Press Release: Minnesotans Still Not Getting Relief from Rising Insurance Rates (Page 47)

$900 million given to insurance companies gone

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org
Barbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – July 31, 2017 – The newly announced insurance rates for the 2018 individual market show that the current healthcare system continues to be volatile and can only be temporarily stabilized with an infusion of taxpayer dollars.  As a result, Minnesotans are still wondering whether they will pay more or less in 2018 versus 2017, even though the Minnesota Legislature and Governor Dayton pushed through a 25 percent discount in 2017 and propped up insurance companies with a new program, called “reinsurance.”

“Reinsurance appears to be a tourniquet for the individual market.  It may help stop some of the bleeding, but it’s a temporary treatment of the symptom rather than a cure for the disease of rapidly escalating health insurance rates,” said MNA President Mary Turner.

While some Minnesotans who buy their insurance on the individual market might pay less in 2018, many could pay more in 2018 than they did in 2017, even after record-high rate increases last year. Employees of small businesses buying from the small group market, it appears, will see even higher increases for 2018 than individuals.

The current private insurance system is broken, and Minnesota taxpayers cannot afford to keep bailing out insurance companies with premium subsidies and reinsurance funding that total almost a billion dollars.  The system is broken, and continuing to raid state funds to cut rates is not sustainable.

We call on leaders at all levels to take immediate action that moves Minnesota and the nation towards a publicly financed, privately delivered healthcare system that serves us all when we need it. A majority of Americans now support this. Nurses continue to see patients who neglect their health because they cannot afford high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses or because they cannot see their family doctor. A publicly financed, privately delivered system would allow broader access to community clinics and the doctors that patients already see. It is the only way we can actually lower healthcare costs, and it is irresponsible to ignore that option any longer.

As we mark the 52nd Anniversary of Medicare, a publicly financed, privately delivered program that expanded access to healthcare for millions of Americans, nurses are saddened to see attacks against healthcare at both the federal and state levels. We are relieved that Congress did not take a harmful step backwards this past week, but now is the time to move our state and our country forward by adopting a system that guarantees healthcare to everyone when they need it regardless of their ability to pay.

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In: Home, Hospitals, Press Releases

$900 million given to insurance companies gone

For Immediate Release

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

Barbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – July 31, 2017 – The newly announced insurance rates for the 2018 individual market show that the current healthcare system continues to be volatile and can only be temporarily stabilized with an infusion of taxpayer dollars.  As a result, Minnesotans are still wondering whether they will pay more or less in 2018 versus 2017, even though the Minnesota Legislature and Governor Dayton pushed through a 25 percent discount in 2017 and propped up insurance companies with a new program, called “reinsurance.”

“Reinsurance appears to be a tourniquet for the individual market. 
… Read more about: Press Release: Minnesotans Still Not Getting Relief from Rising Insurance Rates  »

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In: Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Barb Brady
(office) 651-414-2849
(cell) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

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

(Buffalo) –   August 3, 2017 – MNA nurses at Buffalo Hospital voted for a new contract with Allina Health on August 2, after standing firm in opposition to proposals from Allina Health that would have interfered with nurses’ ability to safely care for patients.

“We negotiated a contract that recognizes the important work nurses do,” said MNA Buffalo Chair Debra Kosciolek, RN. “Nurses signed petitions, marched in a rainy Buffalo Days parade, and were prepared to hold an informational picket to fight for a fair contract.”

The new three-year contract does not contain a proposed scheduling system that would have harmed the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain nurses and disrupted RNs’ scheduled time off.
… Read more about: Press Release: Buffalo Hospital nurses ratify tentative agreement  »

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In: Education, Home, Labor Unions, Minnesota Nurses Association

By Barb Brady

MNA Communications Specialist

The excitement is building for MNA’s 2017 Convention and House of Delegates Oct. 15-17 in Rochester.

MNA nurses from throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Iowa will gather for three days of inspiration, learning, planning MNA’s future – and fun!

This year’s theme is “Organize. Agitate. Educate.”

The schedule is packed with activities to empower delegates to return home with the skills and knowledge to organize, agitate, and educate your colleagues for the challenges we face in the next year.

Nurses will be treated to a special presentation of a play by Michael Milligan on Oct.
… Read more about: Organize. Agitate. Educate.  »

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For Immediate Release

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

Contact: Barbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(Bismarck, N.D.) – August 1, 2017 – Registered nurses at CHI St. Alexius Health are one step closer to having a union voice in their workplace to speak up for patient care and issues that affect staff.

On July 31, nurses filed for an election for nurses to vote to be represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association. RNs filed authorization cards signed by an overwhelming majority of nurses with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
… Read more about: Press Release: St. Alexius Nurses File For Union Representation  »

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In: Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Barb Brady
(office) 651-414-2849
(cell) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

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

 

(Buffalo) –   July 28, 2017 – MNA nurses at Buffalo Hospital reached a tentative agreement with Allina Health on July 27, averting the need for a planned informational picket.

“Allina Health saw that nurses were united in opposition to a proposed scheduling system, and agreed to changes,” said MNA Buffalo Chair Debra Kosciolek, RN. “Nurses negotiated a fair contract that allows us to continue providing patients with the care they need and expect.”

Now that a tentative contract agreement has been reached, nurses are canceling the informational picket scheduled for Aug.
… Read more about: Press Release: MNA nurses at Buffalo Hospital reach tentative agreement; informational picket canceled  »

CentraCare

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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  »

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In: Home, Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Barb Brady
(office) 651-414-2849
(cell) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.orgRick Fuentes
(office) 651-414-2863
(cell) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

(Buffalo) –   July 22, 2017 – MNA nurses at Buffalo Hospital are planning an August 2 informational picket to draw the public’s attention to Allina Health’s failure to bargain a fair contract with them.

“Nurses are asking Allina Health to negotiate a fair contract that works for both parties,” said Debra Kosciolek, RN. “Allina is attempting to impose a new scheduling system that would harm the hospital’s ability to recruit and retain nurses.
… Read more about: Media Advisory: MNA nurses at Buffalo Hospital set Aug. 2 informational picket  »

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In: Activism, Home

By Rick Fuentes

MNA Communications Specialist

 

Ok, this might be painful.  It’s not easy to agree with the powers-that-be in Washington, regardless of who’s in the White House, and especially with one that’s also gone so bombastic with rhetoric as to denigrate entire religious, ethnic, and racial groups of Americans.  It’s even harder when that administration is threatening to take away healthcare from people who desperately need it. Regardless, the criticism toward CNN and the Trump critics is right. The news (and the high-profile Trump) critics need to raise their game.

 

A few weeks ago, CNN was forced to apologize and retract a story a Russian bank with close ties to President Trump was under investigation, according to the New York Times.
… Read more about: Why Trump Is Actually Right About Something and the Media Is Wrong  »

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In: Home, Nurses, Politics

By Geri Katz

MNA Healthcare Reform Specialist

 

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the parliamentary election in the U.K., and the Labour Party’s pledge to enact a nationwide safe staffing law if they won a majority of the votes. While the Labour Party shocked observers and the Conservative Party by taking many more seats than expected, they did not win a majority. But U.K. nurses have won another victory that’s worth noting.

Eleanor Smith, a theatre (surgical) nurse for the National Health Service (NHS) was elected as part of the wave of Labour victories on June 8.
… Read more about: Nurse Ascends to Political Seat  »

People's Summit

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In: Action, Activism, Bernie Sanders, Home

By Jon Tollefson

MNA Government Relations Specialist

Much has been made of a conference that former presidential candidate Senator Bernie Senators hosted in Chicago last month. The New York Times and Washington Post both covered it (among a reported 180 news outlets) and both asked whether the Democratic Party is facing a split following the 2016 campaign. But the evidence doesn’t point that way.

 

The People’s Summit centered on the future of the progressive movement and how we can win elections. The main theme, as stated by Senator Sanders, was that “People are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics,” noting that our lives will not get better by keeping the establishment in power.
… Read more about: Are Democrats Facing a Party Split or a Leadership Vacuum?  »