Message from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa

Many Teamsters will soon benefit from the historic health care reform legislation that President Obama signed into law on March 23.

Reform will help control the skyrocketing cost of health insurance over the long term. It will make our employers more competitive and strengthen our economy while providing coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

But even in the short term, Teamsters and their families who have health insurance through their employers will gain from health care reform.

Starting no later than January 1, 2011 for most plans:

If You Hit theMedicare Prescription Drug “Donut Hole,” You’ll Receive a Check

Health care reform has an important benefit this year for people who participate in a Medicare prescription drug program. If you reach the coverage gap (also called the “donut hole”), you will receive a tax-free, one-time $250 check after you hit the gap.

Teamster retirees who get prescription drug coverage directly from a Teamster Health &Welfare fund may not qualify for this benefit. That’s because the coverage you already have is better than most Medicare Part D coverage.

Obama Hails 'Bill of Rights' for Health Consumers

President Obama today announced a series of new regulations he called a "true patients' bill of rights," and urged insurers not use the health-care overhaul as an excuse to raise premiums.

The new regulations being implemented by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, will put in place the strongest consumer protections in the nation's history -- giving Americans "peace of mind," Obama said.

You Will Soon Be Able To Put Your Child on Your Health Plan Up To Age 26

Health care reform requires group health insurance plans that cover an employee’s children to extend eligibility to children up to their 26th birthday.

Here are some highlights:

If your health plan currently offers coverage to your children, that coverage must be extended to them until their 26th birthday – even if they’re attending school or married.

'Cadillac Tax' on Health Plans Would Hit Union and Nonunion Jobs Equally

It happens often in Washington: A perception emerges and soon hardens into fact. Take the proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans in the Senate's health-care legislation. Because organized labor took the lead in opposing the tax, the assumption took hold that it would hit unions the hardest.

Hoffa Statement About Agreement With White House On Health Care Excise Tax

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today that the agreement reached Thursday with the White House on the Senate’s proposed health insurance excise tax moves the country much closer to providing affordable health insurance for all Americans.

Health-Reform Headaches the Democrats Don't Need

One of the few things we can be sure of when Congress finally enacts health-care reform is that the battle will rage on, unabated. Republicans will attack the law's weaknesses (and strengths), while Democrats will point to provisions that are popular and take effect immediately, such as the ban on insurers denying coverage for preexisting conditions.

Unions Rally To Oppose A Tax On Health Insurance

When millions of blue-collar workers were leaning toward John McCain during the 2008 campaign, labor unions moved many of them into Barack Obama’s column by repeatedly hammering one theme: Mr. McCain wanted to tax their health benefits.

Congress, Don't Tax Our Health Insurance Plans

The last thing the American middle class needs right now is a big new tax on health insurance plans.

Many working people are now poorer than they were 10 years ago. Middle-class families earned less in inflation-adjusted dollars than they did in 1999.
 

The Nation: Reid's Reform Passes; The Fight Goes On

Health reform appeared on the verge of death many times over the past few weeks, but early Christmas Eve morning the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on a party-line vote after major concessions were made to secure the votes of conservative Democrats.