[Libs-Or] Fwd: Universal health care
Diedre Conkling
diedre08 at gmail.com
Sat Jun 20 21:38:55 PDT 2009
Actually, I do not believe there is a particular bill that ALA can endorse
at this time. This is a time when there a number of bills being written,
discussed or contemplated. It is my hope that individual library
workers and the American Library Association can and will contact their
members of Congress and let them know what type of health care you think
this country needs. I admit that I personally lean toward a single payer
system but I don't know yet what bills will come forward this summer and I
may end up supporting something that, for me, would be a compromise
position.
*ALA does already have policy 54.20*:
"54.20 Comprehensive Health Care
ALA recognizes the importance of comprehensive health care for all Americans
and its impact on libraries and their users. Adopted 2005."
(See “Current Reference File”: 2004-05 CD#39.)
*CD #39 did ALA as a ,member of the Universal Healthcare Action Network (
http://www.uhcan.org/ )*
**
*MOVED*, The adoption of ALA CD#39, Resolution on Health Care, which read:
"That the American Library Association endorses the Health Care Access
Resolution and related measures directing Congress to enact legislation that
provides access to comprehensive health care for all Americans and directs
the ALA Executive Director to add ALA's name to the list of organizations
endorsing the Health Care Access Resolution."
*VOTED*, To amend ALA CD#39, Resolution on Health Care, by substituting the
following resolved clauses for the above motion: *"That ALA recognizes the
importance of comprehensive health care for all Americans and its impact on
libraries and their users; and that ALA joins The Universal Health Care
Action Network."*
*ADOPTED*, ALA CD#39, Resolution on Health Care, as amended above.
**
Because of this ALA has already taken a partial position on health care but
not a particular bill at this time.
This is very much a library issue. I will try to list some of the ways it
is a library issue. I know many of you can think of other reasons.
1. We want to have healthy staff in our libraries and we do not want them
to avoid getting health care they may need because they cannot afford it.
We also want them to have healthy families. We want this for them as
individuals and we want this because it helps us run our organizations to
actually have staff at work instead of dealing with health issues.
2. Many of our organizations do provide health insurance for employees in
some form. Some fully pay for health insurance and others pay some part of
the health insurance.
3. The cost of the health insurance goes significantly higher every year,
in the double digits for most of the last 10 years at least, and takes a
larger and larger chunk of our budgets and staff take home pay (where they
pay a share of the insurance cost.)
4. Using these funds for health insurance takes the funds away from
library collections, improvements, etc.
5. We also would like to work with healthy library users instead of
facing the risk of catching illnesses from them and also just because we
care about the people in our communities.
6. Some of our collegues do not have health insurance and work in jobs
where they do not have high enough salaries that they can afford to purchase
their own health insurance
7. There was a time when we could pay full health insurance for staff
that worked between 20 and 40 hours and not have the cost of the insurance
be significantly more than their income. I find that I now only hire people
for less than 20 hours so that we don't have to pay for any health insurance
or for 40 hours, where we really do have excellent insurance coverage. This
practice really bothers me but I don't know a way around it with the current
cost of health insurance.
8. With universal health care we actually would no longer need workers
compensation insurance since the health care costs would be paid for under
the universal health care program. This could also reduce legal costs when
an employee has an accident at work since they don't have to fight to have
the cost of care for their injuries covered by insurance.
9. And I think this is just a beginning list of how health care and
health insurance is a library issue and so one that is important to the
American Library Association.
[ An aside: The "Current Reference File" is some notebooks with the more
complete documentation. We can request a copy of these materials but they
are not yet online, so I don't have a copy to share with you at this time.
There is real movement right now to change this and I believe pdf's have now
been made of all of these document. Now the decision is where and how to
add them to the website. This is actually part of the current discussion on
the ALA Council discussion list.]
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Judy Anderson
<JuAnderson at cu-portland.edu>wrote:
> I would prefer that my professional library association not dictate
> political values. There are many in this association that do not support
> federal government controlled health care. They prefer systems outside the
> federal government to supply the means of providing health care for those
> unable to pay. It is doing those voices an injustice when the entire
> organization promotes one version of health care coverage. This topic is
> certainly borderline as a library issue.
>
>
>
> Judy
>
>
>
> Judy Anderson
>
> Reference & Instruction Librarian
>
> Concordia University-Portland
>
> (503) 493 6453
>
>
>
> *From:* libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:
> libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] *On Behalf Of *Diedre Conkling
> *Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2009 1:19 PM
> *To:* libs-or
> *Subject:* Re: [Libs-Or] Fwd: Universal health care
>
>
>
> I should have also pointed out ALA's policy:
>
> 54.20 Comprehensive Health Care
> ALA recognizes the importance of comprehensive health care for all
> Americans and its impact on libraries and their users. Adopted 2005.
> (See “Current Reference File”: 2004-05 CD#39.)
>
> I have tried to pull up CD #39 from Council II, Midwinter 2005 (
> http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/council/councilagendas/annual2005a/ciiac2005.cfm)
> but have not yet succeeded.
>
> .state.or.us <libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us> [mailto:
> libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] *On Behalf Of *Diedre Conkling
> *Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2009 12:49 PM
> *To:* libs-or; publib at webjunction.org
> *Subject:* [Libs-Or] Fwd: Universal health care
>
>
>
> It seems to me that we should be contacting Congress about health care. It
> affects us all personally and in our budgeting.
>
>
>
> I know that I could hire more people if we did not have the health care
> costs we have today. I suspect some of the libraries that are in real
> financial trouble and the cities and counties would be in better shape if we
> did not have these health care costs.
>
>
>
> See:
>
> RESOLUTION ENDORSING HR 676, FOR SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE,
>
> AND S 2772, THE HEALTH PARTNERSHIP ACT
>
>
> http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/referenceab/colresolutions/062806-CD20.16.pdf
>
>
>
>
>
> -----------
>
>
>
>
>
> FYI - ALA-APA is hosting the following program at Annual Conference:
>
> Medicare for All
> Dr. Quentin Young
> Sunday, July 12, 10:30 am -12:00 pm, Hyatt Regency McCormick Conf Ctr 12d
> Single-payer national health insurance is a system in which a single public
> or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care
> remains largely private. The U.S. health care system is outrageously
> expensive, yet inadequate, spending more than twice as much as the rest of
> the industrialized nations and leaving 47 million completely uninsured. This
> program will introduce the philosophy of Physicians for a National Health
> Program, which defines, researches and supports single-payer health
> insurance.
>
> Jenifer Grady, MSLS, MBA, CAE + Director, ALA-APA + jgrady at ala.org +
> 312-280-2424
>
>
> --
> Diedre Conkling
> Lincoln County Library District
> P.O. Box 2027
> Newport, OR 97365
> Work phone & fax: 541-265-3066
> Work email: diedre at beachbooks.org
> Home email: diedre08 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
> --
> Diedre Conkling
> Lincoln County Library District
> P.O. Box 2027
> Newport, OR 97365
> Work phone & fax: 541-265-3066
> Work email: diedre at beachbooks.org
> Home email: diedre08 at gmail.com
>
>
>
>
> --
> Diedre Conkling
> Lincoln County Library District
> P.O. Box 2027
> Newport, OR 97365
> Work phone & fax: 541-265-3066
> Work email: diedre at beachbooks.org
> Home email: diedre08 at gmail.com
>
--
Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR 97365
Work phone & fax: 541-265-3066
Work email: diedre at beachbooks.org
Home email: diedre08 at gmail.com
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