SEIU members are promoting benefits of healthcare law to seniors and working families, urging them to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill.

Washington, D.C. -In response to Republican efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the working women and men of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), including 1.2 million doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, are redoubling their efforts to educate seniors and working families about the key benefits of the healthcare law.

"With this new year, Americans are looking to our leaders in Congress to focus on what matters most: moving our country forward and creating the kind of good jobs that will lift Americans out of the danger zone of joblessness, home foreclosures and hopelessness, said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. "Healthcare reform is working and millions of middle class Americans are thankful for a healthcare law that means they don't have to worry about coverage for their kids who are in college, whether their elderly parents can afford lifesaving prescriptions, or whether their insurance company is going to drop their coverage if they get sick."

SEIU members built a national movement over more than a decade to support the passage of a healthcare law that would ensure that everyone in America had access to quality, affordable healthcare. Service workers from every sector, including security guards, childcare workers and homecare workers, are joining forces with labor and healthcare advocates, including Healthcare for America Now (HCAN) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), to inform thousands of Americans of the benefits of the law through calls to voters and in-district events.

Said SEIU nurse Beth Zaworksi of Cleveland, Ohio, "Our emergency room has far too many patients who don't take their medication because they can't afford it, and far too many patients who had preventable conditions that turn more serious because they can't afford preventive care either. I would like to ask Speaker John Boehner who he is representing. How many of his constituents have access to affordable healthcare? How many of the people he represents have health insurance? Congressman Boehner has a responsibility to the people who live in the 8th District of Ohio, not to insurance companies."

Get the facts on reform at http://seiu.org/healthreformcentral.

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. www.seiu.org

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