than $23,000, and individual plans costing more than $8,500″…
The new deal raises the threshold for plans considered “Cadillac” plans to $24,000 for families and $8,900 for individuals.
Significantly, it exempts insurance plans that were part of state and local collective bargaining agreements – union members – until January 1, 2018.”
This compromise works for me. Raising the threshold by such a small amount was basically just face saving for the unions, and the grandfather clause is a short blip on a program that will become as permanent as Medicare and Social Security (which Republicans also fear mongered and grandstanded against, although in that day the catch term was “Communists!!!”). The grandfather clause hurts the 10 year CBO number everyone cares about, but it gives unions (and all contract workers) time to serve out their current contracts and then renegotiate under the new reality.
Not at all a costly compromise, and if 10% of Americans belong to a union (as the Republican talking points implicitly state) then it is entirely appropriate their input was considered.

No explanation needed…It will all be explained to us when we see it deducted from our paychecks…well most of us non-union labor that is…
Parallex View | Jan 14, 2010 6:57:38 PM
Yup, that’s how the market works. And make no mistake – this is a lite version of the free market approach McCain campaigned on.

JHW..we are all at the same potluck dinner here..with a finite amount of food available..if the big UAW guy ladels more baked beans and 3 burgers on his plate..someone else will have to eat less…talk about the new reality…IT’S HERE! and lets STOP this garbage about hardworking Americans…sheesh. My husband leaves the house at 5am and gets home about 7pm…he is NOT a union member..does that mean he is NOT hardworking? Is he less deserving than the Union guy to get a break on healthcare? Obama obviously thinks so.

JHW..we are all at the same potluck dinner here..with a finite amount of food available..if the big UAW guy ladels more baked beans and 3 burgers on his plate..someone else will have to eat less…
cindy | Jan 14, 2010 8:22:38 PM
You do understand that the big UAW guy is paying for the food and your not, right? He’s just not going to have pay as much until 2018.
Seriously, that was the worst metaphor I’ve ever heard applied to a group that is still STILL GETTING A TAX INCREASE that no one else is getting.

The President forged a compromise agreement – how awful. That someone would actually meet someone half way in a negotiation.
Posted by: tierra | Jan 14, 2010 7:39:49 PM
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Oh, yeah. He forged a compromise agreement for 10% of working class Americans so the other 90% will end up footing the shortfall…behind closed doors…with union big wigs who could probably rival some of the bank CEOs in compensation. Boy, that’s what I call a bipartisan, transparent, “bringing the country together” negotiation!! Why didn’t we try this earlier, huh?

He forged a compromise agreement for 10% of working class Americans so the other 90% will end up footing the shortfall…behind closed doors…
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Nonsense. The other group targeted for increased taxes (besides the union and cadillac program holders) are people earning high incomes $250,000 – that is not the other 90% of the people – not by any stretch of the imagination.

JHW…”The finance committee defines high-cost or “Cadillac” as any plan with premiums higher than $8,000 for individuals or $21,000 for families.” (not my words)- The tax does apply to me, the 2018 exemption does not because my husband is not a union member.
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cindy you still don’t seem to understand. The union and cadillac plans are getting ADDITIONAL taxes put on them to help pay for the overall health care of everyone. This agreement puts those taxes in place, but delays their implimentation for a certain number of years.

I knew you’d be back..scroll up Tierra..nm, ill paste it for you…Significantly, it exempts insurance plans that were part of state and local collective bargaining agreements – union members – until January 1, 2018. My hardworking family will start paying those taxes immediately on our “cadillac” plan…the union members won’t till 2018!

The tax isn’t assessed on employees. Its assessed on the insurance companies. The result will be that they will reduce benefits so that they can offer policies that are under the taxable amount.
The question is whether you think these benefits are “cadillac” benefits or just “ford or chevy” benefits. In some parts of the country, the thresholds aren’t that far above the cost of many employer-provided policies, regardless of whether those are union or non-union employees

The tax isn’t assessed on employees. Its assessed on the insurance companies.
Posted by: jeffl | Jan 14, 2010 11:53:34 PM
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Thanks for pointing this out.

How much is a Cadillac (health plan or building the car) going to cost Americans????

Some americans can have medicare advantage, some can’t.
Some americans can have to pay taxes for medicaid, some don’t.
Some americans get extra federal money pumped into their state, most do not.
Now, some will have to pay tax on BENEFITS while others do not.
ALL DEALS DONE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. ALL FLYING IN THE FACE OF BASIC FAIRNESS. ALL DEFYING ANY CONCEPT OF “EQUAL PROTECTION” UNDER THE LAW.
This government (Obama, Reid, Pelosi) is a snake pit. How much you are taxed or what goverment services you recieve will be based on who you are, and what connections you have (or in some cases, what connections your senator has).
This is an outrage – Americans should not stand for this.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” This is doubly true with this Congress. Why the rush to pass Healthcare Deform? As to the grandfathering of the unions’ so-called Cadillac Plans, I would imagine the thought there is that the exemption would be extended as 2018 draws near, especially if the Democrats have any say in the matter. Once exempted, it will remain exempted. And they will have eight years to accomplish it. The unions apparently understand this and this is the price of their support.
I am disappointed that this Congress does not listen to its constituents but to its special interests. If it did, Healthcare Deform would not be on the “fast track” it is on.
Also consider that the Tenth Amendment was meant to keep federal government’s hands out of our lives. The Healthcare Deform bill is a violation of that amendment. This Congress does not seem to care that they are violating their oath to support and defend the Constitution in attempting to pass this travesty.
It is time the states call for a Constitutional Convention so the people can finally be heard.

tierra —- So what do you think of all this behind the door partisan negotiations and bartering for this legislation?

The tax isn’t assessed on employees. Its assessed on the insurance companies.
Posted by: jeffl _____________________________________
Thanks for pointing this out.
Posted by: tierra
And just like the taxes on the banks, it will flow right down to the people. Obama has found a way to indirectly tax us through institutions and doesn’t have to violate his promise of no taxes to those under $250K. You are naive if you don’t believe it won’t be passed to the consumer.

In the old days the term “Cadillac” was something everyone aspired to. Recently “Cadillac” is associated with bankrupt Government Motors. (The plan should be a Mercedes, BMW or Lexis Plan) Also unions are blamed by many Americans as a major contributor of the destruction of the American industrial base including General Motors.

If one applies common sense (Obama and the congress are a bit handicapped here) he would quickly understand that if you tax so called Cadillac insurance plans that very tax will be passed on to the consumer!
If it’s automobiles the sticker price will include it, that’s why people didn’t buy American made cars, trade unions had too much impact on the sticker price!
Is our government stupid, I don’t think anyone need answer that?

This is simply just another outrageous example of why we need to eliminate unions. They have simply raised the cost of doing business to unsustainable levels and forced jobs overseas, perpetuated a sense of entitlement within their membership and angered many by their strong armed extortionist mentality. It is ludicrous for them to say “many of their members have accepted generous health insurance in lieu of wage increases in the past”. They have always had wages AND benefits vastly outpacing the private sector in general. It won’ stop here – next theyll want card check to intimidate new businesses to unionize – Then there will be the TSA. Before you know it, the self employes, job creating entrepreneurial “rich” will be on welfare and the unionized and public sector worker will become the “highly compensated” and “overpaid elite”

@Ed Taylor Suffolk County New York already has a 1% tax on mortgages over $1 million dollars (which I might add doesn’t buy nearly as much house or property here on Long Island as in other places – even with the housing market in the toilet) Who’s to say the feds arent looking at that too?

Shut out Repubs. and Blue dogs that DID happen.
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Nonsense, the public option was taken off the table in the Senate as pushed for by the Blue dogs.
The extension of Medicare to younger people was as well.
This entire process has been filled with negotiated compromises – and it still is.

What most people who are bashing Unions dont realize is that our medical plan is based from hourly contributions. The last 5 years I have paid $20,000 a year for health benefits. I think we contribute way more than our fare share. I am an Iron Worker. I risk my life every day im @ work, I think Its way more dangerous than any cop or fireman, and most of them get their benefits paid by the state and contribute nothing, I admit that Unions are not perfect, but people should be more supportive instead of bashing them.People who hard to support there families deserve a decent wage and benifets.

Public service unions should be put out of business. If you want to know why your kids don’t get a good public education, it’s the unions; if you want to know why Calif. is bankrupt, it’s unions; if you want to know why manufacturing jobs have left the country, once aghain, it’s the unions. Basically what we have is less work, lower quality work, at higher pay and benefits.

Obama’s transparency has brought one thing to light. We have known that politics are corrupt, but ever turning a blind eye to the process we kept on electing scoundrels to public office.
With Obama’s brand of Chicago politics, there is no longer a “blind eye” to turn bbribery, threats and political arrogance are clearly visible.
The deals may be made in the dark, but even a liberal media scrambling for something to report is bringing it to main street. Even a liberal media is beginning to hammer on Obama’s campaign LIES!
Harry Reid comments to the effect that deals are expected in politics. And deals are all that Obamacare seems to offer.
Alexis de Tocqueville said it quite prophetically, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
So, what has Obama accomplished in just one year? He has birthed a movement of unity in America that is growing by leaps and bounds, though it be a unity against his corrupt and arrogant march into socialism and government takeover.
We can thank Mr. Obama for awakening the unquenchable American spirit of independence and freedom. A spirit that will prevail until the foundations of a democratic republic are re-established.

For almost a century, the Insurance Companies have controlled the health care system in the USA. They decided who was able to afford the best with overpriced insurances, they dropped patients and their coverage when the patients got terminoloy ill. They denied live saving procedures, allowing patients to die who otherwise would have lived with the procedure.
Why have health care reform?
It’s the humane thing to do.

Harry Reid and Alexis de Tocqueville never met but Alexis certainly had Harry’s number when he uttered this, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
Harry is using our money for his bribes, threats and backroom deals. The national debt reveals how much of our great grandkids money is being squandered by Obama and HIS congress. GOOOH!

What the unions are doing (especially the UAW)is discusting. corruption at its finest…