What do we need health insurers for anyway?
Angela Braly can't kid me. When the chief executive of gargantuan health insurer WellPoint (parent of Blue Cross of California) went before a congressional subcommittee the other day, she displayed all the smile-through-the-tears pluck of Annie looking to a sunny tomorrow or Scarlett swearing to God she'll never be hungry again.
Los Angeles TImes
California Nurses Association Cheers Eden District Board for Courage to Overturn Sutter Decision
Malinda Markowitz, RN, co-President of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee issued the following statement in the wake of this week’s vote by the Eden Township District Health Board to sue Sutter Health over conflicts of interest and cancel the Memorandum of Understanding that is the basis of Sutter’s attempts to close down San Leandro Hospital.
Press Release
Nov 22, 2010
Deaths Rising for Lack of Insurance, Study Finds
As members of the Obama administration and Congress met on Thursday to try to find common ground on health care, a new report warned that without comprehensive legislation, more than 275,000 adults nationwide will die over the next decade because of a lack of health insurance. Nearly 14,000 of those deaths would occur in New York State.
New York Times
California Insurers Denied Over 26% of All Claims in 2009
Seven of California’s biggest insurance companies rejected more on average more than one-fourth of all payment claims in the second half of 2009, according to new data just released by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee and its national arm, National Nurses United.
Press Release
Nov 22, 2010
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