National Nurses United

NewsBriefs 12/12/06 12:24 PM Page 8 NewsBriefs Letter from a Texas RN by judy lerma, rn 'm sure you already know that the U.S. healthcare system is in crisis. But here are some details you may not know: The seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. is having no insurance. At any given time, 50 to 80 million Americans are without health insurance, while another 50 million are inadequately covered and vulnerable. There are 11.2 million children in the U.S. without any healthcare coverage at all, and a greater percentage of babies die within their first year of life in the U.S. than in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and 25 other countries. What about Texas? Our state leads the nation in our rate of uninsured people, with approximately 5.4 million. Seventy percent of uninsured adult Texans are employed. While 73 percent of all Texas businesses are considered small (fewer than 50 employees), only 37 percent of those small businesses offer health insurance. Meanwhile, Texas has the dubious distinction of having the city with the highest percentage of uninsured in the nation, the city of Laredo at 36 percent, while the state average is 25 percent. Not only have studies shown that our nation offers us poorer-quality care, but it costs us more. The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other industrialized nation, $2.16 trillion in 2006, yet the quality of our healthcare ranks 37 th in the world. Consumers in England spend about $2,800 annually for healthcare, while we average $6,000 per year for far less coverage. Since 2000, U.S. healthcare costs have risen 87 percent, and insurance rates have risen 73 percent. Why, you may ask, does our nation with its vast wealth, its cutting-edge technology, and its tremendous network of research institutions lag behind the rest of the developed world? Could it have something to do with the way our money is spent? Witness this: In 2005 United Healthcare Group, the largest U.S. healthcare insurer, paid its CEO $122.7 million, making him the third highestpaid CEO in the country. That amount of money could have insured 34,000 people for a year at U.S. rates! Heard enough? Mad enough? Want to do something about it? Well, you can. Michigan I 8 REGISTERED NURSE Democratic Congressman John Conyers has introduced legislation, H.R. 676, that addresses the crisis in U.S. healthcare. Its goal is to improve and expand Medicare to cover all residents of the U.S. It has been endorsed by 201 labor organizations across the nation and 78 members of the U.S. Congress. Contact your congressional representative and ask if he or she has endorsed it and if not, why not? There is also a national organization called Healthcare-NOW which is dedicated to obtaining quality, affordable healthcare for everybody in the U.S. They call it the single-payer system. They have set out to hold citizen congressional hearings throughout the country to address the healthcare issues and concerns of the American people. On Oct. 19, San Antonio became the first Texas city to host such a hearing. They hope to pass a universal healthcare bill during the 20092010 legislative session. That may sound like a long time from now, but there's a lot that needs to be done and they need our help. What can you do to help? Go to their website www.healthcare-now.org or call them at 1-800-453-1305 to learn more about the solution to the U.S. national healthcare crisis. Get involved with Healthcare-NOW and learn all you can about H.R. 676. Tell everyone you know about what you learn. Invite a speaker to the community groups—your church, your neighborhood association—in which you participate. Circulate a petition. Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper, or join a letter writing group to contact legislators. Get your city council to endorse the singlepayer system. Start by contacting your own councilmember. Quiz candidates about their position on universal healthcare, and vote for candidates who support it. Tell your congressional representative you want action on the Conyers bill. Health insurers and pharmaceutical companies make unfathomable profits from the U.S. healthcare system as it currently operates. They are not on our side. Not only do they not want change, but they will fight with all their resources to prevent it. All we have is ourselves, but when united for a cause, we the people have unstoppable might. We can do this. W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G WRAP-UP REPORT ALAMEDA HOSPITAL alameda hospital nurses approved a new contract covering some 210 RNs in September that secures 19 percent raises over three years, safe all-RN staffing ratios, and other patient care protections. These include: increased contributions by the hospital to RNs' pension plan; a "safe lift" policy to ensure that trained and equipped staff will move patients and prevent injuries among RNs; and assurance that new technology will not supplant RN professional clinical judgment—among other gains. Inclusion of ratio, safe lift, and technology language are now considered to be standard goals for CNA/NNOC contracts. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA university of california nurses approved in October a contract reopener covering some 9,000 RNs that settled remaining questions of compensation and health benefits for current employees and retirees. UC RNs will receive raises of between five and nine percent for the contract's second year and will, for the first time, get paid for missed breaks. Health benefits for current and retiree RNs were maintained and extended through June 30, 2007, the end of the contract. Bargaining for a new, comprehensive contract will start in April 2007. CITRUS VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER a first-ever contract negotiated in record time and covering 750 RNs at Citrus Valley Medical Center was ratified in early November. Nurses are applauding the agreement, which provides major patient care protections such as safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios and 25 percent across-the-board pay raises over three years, with even greater compensation for the most experienced RNs. Citrus RNs will now also have a Professional Practice Committee and technology language. "This is the best thing that happened to us employees in my 44 years of service at Citrus Valley," concluded Tom Salminen, RN. —staff report NOVEMBER 2006

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