Issues (Page 2)

Blog posts categorized as Issues will pull into the Issues & Advocacy > Issues page.

On:
In: Action, Elections, Governor, Healthcare, Home, Hospitals, Issues, Politics

 

By Jackie O’Shea

MNA Political Organizer

Elections are the root of our democracy, and saying 2018 is going to be a hectic year politically is an understatement. In Minnesota, there are open races for Governor and Lieutenant Governor; statewide races for Attorney General, Auditor, and Secretary of State and a US Senator; eight U.S. Congressional races, and 134 seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives all up for re-election this year. Plus, other important local races, including city council seats, school board commissioners, and county elected positions are up for grabs.

 

Electing nurse champions is the important first step towards the main goal of our political organizing, which is passing legislation.
… Read more about: Holding Our Democracy Accountable  »

big pharma

On:
In: Drug Prices, Health Care Reform, Home, Issues, Single Payer

By Tara Fugate

MNA Strategic Researcher

It’s no secret that the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing in the United States. What is less obvious are the reasons driving these increases. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), “U.S. health care spending increased 4.3 percent to reach $3.3 trillion, or $10,348 per person in 2016”[1]. Hospital spending accounts for 32 percent of costs while spending on prescription drugs accounts for 10 percent. Although many factors contribute to constant increases in cost of care, pharmaceutical and medical waste are culprits that could be easily addressed, yet remain a significant problem for many patients, nursing homes, and hospitals. 
… Read more about: Medical Waste and the Rising Cost of Healthcare  »

CentraCare

On:
In: CentraCare, Essentia, Fairview, Healthcare, HMO, Home, Hospitals, Insurance, Issues

By Tara Fugate

MNA Strategic Researcher

Hospital and health system consolidation is a rapidly expanding trend across the country, and Minnesota is no exception. Many large and mid-sized health systems have been looking to privatize the state’s dwindling number of public hospitals, combine smaller non-profit systems, and also incorporate physicians’ groups and outpatient services into hospital systems. The driving arguments to lobby for these mergers are that larger entities can provide more integrated care and have the ability to make bigger financial investments to improve the quality of care via new tools, such as electronic health records systems. Many studies, however, have shown that price, cost and quality of care are not improved by mergers (see below for links).
… Read more about: Why Minnesotans Should Pay Attention to Hospital Consolidation  »

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Home, Issues, Press Releases

Contact:  Buddy Robinson
(218) 727-0207
buddy@citizensfed.org

Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Healthcare Advocates Call for HMO Accountability
HMOs and state contracts need to be audited as they stand to pocket $6 billion

ST. PAUL – May 4, 2017 – Healthcare advocates and nurses are calling for accountability of the state’s Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), including their state contracts assets worth billions of dollars. The Minnesota Legislature has deregulated HMOs to become for-profit entities, which would allow them to convert $6 billion in public assets to shareholders.

“There are significant indications of fraudulent overpayments – wasting both state and federal taxpayer funds,” said Buddy Robinson of the Greater Minnesota Health Care Coalition.
… Read more about: Media Advisory  »

On:
In: Health Care Reform, Healthcare, Home, Issues, Legislative Policy, Single Payer

By Charlotte Zabawa RN

Retired Nurse and MNA Member

I am Charlotte Zabawa, and I am a retired registered nurse and a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association and a member of the SCVWA Indivisible. For many years, I’ve devoted my volunteer time to moving us closer to a humane healthcare system that cares for everyone when they need it, not just when they can afford it. I spent most of my career as a post-partum nurse, and I can tell you how desperately we need to fix our broken healthcare system.
… Read more about: The Time for Humane Healthcare for All is Now  »

On:
In: Home, Issues, Legislative Policy, Politics

by Jon Tollefson

MNA Government Affairs Specialist

 

What a strange weekend! Most of it spent waiting for Senate DFLers and House Republicans to announce any agreements at all, whether on transportation, taxes, bonding, or the supplemental budget. At least the weather was nice, and the new Senate Office Building has comfortable hearing rooms and a lovely terrace overlooking the Capitol.

 

As often happens at the end of session, the last day was a frantic mix of private negotiations, quick floor sessions – and a lot of waiting around.

 

The House and Senate, as unfortunately has become usual, waited until the very last possible hour to finalize their agreements

 

Even then, they didn’t actually agree.
… Read more about: The Minnesota Mess  »

On:
In: Action, Home, Hospitals, Issues, Legislative Policy, Nurses, Politics

By Jon Tollefson

MNA Governmental Affairs Specialist

The 2016 Legislative Session has been underway for a little over one month now, and we are already close to the final stage: budget negotiations. With one of the shortest sessions in many years, the House and Senate have been moving quickly to finish work from last year on transportation and taxes, adjust government spending for this two-year period, and put together a bonding bill for major projects around the state.

 

When it comes to healthcare issues, the two political parties are putting forward two very different visions, and the Minnesota Nurses Association has something to say about it.
… Read more about: One Capitol, Two Views on How to Treat Patients  »

On:
In: Continuing Education, Home, Issues, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nursing Education, Uncategorized

By Megan Gavin

MNA Education Specialist

Why you should use some of your precious free time to attend an MNA education session

In the 1960s it was common practice for hospitals to charge nurses for breaking hospital property, which included glass vials of medication. Frustrated by low pay and practices such as this, a group of nurses successfully organized their co-workers to challenge this policy. Today the breakage clause, which states “it is not the policy of the hospital to charge nurses for breakage,” is one of the oldest sections in MNA contracts.

 

MNA has more than hundred years of history to learn from, ideas to copy, and people to emulate.
… Read more about: Why you should use some of your precious free time to attend an MNA education session  »

On:
In: Home, Issues

Nurse Talking To PatientBy Rose Roach, MNA Executive DirectorRose photo

I was honored to serve on Governor Dayton’s Health Care Financing Task Force, which completed its work on January 15, 2016 with a package of recommendations to be forwarded to the Governor and the Legislature. On behalf of the nurses I represented on that task force, I proudly voted yes for the overall set of recommendations which included important steps in providing better access and in some instances, more affordable, healthcare options for patients including: extending MinnesotaCare to cover people up to 275% of Federal Poverty Level; repealing the sunsetting of the provider tax that is needed to continue MinnesotaCare; covering adult immigrants and their children, regardless of immigration status, up to 200% of the Federal Poverty level; and funding an economic study to determine the long-term financing for a healthcare system that puts people over profits.
… Read more about: With Healthcare, We’re Patients, Not Consumers  »

On:
In: Elections, Home, Issues

joekatieBy MNA member Joe Howard, RN, Essentia Health-Duluth

I took my nine-year-old daughter Katie to Senator Bernie Sanders’ rally in Duluth on January 26. What an experience!

As a nurse, I like Sanders’ platform that addresses the blatant inequalities that exist in our country. As a father, I know he cares about a brighter future for my daughters.

Listening to the speech with my daughter opened my eyes to how far we have drifted to a society of the haves and the have nots.

I felt uneasy trying to explain why it is okay for women to get paid less, why it is okay for graduates to be saddled with heavy student loan debt, and why skin color might be a factor in not getting a job or in going to jail.
… Read more about: MNA Blog: Sanders rally was eye-opening experience  »