News: Organizing Victories | National Nurses United

Insurers Gave U.S. Chamber $86 Million Used to Oppose Obama’s Health Law

Health insurers last year gave the U.S. Chamber of Commerce $86.2 million that was used to oppose the health-care overhaul law, according to tax records and people familiar with the donation. The insurance lobby, whose members include Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Cigna Corp. of Philadelphia, gave the money to the Chamber in 2009 as Democrats increased criticism of the industry, according to a person who requested anonymity because laws don't require identifying funding sources. —Bloomberg News, 11/17/10 More »

Nationwide News

Trumka on Social Security: Don’t Raise Retirement Age

Among the many skeptics President Obama will have to win over to enact recommendations outlined by leaders of his bipartisan deficit reduction commission: one of the Democratic Party's key allies, AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka. Trumka was visiting National Journal as commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson were unveiling their ideas Wednesday. —National Journal, 11/11/10 More »

Nationwide News

Nurses’ Union Flexes Political Muscle

One of California's most powerful political players these days is a Bay Area-based nurses' union, which helped torpedo Republican Meg Whitman's efforts to become governor and boosted the prospects of the eventual winning candidate, Democrat Jerry Brown. Now officials of the 85,000-member California Nurses Association say they will keep Gov.-elect Brown's feet to the fire on their agenda of improving conditions for nurses and the state's health-care system. —Wall Street Journal, 11/11/10 More »

California News

More Americans opt for high-deductible health insurance plans

Rising costs lead to a nearly threefold increase in the number of workers covered by the policies since 2006. Health experts worry about consumers who forgo preventive care. Looking to save money in a weak economy, Americans increasingly are turning to health insurance plans with low premiums and high deductibles - prompting doctors and health experts to worry that consumers may be skipping routine care that could head off serious ailments. —Los Angeles TImes, 11/09/10 More »

Nationwide News

Health insurers sit pretty at their customers’ expense

It's a good time to be a health insurer. Three of the biggest names in the insurance game reported rock-solid profits last week. Aetna said its third-quarter net income jumped 53% over the same period last year, to $497.6 million. WellPoint, parent of Anthem Blue Cross in California, said its profit rose 1.2% to $739.1 million. Health Net posted a net income of $62.7 million, compared with a loss of $66 million a year earlier. —Los Angeles TImes, 11/09/10 More »

Nationwide News

Workers’ health insurance costs for 2011 include higher premiums and co-payments

For millions of Americans who get their health insurance through their job, autumn brings not only falling leaves and cooler breezes, but also difficult choices. That's because it's the time when many employers present workers with their insurance options for the coming year. —Washington Post, 11/08/10 More »

Nationwide News

Sick Californians may be forgoing care because health deductible is too high, study says

Three million Californians are enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans because they can't afford to pay high premiums. But the often excessive out-of-pocket costs could be causing some to delay seeking care, while jeopardizing the financial well-being of others, a new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has found. —Los Angeles TImes, 10/28/10 More »

California News

Contra Costa nurse dies; El Cerrito man charged with murder in jail attack

A nurse who was attacked by an inmate at the Contra Costa County Jail died of her injuries today, prompting the promise of new legislation that would protect medical workers in jails and medical facilities. El Sobrante resident Cynthia Barraca Palomata, 55, died this morning, three days after she was struck in the head with a table lamp by an El Cerrito man awaiting processing into the jail, authorities said. —Contra Costa Times, 10/26/10 More »

California News

Sparrow nurses allege unsafe staffing situations; patient care at issue at Lansing hospital

Nurses at Sparrow Hospital are alleging in complaints filed with the state that the Lansing facility is understaffed and jeopardizing patient care. Members of the Professional Employees Council of Sparrow Hospital submitted a report Thursday to the Michigan Department of Community Health detailing what it says are hundreds of instances of unsafe staffing situations. —Lansing State Journal, 10/22/10 More »

Michigan News

Nurses make the difference in care

I am a registered nurse working in this community. I am also part of the legislative efforts led by the National Nurses Organizing Committee of Florida. I support the Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act (known as HB 1283/SB 2316 in the 2010 legislative session) and ask that all residents of this community support it too. —Daytona Beach News-Journal, 10/18/10 More »

Florida News

Critical care

Hundreds of nurses from the UMass Memorial Medical Center system staged a boisterous rally and demonstration in front of the Belmont Street Memorial campus yesterday to protest what they contend are unsafe staffing levels, hospital demands for pay and benefit cuts and the planned closing of a medical-surgical unit at Memorial. —Telegram and Gazette, 10/14/10 More »

Massachusetts News

U.S., California probe Prime Healthcare

A Southern California hospital chain known for aggressive billing practices and cost-cutting is being investigated by state and federal authorities for an unusually high rate of life-threatening infections among its older patients. —Los Angeles TImes, 10/12/10 More »

Nationwide, California News

Nurses picket EMMC

Off-duty registered nurses covered by the union contract at Eastern Maine Medical Center picketed the hospital Monday. The purpose of the demonstration was "informational," according to Vanessa Sylvester of the Maine State Nurses Association, intended to raise public awareness of ongoing contract negotiations between the nurses and the hospital administration. —Bangor Daily News, 10/10/10 More »

Maine News

US healthcare ‘to blame’ for poor life expectancy rates

The US healthcare system is to blame for declines in the country's life expectancy ranking, a study suggests. The Columbia University report rejects claims that factors such as obesity have shortened life-spans for Americans relative to other wealthy nations. —BBC, 10/09/10 More »

Nationwide News

Health insurers throw support behind Republican candidates

The insurance industry is pouring money into Republican campaign coffers in hopes of scaling back wide-ranging regulations in the new healthcare law, while preserving the mandate that Americans buy coverage. Since January, the nation's five largest insurers and the industry's Washington-based lobbying arm have given three times more money to Republican lawmakers and political action committees than to Democrats. —Los Angeles TImes, 10/04/10 More »

Nationwide News

Concerted effort to silence RNs

Assemblyman Curt Hagman's attack on registered nurses and our professional voice, the California Nurses Association, in a recent point of view (Sept. 23), and the bill he has sponsored to dictate what nurses are able to learn to better advocate for our patients, symbolize what is at stake for California patients and nurses in the November election. —Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, 10/03/10 More »

California News

Nurses push for nurse-to-patient ratios

Nurses want minimum nurse-to-patient ratios to improve the quality and safety of patient care in NSW. Brett Holmes, general secretary of the NSW Nurses Association (NSWNA), on Monday said the reform had the backing of both public hospital and community healthcare nurses. —Sydney Morning Herald, 09/20/10 More »

International News

Aetna gets OK to hike rates on individual health policies in California

The increase will average 19% and will take effect Oct. 1 along with double-digit hikes by Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and Health Net that also had been reviewed by the Department of Insurance. More than 1 million Californians will see their health insurance premiums rise Oct. 1 now that regulators have wrapped up their review of a plan by Aetna Inc. to raise rates an average of 19% for 65,000 individual policyholders. —Los Angeles TImes, 09/17/10 More »

California News

What They Could Be Saying to the Joe Miller Republicans

Republican candidates from coast to coast are fond of branding their opponents the Nancy Pelosi Democrats. Maybe it's time to talk about the Joe Miller Republicans. Miller is the Sarah Palin-backed Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Alaska who toppled incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski because she was not conservative enough. Miller gained notoriety, in part, by proposing elimination of two of the most popular reforms in U.S. history, Social Security and Medicare, and calling unemployment insurance "unconstitutional". —Huffington Post, 09/07/10 More »

Nationwide News

Wall Street sees a reliable partner in Whitman

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was leading a triumphant rally at the state GOP convention last month when she announced that New Yorkers were excited about the California governor's race. At a fundraiser she held in New York, Whitman said she met with people who "have suffered the financial reforms that are going to crimp our ability to raise capital, and they want California to turn the corner." —Sacramento Bee, 09/07/10 More »

California News