National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Jan 2011 2/24/11 10:18 PM Page 6 NEWS BRIEFS PENNSYLVANIA M ore than 400 registered nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital staged a one-day strike on Dec. 23 to show their employer, the giant Tennesseebased for-profit hospital chain Community Health Systems, that they refused to tolerate the current state of contract negotiations. Eighteen months after CHS purchased Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, nurses at the community hospital in northeastern ratios, risking patient safety and outcomes for its bottom line. In addition, CHS wants to put language into the contract which would allow it to unilaterally make changes to benefits and policies, thus nullifying the contract. These unacceptable proposals have been delivered to the Wilkes-Barre nurses time and again via a federal mediator, because CHS representatives—when they actually bothered showing up to bargaining sessions—would almost never enter the room during negotiations. "We are frustrated and angry at the way Wilkes-Barre Nurses Strike for Patients, Respect Pennsylvania are still without a contract. CHS has proposed unaffordable healthcare, which is already causing financial hardships for non-union employees at the hospital, but the nurses have resisted. The company has refused to discuss nurse-to-patient that Community Health Systems has been treating us on the job and at the bargaining table," said Fran Prusinski, a critical care nurse and member of the nurses' bargaining committee. "Despite the record profits that they extract from our community to send to Tennessee, they treat us with disrespect and a 'take it or leave it' attitude." That disrespect for the nurses, the patients, and the community forced the Wyoming Valley Nurses Association/PASNAP to stage the one-day strike right before Christmas. Nurses at Watsonville Community Hospital in California, which is also owned by CHS, staged a strike over similar issues last October. In the early morning hours of Dec. 23, How Insurance Companies Will Make Even More Money Off Medicaid T he competition is stiff this season for the mantel of Latest Profit Craze in America's hypercommercial world of healthcare. Big Pharma reported yet another year of big profits in retail sales, with meds now accounting for $1 of every $10 spent on healthcare. Running a health trade group likely brings you seven figures with nine of 12 healthcare association CEOs making $1 million or more, according to National Nurses United. But the grand prize for profiteering goes to the perennial favorite: the insurance industry, for bilking billions out of Medicaid. It may be a government-funded program for the poor, but there's a king's ransom in running Medicaid, and the ultimate beneficiaries are insurance companies, their stockholders, and top officers. Insurers are crowing over the $40 billion treasure trove 6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E in new Medicaid revenue expected over the next three years—that's on top of the $56.6 billion insurers are already pulling down for the administration of poverty healthcare programs. And there's lots more to come. "The Medicaid space is a significant longterm growth opportunity for us," insurer UnitedHealth Group told the Wall Street Journal at the end of 2010. The next big bounty expected is approximately $38 billion, according to Citigroup Research, due in that magical year of 2014, when the new healthcare law kicks in, triggering an anticipated 16 million new Medicaid enrollees. Except for those 16 million needy patients, no one else is waiting until 2014. Deals are being cut between government overseers and insurance execs at this very moment, as the whirl of revolving doors at corporate healthcare headquarters gains momentum. 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 About three-quarters of Medicaid is run by privately managed plans—mostly insurance companies—and states are handing out those contracts, which often run in fiveyear increments, with a frenzy. "States want to get vendors lined up now to avoid disruption in 2014," explained Avery Johnson of the Wall Street Journal. No doubt. "Avoiding disruption" is what gets you a "buy" recommendation over at Citigroup Research. Healthcare spending totaled 17.6 percent of US GDP in 2009, or a record $2.5 trillion. Of those trillions, Medicaid—which is linked to poverty rates and reflects a not-sosubtle indication of high levels of citizen poverty—accounted for 15 percent of all health spending. Officially, the U.S. poverty rate is 14.3 percent, but poverty organizations insist the number is higher. Economic Policy Institute (Continued on page 8) JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2011

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