National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_NN FNL 2/26/10 5:48 PM Page 4 NEWS BRIEFS Healthcare Reform: What Went Wrong A n intense year of political effort and legislative work has so far failed to produce the sweeping reform of the broken U.S. healthcare system that many envisioned would happen with the election of an energized, reform-minded Democratic leadership. Congress may either pass President Obama's newest version of a merged House and Senate reform bill or act on parts of the system's problems with shorter, less intricate bills. Either way, the result is unlikely to mean dramatic change for the average working American. The January 19, 2010, election of Republican Sen. Scott Brown from Massachusetts to replace the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy was a blow to the Democratic super-majority in the Senate and the culmination of many disappointments in the overall effort to reform healthcare during President Barack Obama's first term. As the final scenes unfold, efforts to find bipartisan middle ground are eroding even modest reform possibilities. Many health reform supporters believe if a bill does not pass that it may take another generation for a major overhaul to be considered again on the national level. Some are still pushing for tighter controls on for-profit insurance companies— one proposal would not allow insurance to be 4 N AT I O N A L N U R S E denied due to pre-existing conditions if the policy applicant was 19 years old or younger. Some want to keep working to close the Medicare Part D drug donut-hole for seniors. Still others want just to stop any potential taxation of healthcare benefits. Some labor leaders cut a deal with the White House on the excise tax, but the deal was widely criticized by both those who want the excise tax killed and those who think backroom deals should not be the method of amending national legislation. How did we get from such a place of potential to such a place of uncertainty? And how will our nurses weigh in? In January 2009, registered nurses were among those 2 million hope-filled Americans who lined the National Mall and the inaugural parade route and later danced at elegant balls all across the city. A new age of hope for the nation and for healthcare reform was dawning, and nurses stood ready to be a part of crafting a healthcare system that did more to help patients and less to enrich for-profit health insurance giants. As the 111th Congress got underway, with its heavily Democratic majority, passing some meaningful health reform seemed more likely than it had been in the past 15 years. Finally, enough time had elapsed since the Clinton era health reform debacle to allow a new 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 administration and a new Congress to make its own mark on the issue. And nurses also knew that too much time had passed and the nation's healthcare system was deeper in crisis, with costs exploding for families and health outcomes losing ground when compared to other nations. But as the health reform debate began, there was something missing. There was no discussion of extending a single-payer, Medicare for all program to every person, the reform favored by the RNs of NNU. Aside from the internet listing of 90-plus co-sponsors of HR 676, The National Health Care Act—Rep. John Conyers and Rep. Dennis Kucinich's single-payer bill—it was hard to tell that more than 20 percent of this Congress already professed a legislative preference for a complete overhaul of the system and implementation of single-payer. In fact, we heard much more discussion about the possibilities of a public "option" for an alternative to private insurance. From winter to spring, various interest groups—from labor organizations like California Nurses the AFL-CIO to Association/National disease-related advoNurses Organizing cacy groups—met Committee board with Congressional member DeAnn members and staff in McEwen is arrested both houses to dicker at a May 2009 about a wide variety protest for singleof fine detail. But payer healthcare single-payer advoin Washington, D.C. cates often found their only way to be heard came in protest or in hearings where their voices were not seen as representative of any majority position. Three legislators stood out in their support of single-payer. Dennis Kucinich, D-OH, was successful in offering a state single-payer amendment in the House Education and Labor Committee. The Kucinich amendment would have offered states that passed single-payer bills waivers of federal regulations that have in the past blocked such state reforms. It passed in Committee and was attached to the final House reform bill, HR 3200, until just days before its passage by a slim margin. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, also offered a "substitute" amendment that would have replaced much of the House reform bill with the text of the single-payer HR 676. Weiner was promised a debate and vote on his amendment but ended up withdrawing it when the House leadership hoped to avoid JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2010

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