Massachusett Nurse :: November/December 2008
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nurseThe Newsletter of the Massachusetts Nurses Association n Vol. 79 No. 9 Success! MNA helps defeat Question 1 November/December 2008 For the latest news: massnurses.org Nurses’ Guide to Single Payer Health Care Massachusetts’ brand of healthcare reform is no model for national single payer nurse By Sandy Eaton, RN entire staff was laid off, leaving any progress on ISSN 0163-0784: USPS 326-050 Massachusetts has the most expensive health quality or cost control extraordinarily unlikely. President: Beth Piknick, ‘07–‘09 care in the world, with an ongoing crisis of That means that fully half of the promise of Vice President: Donna Kelly-Williams, ‘08–‘10 access, affordability and quality. Yet there Chapter 58 is, for the foreseeable future, dead in Secretary: Rosemary O'Brien, ‘07–‘09 are many people right now who are trying to the water. As a result, health care will continue Treasurer: Ann Marie McDonagh, ‘08–‘10 make it the national model to achieve universal to bankrupt individuals and strain the bud- Directors, Labor: health care. At the same time, the campaign to gets of most employers, forcing more and more Region 1: Sandra Hottin, ‘08–‘10; Patty Healey, ‘07–‘09 achieve Medicare for All, rooted in sections of costs onto the workers lucky enough to have Region 2: Ellen Smith, ‘08–‘10; Pat Mayo, ‘07–‘09 the labor movement, continues to grow. This decent health insurance in the first place. Region 3: Stephanie Stevens, ‘08–‘10; Judy Rose, ‘07–‘09 year’s presidential election raises the stakes for If Massachusetts provides a model, it’s Region 4: Vacant, ‘08-‘10; Fran O'Connell, ‘07–‘09 all of us. becoming an increasingly troubled one. Region 5: Ginny Ryan, ‘08–‘10; Barbara Norton, ‘07–‘09 Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, hailed as a A single payer system remains a superior Directors (At-Large/Labor): bipartisan victory of shared responsibility by alternative. The most promising campaign Karen Coughlin, ‘07–‘09; Karen Higgins, ‘07–‘09; Richard government, business and the individual, was afoot right now is that associated with Lambos, ‘07–‘09; Kathie Logan, ‘07–‘09; Diane Michael, signed into law in Boston’s historic Faneuil “Healthcare Now!” and Rep. John Conyers in ‘08–‘10; Marie Ritacco, ‘08–‘10; Hall on April 12 of that year to loud applause. support of H.R.676, the bill to strengthen and Directors (At-Large/General): While Chapter 58 has indeed made some posi- improve Medicare and extend it to everyone. Fabiano Bueno, ‘08–‘10; Donna Dudik, ‘08–‘10; Sandy tive progress, its status as an example of real At last count, H.R.676, with 90 co-sponsors Eaton, ‘07–‘09; Ellen Farley, ‘07–‘09; Gary Kellenberger, reform in health care is in grave jeopardy. in Congress, has been endorsed by 438 union ‘08–‘10; Tina Russell, ‘07–‘09; Barbara Tiller, ‘08–‘10 Access has expanded significantly for some, organizations in 48 states. Labor Program Member: with an increase in Medicaid enrollment for Beth Gray-Nix, ‘07–‘09 some of the poorest in the community. This is H.R.676, the “new expanded Executive Director: Julie Pinkham the area where Chapter 58 has clearly been the Medicare” bill now in sub- Managing Editor: David Schildmeier most successful. However, serious gaps remain. Editor: Jen Johnson Of particular concern is access for undocu- committee in the House of Production Manager: Erin M. Servaes mented workers and their families, who have Representatives creates a new and Photographer: Amy Francis depended on the free-care pool through com- far more functional “single payer” Mission Statement: The Massachusetts Nurse will inform, munity health centers and safety-net hospitals. method of paying for medical educate and meet member needs by providing timely infor- With the requirement that everyone get cover- mation on nursing and health care issues facing the nurse in age, some worry that eventually there will be services while leaving the medical the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Through the editorial pressure to deny free care to those who would system itself completely alone and voice of the newsletter, MNA seeks to recognize the diver- be deemed eligible for low-income subsidized intact. sity of its membership and celebrate the contributions that programs if their papers were in order. Further- members make to the nursing profession on the state, local more, about 60,000 people have been granted In July came the announcement that Sen. Ted and national levels. waivers because they are unable to afford even Kennedy would be leading a bipartisan initia- Published 10 times annually, in January, February, March, publicly subsidized plans. While these people tive to achieve “universal health care” quickly, April, May, June, July/August, September, October and won’t be penalized for their lack of insurance, in the first days of a new administration. And November/December by the Massachusetts Nurses Asso- the fundamental problem remains—they lack then came “Health Care for America Now!” ciation, 340 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021. access to insurance due to high costs. Fur- a new 80-member coalition that includes the Subscription price: $20 per year thermore, there is no doubt that Chapter 58 AFL-CIO, SEIU and AFSCME. These may be Foreign: $25 per year requires an incredibly complex bureaucracy, promising developments, but it is important to Single copy: $3.00 which makes individuals extremely vulnerable remember that universal health care is impos- Periodical postage paid at Canton, MA and additional mail- to falling through the cracks. sible so long as the albatross of commercial ing offices. On the question of affordability and qual- health insurance weighs us down. Deadline: Copy submitted for publication consideration ity improvement, the situation is even more During the Great Depression FDR was must be received at MNA headquarters by the first day of the troubling. The premise of Chapter 58 was that elected with a mandate for change, but the month prior to the month of publication. All submissions are more money would be pumped into the system specifics were quite vague and the direction subject to editing and none will be returned. and, in exchange, real progress would be made of the new administration was nebulous. Like Postmaster: Send address corrections to Massachusetts on quality improvement and cost control. The today, an upsurge of grassroots action was Nurse, Massachusetts Nurses Association, 340 Turnpike Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost needed to set a progressive agenda. This may Street, Canton, MA 02021. Council, the agency charged with implement- well prove to be just as fluid a moment in his- ing changes to improve quality and control tory, with the continued surge in support for www.massnurses.org cost, has made little progress thus far on either HR676 that will set the healthcare agenda for measure. And in late October the situation got the next administration. n even worse. The governor was forced by the Abridged version of article published in financial crisis facing the state to almost com- August 2008 issue of Labor Notes. Reprinted pletely cut the agency’s budget. Virtually the with permission. 2 November/December 2008 Massachusetts Nurse President’s Column MNA president’s convention address The following are highlights from MNA Presi- pass the safe staff- ing with the issue. dent Beth Piknick’s address to the membership at ing bill, there is no So what do we do? Last year, I spoke to you this year’s annual convention in Burlington. doubt that we have about the need for unity as an organization. As I stand before today, I do so with great made this issue one For our bargaining units to utilize all the pride, yet also with a sense of urgency, as I real- of the state’s most resources available to them at the MNA and ize how much we have accomplished in the last recognizable topics to stand up and fight for what we know is right. year, yet also knowing how much farther we in health care. In the coming year, we will need to step up need to go as an organization in our struggle Yes, we are all those efforts. to stand up for the greatest profession in the disappointed by More than ever, we need to stand together— world. the final outcome as bargaining units, as regions, as an entire This speech is my opportunity to reflect on and the last minute organization—to combat the punitive forces our accomplishments and to project our chal- maneuvering to Beth Piknick aligned against us. We must step up our efforts lenges for the coming year. For me this will be prevent final vic- to educate, motivate and mobilize our rank- the final year of my presidency, and there is tory, but you need to know that the powers and-file membership to unite in the fight for so much I still want to see completed before that be in the industry and on Beacon Hill were the integrity of our profession. I step down. well aware that they were dealing with a real This is the challenge the Board has embraced Looking back on the past year, we can take force to be reckoned with in the MNA. over the last several years, in building an infra- pride in the fact that our bargaining units In surveying the MNA landscape over the structure of staff and resources to provide our have continued to grow in strength and power, last three years of my presidency, I take great members with the tools they need to be a force achieving impressive settlements, not only for pride in knowing that we have indeed achieved for change in their hospitals and in their com- what they achieved for our nurses, but in many much of what we set out to do with our five-year munities.