Opposing groups unite to promote access to affordable healthcare

The National Federation of Independent Business is joining AARP, the Service Employees International Union and the Business Roundtable in a new umbrella group called Divided We Fail. The goal of the group is to promote access to affordable healthcare for all Americans and ensure "that healthcare and retirement security are at the top of the presidential candidates' domestic agendas next year." (Source: "Unlikely alliance forming on healthcare," Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2007.)

The diverse groups making up Divided We Fail have often been on opposite sides of issues in the past, most notably former President Clinton's failed healthcare plan and the current President Bush's effort to overhaul Social Security. While the groups say they may not be "united behind one specific approach to healthcare reform," they see their alliance as a "vehicle for assuring that its members will have a role in formulating new policies."