Head of nation's largest union of health care workers, leading advocate for reform to address powerful Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Max Baucus

WASHINGTON, DC - With pressure building to address the nation's ailing health care system, SEIU International President Andy Stern will offer testimony on the combined impact of the health care and economic crisis on working families and call for comprehensive health care reform at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance at 10AM Wednesday, November 19. With two million members, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the largest labor union for health care workers in the country and has been a leading voice in the effort to win quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

WHAT: SEIU Testimony at "Health Care Reform: An Economic Perspective"

WHO: Andy Stern, SEIU International President

WHEN: 10AM Wednesday, November 19, 2008

WHERE: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Capitol Hill

Wednesday's hearing is the latest in a series of hearings on health care reform held by the Senate Committee on Finance. The hearing comes on the heels of a revealing analysis by the New America Foundation entitled "The Cost of Doing Nothing: Why the Cost of Failing to Fix Our Health System is Greater than the Cost of Reform," showing average rising health care premiums outpacing wage increases and a trend that will result in "Americans continu[ing] to pay more for less-generous health coverage; and fewer employers offer[ing] health insurance to their workers."