The "chained CPI" proposal in President Obama's budget continues to draw much-deserved fire, which is only likely to increase as more information about it becomes known. Here are nine embarrassing facts about the chained CPI which the White House and its defenders would prefer to see overlooked. —Huffington Post, 04/11/13 More »
Under the federal law, starting Jan. 1 health plans must include certain benefits, such as hospital care and drug coverage, and must cap the amount consumers can be charged through deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. That out-of-pocket cap next year is estimated to be about $6,250 for an individual. —Kaiser Health News, 04/10/13 More »
The battle over the tar sands pipeline among unions has been XL on drama. "For too long we have allowed some corporations to hold a gun to our heads and demand that we choose jobs or choose the earth.” That’s what Terry O’Sullivan, the general president of the Laborers International Union of North America, told green groups and fellow unions at a green-jobs conference in February 2009, just a few months after the union—one of the largest in the country—joined the Blue-Green Alliance, a group organized to advocate for a “clean economy.” —The American Prospect, 04/09/13 More »
Results from a survey out Tuesday are underscoring the repercussions lack of healthcare insurance and high drug costs have on adults in the US. —Common Dreams, 04/09/13 More »
Nonprofit hospitals in California, which take millions of dollars in tax breaks annually, would face greater scrutiny of the charity care and other community benefits they provide under legislation sought by two Bay Area lawmakers. —Mercury News, 04/08/13 More »
Nurses and officials at Quincy Medical Center plan to negotiate Monday morning in an effort to avert a one-day strike planned for next Thursday. Talks between the nurses and the hospital’s parent company, Steward Health Care, were scheduled by a federal mediator and will focus on staffing levels, the main issue in dispute. —The Boston Globe, 04/06/13 More »
HAVERHILL — Nurses took to the street near Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill yesterday to call attention to what they think is an alarming trend at some local hospitals. —The Eagle Tribune, 04/06/13 More »
Ian Rizzio was a 24-year-old mechanical engineering student in Portland, Oregon, managing a sandwich shop to pay his tuition. One day, he woke up sick, but went to work anyway, as he later testified to the Portland City Council. After vomiting in the bathroom, Rizzio spent two hours trying — unsuccessfully — to reach his boss before going home to rest. When Rizzio came into work the next day, he was fired immediately. With $35,000 in student loans, he feared he’d have to withdraw from school. —The Washington Post, 04/03/13 More »
Canada’s tar sands formations, landlocked in northern Alberta, are a giant reserve of carbon-saturated energy — a mixture of sand, clay and a viscous low-grade petroleum called bitumen. Pipelines are the best way to get this resource to market, but existing pipelines to the United States are almost full. So tar sands companies, and the Alberta and Canadian governments, are desperately searching for export routes via new pipelines. —The New York Times, 04/02/13 More »
As I write this letter, I am surrounded by my own young children’s playful laughter and I am both sad and angry for the community I have cared for over the years. This is a dark day for the families of our community. —Taunton Daily Gazette, 04/02/13 More »
South Florida registered nurses this week are celebrating their first ever collective bargaining agreement at Florida Medical Center (FMC) and Palmetto General Hospital, with terms they say will both improve patient care as well as secure economic gains for nurses and their families. —Caribbean Today, 04/02/13 More »
In Antioch, California, Angela Glasper walks through the Kaiser Permanente medical center talking to fellow employees about an upcoming vote between two unions. For years she represented her worksite in negotiations and defended co-workers in grievance meetings. Now she hopes they will listen to her and vote for the National Union of Healthcare Workers. —Labor Notes, 04/01/13 More »
SAN FRANCISCO—Registered nurses who are members of the California Nurses Association will vote in April on a new 34-month proposed contract with California Pacific Medical Center that includes a 6 percent wage increase and guaranteed meal and rest breaks, the union announced March 27. —BNA, 03/29/13 More »
The federal healthcare law will help cause insurance premiums to rise 30% on average for many middle-income Californians next year, but lower-income consumers could save up to 84%, a new government report says. —LAtimes.com, 03/28/13 More »
It's no coincidence that the California Nurses Association has been the most active and effective union in fighting for a broad social and economic justice agenda, one that seeks to give greater value to caring and caregiving. Unlike many unions that fight mostly for their members' interests, CNA is an extension of the nursing ethos itself. —San Francisco Bay Guardian, 03/27/13 More »
TAMPA — Army Staff Sgt. Alex Dillmann, his spine severely wounded by an explosion in Afghanistan, said his nurses at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center were horribly overworked and short-staffed. —Tampa Bay Times, 03/23/13 More »
Until 1969, the federal government required not-for-profit hospitals to meet the 5 percent standard. However, after Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965, hospitals argued that the need for charity care would decline so that hospitals could not meet the IRS standard and that they should be awarded more flexibility. The IRS dropped the 5 percent rule but established a “community benefit standard.” —MyDesert.com, 03/22/13 More »
BLUEFIELD — Nurses and their supporters formed a picket line Tuesday evening near the entrance to Bluefield Regional Medical Center and drew attention to what they said were violations of federal law by the facility’s owner, Community Health Systems medical facilities. —Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 03/20/13 More »
RANCHO MIRAGE — A new bill under consideration in Sacramento would require not-for-profit hospitals such as Eisenhower Medical Center to raise charity spending to 5 percent of their net revenue. —Palm Springs Desert Sun, 03/18/13 More »
APPLE VALLEY-Nurses held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, calling for improved nurse staffing throughout the St. Joseph Health System. —Daily Press, 03/15/13 More »
