Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447773
A U G U S T 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E 9 it took nearly a decade to enact minimum safe RN- to-patient ratios in Califor- nia, and then we had to fight for another five to defend them against repeated polit- ical efforts, spurred by the hospital industry, to erode and reverse them. Legislative proposals to secure basic protec- tions for patients harmed by HMO abuses faced recurring hurdles from the powerful HMO and insurance lobbies, and many crucial elements of a patient's bill of rights remain unfinished. Bills that would require health plans to pro- vide maternity and prenatal care, help commu- nities deal with the trauma of hospital closures, and make affordable prescription drugs avail- able are vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg- ger, as healthcare industry giants hand over millions in campaign contributions to him. There is a common thematic here, the hijacking of our political system by wealthy corporate interests that threaten the health and safety of millions. There's a reason why the reforms we so desperately need never seem to see the light of day. The headlines of another lobbyist being marched away in handcuffs or another politician wallowing in a corruption scandal only tell a small part of the story. Legal corruption, legalized bribery, is sanctioned every day, and rewarded with tax breaks, legislation or vetoes of bills, and friendly regulation. At a stunning cost. Political reform is not just an abstract notion. It is a healthcare crisis that somehow gets worse every day, global warming, rising economic inequality, and a government that just one year ago sat by as people in New Orleans were stranded on rooftops for days waiting for help that, for some, never came. In California, our children suffer the worst rates of chronic asthma in the nation, breathing America's most polluted air, while lobbyists for polluters "persuade" state politicians to roll back clean air laws. Seven million Californians are without any health insurance, while giant commercial healthcare companies spend millions getting politicians to block anything that puts patient welfare before their profit margins. California staggers along at 44th in spend- ing on education, rubbing elbows with Missis- sippi, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana. The only difference is that California has the highest per capita income in the country. We pay the highest electric rates in the nation. The highest gas pump prices. While our legislators reward corporate giants with endless tax breaks and regulators suspend any consumer protection measure at the first whimper from big business lobbyists. Every year, political corruption costs every hard-working Californian thousands of dollars in shoddy products, rigged mar- kets, inflated prices, and we also pay with our health, our families, and our future. And, there's another cost as well. While tens of millions are spent by the wealthiest interests to pressure politicians and control elections, voters across the political spec- trum feel shut out and abandoned. In June's state primary election, barely one-third of California's registered voters and less than one-fourth of those eligible to vote cast ballots. You'd have to go back more than 80 years to match that dismal showing. It's about time to say enough is enough. Proposition 89 on California's November ballot is a good place to start. A s yo u m i g h t ex p e c t , P ro p o s i t i o n 8 9 h o r r i f i e s t h e ava t a r s o f t h e s t a t u s q u o, those who buy our politics and elections today. A campaign against Proposition 89 is being led by the Chamber of Commerce, the front group for corporate California, with funding from big oil, HMOs, utility giants, and other corporate interests. The insurance industry alone has already put in hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight us to protect their unwarranted influ- ence over public policy. Here's an example of how that works, as revealed in a scathing arti- cle earlier this year by the Los Angeles Times. Following devastating Southern California wildfires, a series of bills were introduced ear- lier this year to help consumers. The bills would have made it harder for insurers to can- cel insurance or raise rates, reduced paper- work homeowners needed to collect claims, and required insurers to provide consumers with more information about policy choices. But the bills, strenuously opposed by the insurance industry, died an unceremonious death in the Assembly Insurance Committee. Insurance industry donations made up one- fifth of the campaign coffers of committee members, Democrat and Republican, in 2003- 2004. And that doesn't include the other gifts, including hotel rooms, expensive meals, tick- ets to sports events, and other handouts. The insurers are hardly alone. Big oil, tobacco, real estate interests, and, of course, the drug companies, HMOs, and hospital and nursing home chains profit every day from public policy at our expense. The present system works well for them, it just doesn't work for the rest of us. With Proposition 89, we're taking a stand in California. We can crack down on the cor- ruption and curb the power of the biggest corporate interests in Sacramento, or we can continue the present path to a government of, by, and for the elite few. Ro s e An n D e Mo ro i s e xe c u t i v e d i re c t o r o f CNA/NNOC. Rose Ann DeMoro Executive Director, CNA/NNOC Political corruption exacts real costs on our lives, and Prop. 89 reform can bring real benefits It's Not Just Theory "There is a common thematic here, the hijacking of our political system by wealthy corporate interests that threaten the health and safety of millions. There's a reason why the reforms we so desperately need never seem to see the light of day."