National Nurses United

NewsBriefs.2:Sept 9/30/08 1:38 PM Page 9 STEVE O'DONNELL Pennsylvania's 18th District Steve O'Donnell is a veteran and a businessperson with a lifetime of service to people struggling with mental and other disabilities. These experiences have forged in him a passionate support for single-payer healthcare, such as HR 676, and the drive to take on an incumbent Republican Congressman in a swing district. Learn more at www.electodonnell.com/ or donate at www.actblue.com/contribute/entity/18736 ERIC MASSA New York's 29th District Eric Massa's second race for the 29th District is one of this year's top targets for Democrats nationally. Like so many others, Massa's healthcare activism was inspired by his personal story: He is a cancer survivor who spent the last part of his military career traveling the country as a cancer outreach advocate and talking to hundreds of people about their experiences, and his. He is committed to passing HR 676 so that others will receive the same great healthcare that he enjoys through the military's single-payer system. Learn more at www.massaforcongress.com/ index.asp or donate at www.actblue.com/page/ massa2008 TOM UDALL New Mexico Senate position Tom Udall has been a member of the HR 676 Congressional Caucus during his time in the House of Representatives, and he will carry his fight forward to the Senate. Udall was formerly attorney general of New Mexico, where he secured his legacy by protecting consumers against fraud and fighting for his state's most vulnerable citizens. His work to pass HR 676 is part of that fight, and part of his commitment to protect patients against deceptive and heartless insurance corporations. Learn more at www.tomudall.com/ or donate at www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18608 —staff report SEPTEMBER 2008 Words of Warning What the media is saying about McCain's plans for healthcare and retirement security t's not just registered nurses and labor groups who are wary of John McCain's proposals on healthcare and retirement security. Respected news outlets are skeptical as well. The McCain plan, employers say, would "encourage young and healthy workers to forgo company coverage, purchasing insurance on their own rather than paying income taxes on the benefit. That would leave employers with only the costly sick workers to insure. And that, they said, could eventually lead to the death of company-provided health plans." —Dallas Morning News, Aug. 16, 2008 "The McCain plan could consequently trigger a move from comprehensive insurance toward thinner coverage policies that shift costs onto sicker patients. Moreover, some employers, particularly smaller businesses, might stop offering insurance if the tax benefits of employer-sponsored insurance were eliminated. As a result, some currently insured workers could lose coverage." —New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 21, 2008 "It will certainly do nothing for families with members who have pre-existing conditions or children with special needs – because it makes no provision to regulate the insurers, forcing them to cover all comers at 'community' rates that don't discriminate against the people who need health insurance most." —Joe Klein, Time Magazine, Sept. 11, 2008 "This entire McCain health insurance transformation is right out of the right-wing Republicans' ideological playbook: fewer regulations; let the market decide; and send unsophisticated consumers into the crucible alone. You would think that with some of the most venerable houses on Wall Street crumbling like sand castles right before our eyes, we'd be a little wary about spreading this toxic formula even further into the health care system." —Bob Herbert, New York Times, Sept. 16, 2008 His plan "leaves McCain open to criticism that he is not doing enough for the poor and sick who could face steep premiums and limited choices as they search for an insurance company willing to cover them... it would do little to help people already struggling with health care costs." —Washington Post, April 30, 2008 "For a typical family that moves from group to individual coverage, therefore, the move to non-group insurance will raise premiums for an identical policy by more than $2,000 per year. Shifting people into the non-group market would not save money for most Americans. Rather, it would lead to increased spending on administrative costs and a decrease in the portion of health spending that actually goes to providing care." —Health Affairs, Sept. 16, 2008 "People guaranteed basic benefits today would find those benefits eliminated under the McCain plan. People in most states would lose access to procedural protections, such as requirements that disputed decisions by managed-care plans be subject to external review. People also would lose access to many benefit protections. For example, 47 states now require mental health parity, 49 states require coverage of breast cancer reconstructive surgery, and 29 require coverage of cervical cancer screening. All of these requirements – as well as regulations in several states that limit the rates that can be charged to higher-cost consumers and that limit who can be excluded from a health plan—would be eliminated under the McCain plan. Without legal requirements in place, plans would no longer offer these benefits at all in many markets, even if many consumers want them." —Health Affairs, Sept. 16, 2008 "[McCain's] called the present financing of Social Security—which relies on contributions from present workers to pay for present retirees—'a disgrace,' even though it's the way the program has always run. McCain has also long supported efforts to privatize Social Security, an initiative that would erode the basic income guarantee that Social Security provides and result in reduced benefits." —Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic, Sept. 24, 2008 "Asked how he would save Social Security, protect workers' pensions, and at the same time help Americans save, McCain audibly sighed and said, 'It's a very tough problem'." —Associated Press, Sept. 8, 2008 I W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G REGISTERED NURSE 9

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