N.Y. GOV’T UNION, GORE BACK
GOVT.-RUN SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE

A big New York state union, the 58,000-member Public Employees Federation, has joined the growing group that backs government-run single-payer health care. And former Vice President Al Gore does, too.

A 2-sentence endorsement PEF delegates added at their recent convention said it “supports the expansion of Medicare described in bill HR676--the United States National Health Insurance Act. This legislation would provide not-for-profit, single-payer health care to all Americans.”

That adds single-payer health care to a detailed PEF federal agenda that includes preservation of Social Security, transportation funding, and other issues.

Meanwhile, the California Nurses Association, one of at least six AFL-CIO unions that back single-payer, reported Gore’s statement, aired on cable television.

Gore, who won the 2000 presidential election against GOP nominee George W. Bush, but who was deprived of the job by GOP theft, called the present health care system “incredibly ridiculous.” Gore just shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on alerting the world to the dangers of global warming. That gives him added credibility.

“I strongly support universal, single-payer, government-provided-for, government-funded health care,” Gore said. “It doesn’t mean the government runs it, it has competition among different providers. But I just think that we’ve long since reached the stage that it’s immoral to put people in a situation where they cannot get the medical care they need because their incomes aren’t high enough.

“I think it ought to be a matter of right and our current system just doesn’t work. It’s way too expensive. The quality of health care is excellent for those who have enough money to buy the very best, but lower-income and low middle-income Americans are not getting good health care and so many now can’t afford the private health insurance that they’re going without insurance,” Gore explained.

PEF is a joint affiliate of AFT and the Service Employees, neither of which has endorsed the government-run single-payer health care proposal. That legislation, by veteran Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) would abolish any role for the private insurance companies, as well as their co-pays, deductibles, denial of care and deaths caused by refusal to pay for patient care.

In other news from the New York unionists’ convention, the delegates endorsed home-state Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) for the Democratic presidential nomination. New York’s primary, like 24 others nationwide, is on Feb. 5. AFT has also endorsed Clinton, but SEIU left endorsement decisions up to its locals.