A couple weeks ago, Barbara and I met with the DC-based coordinators of the ad-hoc healthcare reform coalition known as Health Care for America Now (HCAN: www.healthcareforamericanow.org) and we are pleased to report back that UP is now part of HCAN!

HCAN is a national network of the “usual suspects” on healthcare policy – consumer groups, labor unions, faith-based networks and other progressive organizations – working together in support of systemic reform for our broken health system.  UP brings an important voice to the table – yours and all white collar professionals similarly situated, the newly uninsured.

We have been dependent on the employer based system of health care coverage for too long and now, with the economic turbulence that has resulted in so many lay-offs among white collar workers, the need for portability in coverage has never been more urgent.  As the Congress debates the details of health care reform, UP will be a voice in DC, and in your communities.

If you have been following the media stories that describe the deteriorating situation for professional workers who get their insurance through their jobs, then you probably saw the Plain Dealer (Feb 27) piece about FirstEnergy.

FirstEnergy Corp. confirmed Friday that it is preparing to cut managers and support staff.
"We’ve been conducting an organizational study that will lead to staff reductions," spokeswoman Ellen Raines said. "We will achieve as many as possible through attrition."
The Akron-based utility employs 14,500 people across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The company has already canceled annual salary increases. The salary freeze and layoffs will not affect unionized workers such as linemen, Raines said.

White collar workers don’t have the collective bargaining agreements, which offer more job security and guaranteed benefits like retirement and health, that their blue collar, unionized brothers and sisters do.  The recent bad news in Connecticut, reported by the Hartford Current, is typical

NEW YORK – United Technologies Corp. will cut about 1,500 jobs in Connecticut in 2009, or about 6 percent of its workforce in the state, Chief Executive Louis Chênevert said in an interview Thursday.

Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand will likely bear the brunt of the cuts, which will come primarily from the aerospace companies’ white-collar workforces, he and other officials said.
"The adjustment to the blue-collar workforce will be minimal," Chênevert said.

And just last week, the Dallas Morning News, told the stories of three area professionals, stories that are emblematic the epidemic of lay-offs that are leaving white collar workers and their families short on prospects and health care coverage.

We know the unemployed through statistics: A staggering 4.4 million workers have lost jobs since the recession began 15 months ago – with 651,000 jobs lost in February alone. Such statistics lump the jobless together as a faceless monolith rather than inblockquoteidual stories.
For Lisa Haddon of Roanoke, a company layoff with a national financial services firm meant the end of a dream job – a devastating event that left her reeling in shock and grief.
For Ed Evans, a travel industry business analyst, it was a case of déjà vu: Seven years ago, he was caught up in massive layoffs in the post-9/11 recession. He was a victim of industry-wide layoffs again in December.
And for Fran LaSpina of Dallas, sudden unemployment after two decades in the banking industry has spurred her to consider a new career path, because she feels a need for work that will bring more meaning to her life.

These three white collar workers came together in search of new career paths through “Career Connection,” an outfit seemingly right up UP’s alley.

CareerConnection is the oldest and largest career management and networking organization in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Since September 1992, CareerConnection has assisted 40,000 professionals in networking, career management and placement with companies throughout the Metroplex.

Career Connection offers networking opportunities and the usual resume polishing workshops. But what caught my eye was that they market stopgap insurance, “An Affordable Alternative To COBRA” for white collar workers who are in between jobs.  As you probably already know, COBRA is at best a patch we can adhere to our families’ health and welfare after we get laid off.  I read recently where it was called “the most useless employee protection act ever.” We need more than COBRA and we need it soon.

So here’s the action item, the take-away, the dispatch: Join the debate about healthcare reform.  The 111th Congress is debating it right now and the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee has promised a bill on the President’s desk by the Fourth of July.

Go to the HCAN Action page and find out how you can be involved in the direct lobbying of your congressional delegation during the April recess. I know that there are round-tables, town-halls and news-worthy actions planned all around the country, and I hope to see you at all of them.