President Obama has now signed the health care reform package and all of its accompanying bills into law. For the first time, our nation recognizes that health care is genuinely a right for all Americans. AFSCME members fought hard to pass President Obama's health care reform package, and now it's the law of the land.

The biggest question from all Americans, union members included, has been "How does this impact me?" Attached to this article is a brand new, six-page fact sheet from the national union that provides lots of answers about the health care reform act. You can view the sheet for yourself, but here are some of the highlights:

 

• It will protect and improve good union health care benefits.

 

• It stops the worst abuses of the insurance companies.

 

• It gives workers and families without coverage on-the-job access to affordable health care.

 

• It ends skyrocketing premiums and caps on benefits.

 

• It helps seniors by closing the prescription drug donut hole, strengthening Medicare and helping employers pay for coverage of pre-Medicare retirees.

 

• It provides critical new funding to states.

 

AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee notes our union spent more than $10 million on the largest mobilization campaign in AFSCME's history to pass health care reform.

 

"More than 300,000 phone calls and letters were sent to Congress," said McEntee. "We used texting and new media. We put ads on TV, online and in the papers. We marched, we lobbied and we prevailed."

 

The national union is also working on an analysis of the attacks being made against the law, along with rebuttal arguments. Those interested in the ongoing debate should keep an eye on www.afscme.org for further updates.