California insurance denials rose after public uproar
In the weeks following public outcry about claims denials by California's biggest private insurers, the insurance giants continued to deny more than one fourth of all claims for services. That's from new data released today by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee following the announcement that California Attorney General Jerry Brown plans to subpoena financial documents and other records from the insurance companies.
DailyKOS.com
Nurses from Across Texas to March in Corpus Christi in Support of Patient Advocacy Protections
Nurses from across Texas will march and rally in Corpus Christi Tuesday February 23rd to demand hospitals across the state recognize their democratic rights to associate and advocate individually and collectively for their patients - rights that were recently affirmed locally when the Christus Spohn hospital system agreed to end retaliation and intimidation of nurses who had spoken up on behalf of their patients. The nurses are leaders in NNOC-Texas (the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas), which counts over 10,000 nurse activists in the Lone Star State and is affiliated with National Nurses United, the professional association and union for RNs.
Press Release
Nov 22, 2010
Nurses rally for safer staffing
Before Gwen Collins headed to Tallahassee this week to ask lawmakers to limit the number of patients each hospital nurse cares for, she asked her fellow RNs at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa if they had a message to convey about their workloads. Their response: "Tell them this is madness." "Nurses want to see safety for patients and sanity for themselves," said Collins, a registered nurse who has heard similar sentiments from burned-out nurses at hospitals throughout the country. "They want to make sure mistakes are not made."
St. Petersburg Times
Nurses: We're overworked and spread too thin
Nurses say they're overworked and spread too thin and it's affecting your safety. They teamed up with lawmakers Tuesday night in Kalamazoo to rally support. They're laying out the basics of new legislation that would regulate patient care across the state. House Bill 40-08 does two things. It creates a minimum nurse to patient ratio in hospitals and it also bans mandatory overtime.
WWMT (CBS)
Nurses Rally For Fla. Patient Protection Bill
Florida nurses are calling for legislation to set minimum hospital staffing ratios and give them whistle-blower protection. Dozens of registered nurses marched and held a rally Wednesday near the Florida Capitol to support the introduction of what they call a a patient protection bill.
Associated Press
Florida Nurses Unite Feb. 17 in Tallahassee to Demand Lifesaving Patient Safety Improvements
Hundreds of registered nurses from across Florida will travel to Tallahassee this Feb. 16 and 17 to march, rally, and advocate for the new Florida Hospital Patient Protection Act of 2010, introduced by Rep. Oscar Braynon (D-Miami Gardens) and Sen. Tony Hill (D- Jacksonville).
Press Release
Nov 22, 2010
Nurses, Doctors Head For Haiti
A month after an earthquake devastated Haiti, teams of nurses and doctors are continue to travel to the Caribbean nation to help. A group of nurses from as far away as California, Michigan and Minnesota arrived in Jacksonville Sunday night to await transportation to the U.S. Navy medical ship, the USNS Comfort, currently stationed off Haitian coast.
News 4 JAX
Nurses Blast 39% Anthem Blue Cross Rate Hike "Stronger Medicine Needed to End Insurance Abuses"
The nation's largest union and professional organization of registered nurses, National Nurses United, today joined the national condemnation of Anthem Blue Cross for imposing rate hikes of up to 39 percent for Californians with individual policies, but said the outrage must "go beyond words to action to end insurance abuses once and for all."
Press Release
Nov 22, 2010
Calif. insurer's rate increases draw attention of federal government
President Obama's secretary of health and human services fired off a sharply worded letter to a California insurer Monday, demanding to know why it is raising rates for individual policyholders by as much as 39 percent. The unusual salvo offers a reminder that, even as health-care legislation lies in limbo in Washington, the battle over surging health care costs continues in other venues.
Washington Post
When healthcare coverage is insurance in name only
The L'Esperances are your typical American family. They work hard. They try to get ahead. They don't ask anyone for help. And they pray they don't get sick. Mom and Dad -- a.k.a. Laguna Beach residents Jan and Paul L'Esperance -- sell kitchenware on behalf of various manufacturers. They've just been informed by Anthem Blue Cross that premiums for their health insurance will rise 18% to $985 a month.
Los Angeles TImes