WASHINGTON, DC - Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) issued this statement today in response to the Department of Health and Human Services new proposed regulation of health insurance premium increases:

For more than a decade, working women and men have seen more and more of their paychecks go toward paying health insurance premiums with no limit in sight. While opponents of healthcare reform say we must take away the very insurance regulations that would protect working families from double-digit premium increases, allow discrimination against those living with pre-existing conditions to continue, and leave families to fend for themselves against insurance companies, nothing could be further from the truth.

"Healthcare is not partisan, it is personal. When I talk to women and men who are losing their homes and their dreams due to skyrocketing health costs, it is clear that the benefits of healthcare reform cannot come soon enough for working families. These increased costs have meant less take-home pay for tens of millions of Americans. Finally, we have a law and a President that are doing something about it.

"Like the new regulations of the healthcare reform law that ensure that healthcare premium dollars go toward care, not advertising costs, these regulations would protect millions of Americans from unjustified premium rate hikes and increase transparency of insurance company practices. Today marks another critical way in which the new healthcare reform law is working for America's working families."

With 2.2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.

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