Marcie Bayne, Executive Director of the North Valley Labor Federation (NVLF) in the California Central Valley, states that the Federation is “unanimously in support” of single payer health care and of HR 676, the national legislation sponsored by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

The NVLF, representing over 100,000 members, is an Area Labor Federation (ALF) that joins together three labor councils, Merced/Mariposa, Stanislaus/Tuolumne, and San Joaquin/Calaveras.

Executive Director Bayne urges “Please get Single Payer NOW!” Her depth of feeling is personal. She speaks of the difficulties that her elderly parents have had in getting access to doctors and to real health care. “Older adults should just have health care, PERIOD. No need to shop for supplemental plans, ‘advantage’ plans that come and go with the wind and prescription drug plans that don’t pay for drugs seniors need,” she says.

Bayne tells of the many hours she has spent trying to assist her parents in maintaining a health care plan that will cover all those things that are not covered. Her parents are on a fixed income and “cannot afford to pay for all this after all the years of hard middle class work.”

“Please think about all like them in your battles,” Bayne asks.

HR 676 covers all medically necessary care, including prescriptions, with no co-pays and no deductibles.

There are now 139 CLCs/ ALFs that have endorsed HR 676.