The company said Tuesday it has begun sending letters to the strikers in response to questions about how the coverage of health care will be affected by the strike that began Aug. 7

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is called a strike after failing to reach a working agreement with the company after their contract expired.

Their disagreements hinge on issues such as contributions to health, pensions and work rules, according to both sides.

CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said the Union “to establish a plan of care needs and make striking workers’ health are met:” If workers are still striking to August 31.

Both Verizon and the CWA, said that negotiations with the company was in progress, but neither side could not say if they had an agreement in sight.

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company had “made progress in some areas, and some things are still under discussion.” He gave no details.

If you are still on strike by the workers, technicians and customer service representatives can pay for their current health insurance plans, he said.

This would cost about $ 4,800 to $ 10,000 per year for individual plans, or $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 family plan, Young said.

As he readies for his State of the Union speech Wednesday, the president’s approach reflects the demands of a new political landscape in Washington, where Republicans now have the votes to block Democratic initiatives in the Senate.

In his address, expected to focus heavily on the economy, Obama will seek to steer the public’s anger over joblessness and bailouts while recognizing that Democrats alone can’t do his bidding in Congress.

On the Wall Street front, Obama is trying to capitalize on public anger by making a populist pitch sharply critical of big bankers while also extending a pragmatic hand to Republicans with a proposal that, at the very least, has intrigued them.

Right now, a sweeping change in banking regulations is the best chance Obama has at claiming an accomplishment this year after a stunning Republican victory in Massachusetts weakened Democratic control of the Senate.

As announced last week, Obama now wants the government to restrict large bank holding companies that combine commercial and investment banking from carrying out high-risk bets called proprietary trading. The idea had been pushed for more than a year by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, the head of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. It also became a top issue with Vice-President Joseph Biden, a longtime friend of Volcker’s.

Initial positive reviews have spanned the ideological spectrum, from liberal economists to the conservative editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal.