For Immediate Release Contact: Amaya Tune/Eddie Vale: 202-637-5018

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

on New Senate Cost Containment Package
December 8, 2009

We commend the package of amendments freshman Senators have developed that would
strengthen the cost containment provisions of health reform legislation. These senators
have their eyes on what’s most important to all Americans – affordable, high quality
health care that will be there when we need it. We must transform our current health
care system into one that rewards value – constraining cost growth without
compromising care.

Controlling health care costs is a critical building block for health reform. Without it,
any expansion of coverage to the uninsured or even the continuation of existing
coverage, whether employment-sponsored insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, will be
unsustainable.

But reining in costs is the most difficult challenge we face in health care reform. That is
why the AFL-CIO is so pleased that the approach taken in both the House and Senate
health reform legislation expands on the wide consensus that has arisen among all parties
in health care that we can do much better in delivering high quality, high value care. This
consensus evolved from the Institute of Medicine’s groundbreaking reports on quality
and safety issues over the past 10 years.

A number of the amendments announced today would, individually, represent significant

steps forward from the current draft Senate legislation. Taken together, however, they
amount to a robust expansion of critically important provisions in the legislation.

But these measures alone will not fix a broken health care system. We need a strong
public health insurance option to keep insurance companies honest and fair financing --
with employers shouldering their responsibility and no new taxes on health benefits.

We applaud the Senators for their leadership and commitment to tackling the tough issue
of cost containment. We look forward to working, in the coming days, to build support
for these proposals.
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