National Nurses United

M A Y | J U N E 2 0 1 8 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 9 MINNESOTA A pro-medicare for all regis- tered nurse could be Minnesota's next governor. State Rep. Erin Murphy, RN, won the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's (DFL) endorsement at the June state convention. The DFL is Minnesota's equiva- lent to other states' Democratic parties and Murphy's endorsement represents a huge accomplishment by Minnesota nurses and progressive activists. Minnesota Nurses Association members were the first to endorse Murphy, who is a former MNA executive director, last Septem- ber. Murphy won the endorsement by passing a nurse screening committee and then a vote of the elected MNA Board of Directors. Sever- al other unions endorsed her later. National Nurses United also endorsed Murphy in July. Nurses have been a driving force in the campaign ever since. They spent months working on behalf of Murphy, calling other nurses, urging them to attend their local caucuses and become state delegates to support Murphy. After the winter and spring caucuses, they called delegates to the state convention, explaining why Murphy is the best choice for governor. At the state convention, enthusiastic nurs- es and other Murphy supporters worked the convention floor, persuading fellow delegates to choose Murphy based on her positions and history of working on health care issues. Murphy is a strong advocate of Medicare for All, and has made passage of such a program a central piece of her platform. "Erin Murphy isn't just a fellow nurse," said MNA President Mary C. Turner, RN in a press release issued after Murphy was endorsed. "Erin Murphy is the candidate who embodies nurses' values of advocating for patients and working tirelessly to improve the situation of others. Nurses know that Erin Murphy is the healthcare candidate. She has the solution to simplifying health care with fair, universal, single-payer health care reform." Many political insiders credit the early endorsement and hard work of MNA nurses with changing the direction of the race and helping secure the endorsement for Murphy. Murphy and her running mate for lieu- tenant governor, nurse-endorsed state Rep. Erin Maye Quade, will face three other candidates in the Aug. 14 primary. Nurses are energized and are excited to continue their values-based campaign for Murphy, now focusing on the primary. They are calling members, attending events, and planning activities to get out the vote for Erin Murphy in the primary. Murphy was an operating room nurse before joining the staff of MNA. She was promoted to MNA executive director and left that position to run for the Legislature in 2006. "Our current health care system is broken, benefitting the industry and monied interests. They are powerful, but the people are more powerful," said Murphy in a press release announcing her endorsement by NNU. "Now is our time. When we stand up for young people, farmers, nurses, teachers, refugees and immigrants, and our elders, we can make true progress. Minnesota has the ability to guarantee that no one dies or goes bankrupt from lack of care. We can show the country what it looks like to lead and put the well-being of people first." —Barbara Brady Nurse earns Democratic endorsement for Minnesota governor the escalating out-of-pocket costs put lives, health, and security in jeopardy," Burger said. In addition, the new findings show that nonprofit hospitals reported just under $3.9 billion in "bad debt" from 2011 to 2016. Bad debt is unpaid charges for patient care the hospital wanted, but failed, to collect—as opposed to charity care for which it does not expect payment. Hospitals arbitrarily classi- fy what is bad debt based on patient income. Hospitals could, nurses say, increase their charity care provision by not demanding pay - ment for what are typically inflated hospital bills. Instead, most aggressively pursue payment from patients, a high percentage of whom are unable to pay the high cost, and whose "bad debt" are then often sold by the hospital to collection agencies that typically hound people for payment, file court charges if unable to collect, and burden those who can't pay with negative credit ratings. CNA's 2012 study followed a report by the California state auditor expressing simi- lar concerns and a state legislative public hearing at which an auditor's office official decried lax standards by the state in what is formally required of nonprofit hospitals. Subsequent legislation sponsored by CNA in 2013 and 2014 to establish these standards was defeated after intensive lobbying by the hospital industry. "It's long past time for the state legisla- ture to finally establish mandatory, mini- mum levels of charity care all hospitals must meet to maintain eligibility for nonprofit status, including to qualify for tax-exempt bonds, and to clearly define what constitutes charity care as CNA has long advocated," Burger said. —Staff report

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