High demand for care and a larger-than-expected number of older, sicker enrollees are key factors.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Docs Slam Recertification Rules They Call A Waste Of Time
Some say the requirements will push older doctors to retire early, worsening the physician shortage.
Historic rally in Detroit — 3,000, led by RNs and community leaders ‘Turn on the water.”
Turn on the water. Make Wall Street pay.
Thousands of registered nurses, community, labor, environmental and community activists marched in Detroit today in a resounding protests against the shutoff of water to tens of thousands of city residents – an action the marchers called a wanton violation of human rights that creates a public health emergency.
Brandishing signs that read “Water is a Human Right,” “Turn on the Water. Tax Wall Street,” “Water = Life,” “Blame Chase,” “Make the Banks Pay,” and “Nurses are the Real Emergency Managers,” marchers streamed through downtown Detroit to a big rally in front of the city/county building after a stop at a branch of Chase bank.
Their message: Turn on the water. Restore the water for those who were cutoff. Tax Wall Street to raise the money needed to revitalize cities and communities like Detroit harmed by the Wall Street created economic crash of 2008.
And they voiced emphatic opposition to the corporate policies of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and his undemocratically appointed emergency city manager who have declared a bankruptcy in Detroit and moved to privatize public resources, such as the water supply.
Jean Ross, RN, co-president of National Nurses United, the lead sponsor of the action, delivered a declaration calling the city of Detroit to be a public health emergency zone, supporting the call of numerous city activists of the health crisis prompted by the shutoff.
“Water is life sustaining. Lack of water directly undermines the health and safety of Detroit residents, and their families,” the NNU declaration read.
“For optimal health in our daily lives, we need clean water for drinking. Infants, children, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable; they are more susceptible to dehydration, infection, and disease without access to water.
“We need clean water for proper sanitation to combat the growth and spread of multiple infectious diseases and pandemics. We need clean water for a safe and healthy environment. We demand the guarantee that all Detroit residents have immediate and full access to clean water,” said Ross.
Actor Mark Ruffalo, joining the march, encouraged the crowd to “fight for your rights, water is a human right.”
“We’re happy to send money all over the world to help other people in their crisis, and we can’t take care of our own people. The American people have got to know that this is wrong, and that it’s happening here and that it should be stopped,” Ruffalo said.
Addressing the crowd United Auto Workers Union President Dennis Williams noted that “the government didn’t give us the water, it is a natural resource. It is the peoples’ resource. It is not owned by corporations, it is not owned by city hall, it’s owned by the people of this land. It is our job united together to take back our government.”
Maureen Taylor, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization chair noted “We hold the corporations responsible for this mess. Turn the water on.”
Rep. Keith Ellison, author of HR 1579, the Inclusive Prosperity Act, also known as the Robin Hood tax proposed an alternative. “Instead of shutting peoples water off why don’t we raise the taxes on these corporations? We have a bill that would tax the transactions on stocks, bonds and derivatives so people can meet their basic needs like water.”
“Make the banks pay,” people chanted. “Turn on the water now.”
“We need to link what’s happening in Detroit with what’s happening across the country,” said journalist and author John Nichols, linking the fight in Detroit to attacks on Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. “If there’s a place where the fight must begin, it’s here. “If they deny us water, how can any other right have meaning?”
“In Detroit, 82 percent voted against an emergency manager system, 95 percent voted against Gov. Snyder. So how can Gov. Snyder create an emergency management system that shuts down water for the people of Detroit. It is politically wrong, it is morally wrong,” Nichols said.
Rep. John Conyers of Detroit Conyers presented a message to the city water department to “Keep their paws off our water. Get the corporations to pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars they owe..”
Michigan Nurses Association President John Armellegos, RN, noted that “Detroit is not bankrupt. Denying water is another sign of a bankrupt system. Only a bankrupt system would encourage predatory subprime mortgages that lead to the foreclosures of over 100,000 homes in this city and deny opportunities for work when so much is needed in this city. This city, state and nation must engage in policies that promote prosperity and recovery.”
“Privatization of water has already started harming Michiganders,” said We the People of Detroit Founder Monica Lewis-Patrick. “This issue is beyond Detroit. Detroit is the tip of the spear. It’s not about one thing. It’s about everything. As goes Detroit, so goes Michigan and so goes the nation. Stop the privatization. Restore the water.”
Nurses: Water Shut-off Measure in Detroit Endangers Public Health
National Nurses United
Actor/activist Mark Ruffalo poses with NNU’s Jean Ross and Bonnie Castillo
Media Advisory, Photo Opportunity July 18, 2014
Contact: Liz Jacobs, RN, 510-435-7674, Bill Gallagher, 818-355-8691, or Sarah Cecile, 510-541-9570
Big March and Rally Today in Detroit to Protest Water Shutoffs by City: ‘Turn On the Water, Tax Wall Street’
Responding to the controversial decision of Detroit and Michigan officials to shut off water for tens of thousands of city residents, a broad coalition of national, international, and Detroit area organizations will hold a major protest march and rally today in Detroit.
Marchers will voice support for the many in Detroit who have been calling for a declaration of a health care emergency in the city and call for an immediate moratorium on the water shutoffs and restoration of water service to those who have had their water cut off.
Lack of access to clean water is a major health threat that can lead to the growth and spread of infectious diseases and even pandemics, says National Nurses United, the largest U.S. organization of nurses and the lead sponsor of the march and rally.
Activists also warn that the widespread water shutoffs are a national test case, promoted by the banks and other financial interests who have been pushing privatization of public resources in economically embattled Detroit. If successful in Detroit, the scene could be repeated in scores of other communities where residents continue to struggle financially.
The march begins at 1 p.m. at Cobo Center in Detroit. The rally, outside Hart Plaza, will be live streamed at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/national-nurses-united
Support for the action has been rapidly building with major endorsements and participation from among others the International Union United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW AFL-CIO), Netroots Nation which is holding its convention in Detroit this week, Food and Water Watch, Michigan Sierra Club, Utility Workers Union of America, Friends of the Earth U.S., the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, and scores of Detroit area community, labor and faith groups.
Internationally known actor Mark Ruffalo and musician/songwriter Tom Morello also voiced support for the action, urging support, on twitter.
Listen to the NNU Radio ad here:
The event will also call for a tax on Wall Street speculation which could raise hundreds of billions of dollars for communities like Detroit which have been pummeled by recession, unemployment, and other pain directly linked to the Wall Street meltdown and plunder of major urban areas. The Robin Hood tax on Wall Street trading, is embodied in HR 1579, sponsored by Rep. Keith Ellison, to rebuild Detroit and the rest of America.
Rally supporters charge that Gov. Rick Snyder and emergency manager officials are enforcing the water shutoffs to promote the privatization of the public water supply, the latest gift, they say, to Wall Street financial interests who have bankrupted the city.
Notably Snyder’s handpicked emergency manager Kevyn Orr in one of his first acts hired his former employer, the Jones Day law firm to supervise the city’s bankruptcy even though that same firm represents banks that hold the city’s debt. Further, city activists note that though commercial enterprises owe nearly half of the debt to the water department, it is low and moderate-income residents who have been the main target of water shutoffs.
‘Dangerous public health crisis’
“Cutting off water to community residents is a disgraceful attack on the basic human right of access to safe, clean water,” said NNU Co-President Jean Ross, RN. “Nurses know the critical link between access to water and public health. Lack of water, like unsafe sanitation, is a major health disaster that can lead to disease outbreaks and pandemics. The city must end this shutoff now.”
“The water crisis is just the tip of the spear of what is a much greater systemic problem in America,” said Monica Lewis-Patrick, citywide outreach coordinator of We the People of Detroit and member of the People’s Water Coalition. “People need housing, good jobs, equal access to quality education and affordable health care and of course what we are now dealing with here, access to clean affordable water which is a basic human right. It is my hope that everyone who is coming to Detroit to take part in the protests also takes away the story of resilience and perseverance of the people of Detroit. I’ve been going to door to door to assist people and what I’ve witnessed is that in the midst of all these trials folks are together forging the beloved community.”
“It appears the black out on this water crisis is broken and the consciousness of the world has finally been piqued. People around the world are beginning to focus on this domestic terrorism and we welcome every eye!” said Maureen Taylor, state chairperson of Michigan Welfare Rights Organization.
“The situation in Detroit is a major crisis, said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “When 45 percent of water customers struggle to pay their water bills, it is clear that this is not just a problem with delinquent payment–it’s indicative of broader, systemic issues resulting from decades of policies that put profits before people. These shutoffs are a thinly veiled precursor to privatizing Detroit’s water, which will only make matters worse. We urge Detroit’s leadership to turn the taps back on and keep water there in public hands so that all residents can have affordable access to this vital resource.”
“This dangerous public health crisis is further proof that we don’t have a bankrupt city – we have a bankrupt system,” said John Armelagos, RN, president of the Michigan Nurses Association. “It’s disgraceful to have children in the wealthiest nation on Earth on the edge of living in third-world conditions. When people don’t have access to water to bathe and brush their teeth with, they and their families, and the whole community, are at risk for disease. Water is a human right and (Emergency Manager) Kevyn Orr should put human needs above any agenda set by corporations that only want to further exploit Detroit.”
“We’re proud to stand in solidarity with the organizers working hard to stop these water shutoffs,” said Raven Brooks, Executive Director of Netroots Nation. “It’s vitally important for us to use our platform to amplify their message.”
Other endorsers of action include: People’s Water Board, Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, Michigan Nurses Association, We the People of Detroit, Moratorium Now!, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, United Students Against Sweatshops, AFSCME Council 25, CWA Local 400, National Action Network-Michigan, UAW Locals 600 and 4911, Detroit Eviction Defense, Detroiters Resisting Emergency, National People’s Action, Health GAP (Global Action Project), East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Color of Change, Franciscan Action Network, Detroit Water Brigade, Detroit Public Schools Education Task Force, Michigan Election Reform Alliance, Student Global AIDS Campaign, New York State Nurses Association, Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Detroit Active and Retired Employees.
Katie Couric Celebrates Nurses
A Reader Asks: If You Have A Job-Based Plan, Can You Buy On The Marketplace?
KHN consumer columnist Michelle Andrews points out that standards for eligibility to buy a plan off the exchange is different than eligibility for subsidies.
Circulate and Sign Our Petition Opposing Dangerous Staffing Cuts, Increase to Nurses Patient Assignments and Consolidation of Services
Download and sign the petition…
New OJIN Topic Published on APRN Roles
Talking Travel Taxes: The 50 Mile Rule
A traveler will eventually encounter the “50 Mile rule” during conversations with recruiters or fellow travelers. The rule is often discussed as an accepted law of traveling and defended with evangelistic zeal on social networking sites. No matter how times it is refuted, the rule emerges in another conversation like a marathon game of Whac-A-Mole[i]. […]
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