CWAers Hold Massive Rally for Affordable Healthcare

On June 18, over 3,000 CWA members, retirees, elected officials, local leaders, and allies rallied in Trenton at the New Jersey State House Annex, calling on state leaders to confront New Jersey’s healthcare affordability crisis. Members took their case directly to legislators, calling on state leaders to lower costs without shifting more of the burden onto workers, retirees, local governments, and families. Members have been visiting the capitol over the last several months to speak to lawmakers and to provide testimony on the healthcare issue. They have also made calls to legislators and spoken to reporters to share personal stories of the impacts of untenable healthcare costs.

“When public workers stand up and fight for affordable healthcare, we’re not only fighting for ourselves,” said CWA District 1 Assistant to the Vice President Bill Gallagher from the podium. “We are part of a larger movement, a movement to change the healthcare system that puts profits over people. A movement that says ‘affordability matters’.”

Ralliers called on state leaders to adopt practical reforms, including stronger oversight of healthcare vendors and carriers, real transparency in pricing and drug costs, Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform and competitive bidding, and claims audits to root out waste. Above all, members called for fixing the State Health Benefits Plan so it stays strong, affordable, and sustainable for the workers and retirees who depend on it.

In an op-ed run at news site nj.com on June 17, CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor wrote, “The message is simple, and other states have already written the proof: New Jersey can have quality, stable, affordable public health coverage and a sustainable bottom line.”

Click here for more details about the rally.

 
CWA members, retirees, and allies joined elected officials and local leaders in Trenton, N.J., to demand the state use the tools at its disposal to end the current healthcare affordability crisis.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.