SEIU members and health care activists were a national force driving the passage of the historic healthcare legislation President Obama signed into law on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. For more than a decade we marched, we voted, we raised our voices in support of quality, affordable healthcare for all--and against big insurance companies and special interests.

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Now, thanks to the power of our voices on behalf of working women and men everywhere, it has become a reality. Our nation has taken a major step forward in improving the quality and affordability of health care for all Americans, of all ages, and all incomes--but especially America's middle class.

National health reform is an enormous victory for every working family who ever worried about how to pay for their children's healthcare, struggled in the face of medical bankruptcy or saw their dreams taken away by skyrocketing healthcare costs. SEIU members should be very proud to share this good news with their family, friends, and neighbors.

What Health Reform Means to America's Working Families

• It helps more than 32 million Americans afford health care who cannot afford it today, including 15 million children.
• It provides the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for millions of working families who can't afford it.
• It holds insurance companies accountable. Gets skyrocketing premium costs under control. Prevents insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
• It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
• For working women and men who don't have health insurance through their employer, it will provide a choice of affordable healthcare plans, giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same choices that members of Congress have.
• Tax credits are available immediately for small businesses who offer coverage, and small businesses will have more affordable, stable insurance choices.
• It strengthens our national economy by reducing the deficit and generating more jobs throughout the healthcare industry, jobs that can't be shipped overseas.
• It closes the Medicare prescription drug 'donut hole' and protects and strengthens Medicare for our seniors and for future generations.

National health reform will bring real protections and key benefits that take effect this year.*

1. No lifetime limits and restricted annual limits on coverage;
2. If we get sick, insurance companies can't drop us
3. Our children can stay covered under our policy until the age of 26;
4. Our children can't be denied care because of a pre-existing condition;
5. Our parents will be paying less for their prescriptions;
6. All new plans must cover preventive screenings and immunizations.
7. Tax credits will be available for small businesses who offer coverage.

* Once local collective bargaining agreements expire, or after 6 months (whichever is later) insurance companies will have to start offering workers a choice of plans that follow these new rules.