Can the issue of rising health care costs be solved at the bargaining table?
No. Americas health care crisis is a national problem that requires a national solution. It cannot be fully resolved within any one industry, or during any set of labor negotiations. The challenge of providing quality health care in the face of rising costs is by no means restricted to UAW employers in the auto industry. In fact, large auto industry employers are under somewhat less cost pressure than smaller businesses, because the sheer volume of their purchases in the health care marketplace allows greater leverage to negotiate more reasonable prices from health care providers. The fact that large employers can achieve savings when paying for health care suggests where the true solution to this problem lies: a universal, single-payer health insurance program covering every woman, man and child in the United States. A universal program would be much fairer than our current system, which is a national disgrace. More than 41 million people, including 9 million children, have no health
