On Monday, President Obama touted his healthcare reform plan, which he emphasized was supported by the American Medical Association (and the 150 physicians in white lab coats behind him), according to Chris Cillizza’s Washington Post blog, The Fix.
Organizing for America, an arm of the Democratic National Committee, has been relying on physicians and nurses to back the healthcare reform plan, and use that backing to rally public opinion. Thus far, physicians and nurses have been shown in television ads, and the organization has also sent an email to nurses urging them to publicly rally around the plan.
Getting nurses to publicly show support for the plan might be the key to obtaining public support-according to The Fix, 84% of a 2008 Gallup survey said that nurses have either “very high” or “high” honesty and ethical standards.
Will you be showing support for Obama’s healthcare reform plan? Let us know by posting your comment below.
October 12th, 2009 at 8:59 am
As any nurse knows- there are times when it is just to dangerous to continue to work in an unsafe patient care environment. Public option availability will give more freedom to nurses to walk away from an inhuman workload environment.
By giving nurses more freedom-( because at least they know their families will not suffer with no healthcare as a result of their choice), then the working conditions for all nurses could only be improved. And therby, patient care will improve as well.
Secondly, I know nurses who work in hospitals ( single moms ) who decline healthcare coverage by the hospital because they cannot afford their share of the premium. For example, my SINGLE share of my HMO ( the cheapest choice in my booklet ) is $84 per pay. For family it is much more.
It would be great to have the ability to purchase public option, probably less expensively than our own plans offered. That will improve the health of some nurses because we are exposed to so many germs in the hospital that
it is a shame to have some of us go uncovered.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I also wanted to mention that there are quite a few nurses who would like to start their own business. (Especially in the holistic nursing association.) The ones that have, from my survey are ones who
1. are married and their husband’s cover them
2. keep their fingers crossed and do without
3. take out minimal coverage with high deductibles and big premiums.
Are you one of the nurses who dreams of being her own boss, or being a healer?
Take a look at your options above, and then compare it to an affordable public option plan. To have the ability to use our creativity as God intended will move all to more freedom and expanding our gifts to the world.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:35 am
NO, will not support universal healthcare.
October 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am
As an experienced nurse, I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to have care that meets their needs. I do believe that a person with a chronic disease deserves the same standard of care as a healthy person. Families and the patient need time to accept the diagnosis. It is unkind to expect that everyone can just rush through the grieving process at the same rate.
Our current healthcare system needs some tweaking. I am completely against universal healthcare reform in the current proposed bill.
October 12th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I certainly agree with the concept of healthcare reform - any nurse who has worked in our current system for any length of time knows the system is very broken.
However, I do not support Obama’s current plan. Asking nurses to back his plan and using nursing’s high public opinion rating as a catalyst for furthering a plan that is not in our best interest, instead of asking them to help design the plan itself, is backwards. Who knows better than nurses and physicians how the system should be administered and where the breaks are? Healthcare should definitely NOT be controlled and administered by the government. God help us.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I do not support the Healthcare Bill as written. We do not need another program run by the Goverment, as proven by their past failures; Medicare,Post office or Katrina Relief.
We need Insursance companies to cross state lines and develope a healthy competetion and Tort Reform and until those 2 items are part of the Bill it will never work. The Health Industry incuding all parts from insurance to hospitals to product manufacturing is a large portion of our economy and the last time I checked we were still a free economic system Yes, our health system needs to be fixed but it seems the lobbiest are running the show.
October 12th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
How many ways could I say NO to a public option, and how disappointed I am in nurses who support it. For years our elected officials have conditioned us to look to government or employers for our health care needs, abdicating any self-responsibility. Our current leaders seem determined to bankrupt this country and government sponsored/covered health care will certainly advance that cause. Congress needs to clean its own house, the house of CMS before looking to providers for health care reform. It’s all well and good that in America our compassion for others extends to ‘free’ health care, but I’m tired of working to cover not only my health care needs, but the care of others who choose not to work, or make unwise choices, or simply enjoy the fruits of others.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
The American Nurses Association has made me proud! I will be joining it shortly due to their support of real healthcare reform including public option.
http://www.vimeo.com/4999941
October 12th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I am appalled, frankly, at he number of nursing [and medical] colleagues who OPPOSE healthcare reform!
This whole issue has boiled down to a battle between the HAVES and HAVE NOTS. Those in this country who have health care coverage are haughty and act “entitled” AND look down on those who do not. And that view seems to promote the idea that uncovered persons are INFERIOR [it "their fault" somehow]. Watching the multiple news programs that my husband runs all day, it is as if many Americans are counting on the “Darwinism” results of poor health care to weed out the inferiors who are stupid enough not to have health care insurance.
THIS IS SICKENING!
When did nurses become the “HAVES”?? To [arrogantly] judge patients as “deserving” and “un-deserving.” YOU are UNINFORMED, just NOT LISTENING or do not CARE.
As an E.R. nurse, I have watched for decades as working people, just laid off workers, persons with chronic illnesses, bankrupt cancer patients and many others make their way to our E.R.s for some (usually crisis) care. The unemployed sacrifice prescription drugs to feed their families. Cancer patients, without insurance, expected to make 120,000 dollar down payments for treatment. Two nights ago, for instance, I unplugged a patient (recently laid off) who had experienced a life-threatening heart dysrhythmia from a Amiodorone drip because the stress of the mounting bill far outweighed the stress of dying. Every nurse can describe multiple stories that are similar.
Yes, every nurse has taken care of individuals (insured or not) who do not take responsibility for their health [or livelihood]..in a preventative way and by purchasing accessible health insurance which they can afford! It is VERY FRUSTRATING to see healthcare resources wasted (OVER & OVER) when so many others could use these monies for quality care.
BUT we must not punish all because of this frustration!
Unfortunately, many nurses (and physicians) only see health care reform as throwing public money at undeserving patients.
I see reform as providing personalized primary health care at affordable prices for all AND providing patient rewards and penalities for using the health care system appropriately.
It requires quality patient-provider relationships that decrease the need for unnecessary testing and mutual responsibility for outcomes.
Reform includes crucial conversations, with non-compliant patients, about limitations of health care options for them. Rewards (coverage) for life style changes that increase health.
Simple? NOT!!! but unless many nurses get an attitude adjustment and get behind the creativity it takes to re-design patient& provider accountability and use of resources, it will only continue to INCREASE our health care costs!
Nurses are very POWERFUL, especially as a group, so quit acting like whining, entitled victims.
Get INFORMED and INVOLVED!
October 13th, 2009 at 8:15 am
As a nursing instructor, I find that the majority of my students do not have health insurance. Onstudent is paying $1000 per month for premiums…another paid $800 just to get the necessary PE and vaccines to enter the program !Health forum can’t come fast enough.
Loraine Strombeck
Kingston, NY
October 13th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I don’t support healthcare reform in its current arrangement. I do recognize there are considerable economic forces in play: Medicare (and Medicaid) consumes 23% of our federal budget. That is more than Social Security and more than defense spending. We also spend 8% of our budget on interest. We simply cannot afford to continue with Medicare with the increase in baby boomers. Hence, the push for healthcare reform.
However, there is nothing in the current reform bill being debated that addresses tort reform. Many of our physicians and other healthcare providers practice defensive medicine in order to avoid malpractice suits. Without this component, where is the incentive to avoid more costly diagnostic tests? And don’t even get me started on the patient who is determined to direct his or her own care. Sure, there are stories about the proactive patient who was able to diagnose a condition and get appropriate treatment his or her provider didn’t think he or she needed. You never hear about the patients who simply want to consume because of their own personal issues with healthcare. Because their insurance will cover it (for the most part), this drives up care for others.
Insurance companies are in the business of making money—for their CEOs and their shareholders. They are dedicated to paying the least amount for care and for holding on to their money as long as possible by delaying payments to providers, by rejecting claims, and by forcing providers and patients to appeal payments. There is too much obfuscation. How else can you explain why a Utilization & Review nurse can make back his or her salary (and then some) by reviewing documentation? The provider didn’t change his or her treatment plan, but by changing the words used, this can affect the reimbursement rate from a 0.96 to 1.14. And most practices have to hire a billing manager in order to navigate the various claims and track rejected billing. No where else does an entrepreneur have to wait 90 days (or more) after delivering a service to receive payment. Try that at the grocery store.
Marketing and advertising firms must take responsibility for their direct-to-consumer promotions. I cannot tell you the number of patients who want the latest medication for a particular condition because they’ve seen it on TV or in a magazine and believe they know better than the provider. So, not only are pharmaceutical firms responsible; patients must learn to be informed consumers and that means learning to assess the various claims of Big Pharma…
Patients must take responsibility (remembering we nurses are patients—how many of us smoke or are severely obese or have hideous eating and snacking habits). This means they (and we) must commit to what constitutes a healthy lifestyle: adequate nutrition, regular exercise, maintenance of a healthy weight, and stress management. However, all of these are somewhat subjective, so who will be the judge? Cheryl Smith, do you really expect the government to set standards for your so-called non-compliant patients? And what does that say about you labeling your patients non-compliant? Patients are non-compliant for a variety of reasons and it is up to us to help them discover ways to overcome obstacles. Do you really trust the government or some bureaucrat to determine what is inappropriate use of the healthcare system? If that government official has no medical background or the provider calling to request authorization lacks superior communication skills, I can easily see someone being hit with a penalty. It happens now with people who DO have health insurance.
You know what? No matter what we do, we’re all going to die. So what are we doing about palliative care when a cure is no longer possible? That is another way to reduce costs while simultaneously improving quality of care.
Nurses can make a difference, but not with this form of healthcare reform. I think we can do good by knowing that pharmaceutical companies do offer reduced-fee or free medications (bet you didn’t know that—just search on “prescription assistance” or go to individual drug industry web sites). We can deliver seminars at schools on healthy eating, on developing exercise plans, on working to make our neighborhoods safe places to walk, on educating our patients about the resources ALREADY OUT THERE to help (churches, city or county elder care programs, libraries and librarians). To think we have to have government interference on something that should be common sense, well, that doesn’t fit with my American can-do attitude. Less government and less government interference is better.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Healthcare reform and accessible, affordable care for everyone? YES.
The plan as currently written? NO. I’ve read the whole bill; I challenge you to battle your way through the legalese and do that, too. Don’t just rely on whatever “trusted” source you take most of your news feed from.
The existing infrastructure can’t support what is proposed. Due to insufficient primary care docs and NP’s, there could conceivably be a 2 week wait to be seen for strep throat–and how many complications could arise from that?
The budget can’t support what is proposed. Finding money by “eliminating waste” and “making other programs run more efficiently” is vague, and I haven’t yet seen any concrete proposals. I also question how realistic it is–when was the last time you saw any government agency truly eliminate waste (without cutting what is necessary) and run more efficiently??
I vote independent of party lines. I’m not exactly pro-Republican. Yet, Democrats have a history of ‘tax and spend’. Government always gets bigger and more intrusive under a Democratic administration and Congress. Yet another cumbersome government agency with its own life that is largely independent of the laws of the land (special legal provisions cover all agencies such as FDA, IRS, etc.) does not seem to be the answer here. Why not fix existing systems–expand Medicare and Medicaid–before creating a whole new behemoth?
I don’t like that the coverage my husband spent twenty years in the military and five years in combat to earn will be lost in favor of an inferior health network (not that ours is the best).
I’m not impressed with the electronic health information provisions of the plan, given that the White House Website itself can’t even keep from being hacked (ditto other “secure” government agencies). How the hell are they going to protect my SSN and my health info? Can I use HIPPA to sue the government for not adequately protecting my health info? Bet not…
There has to be another way, people. Yes, it has to be better than it is. But there has to be another way.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I came across this website while researching a debate topic for this my senior year of nursing school and was interested in the link on health care reform. I was also greatly encouraged to find that numerous experienced RNs are not in favor of the government-run health care plan. I agree that there must be reform, and also that Obama’s plan is not the way. The previous posts on the topic are well-articulated versions of my own views and based on more experience than I have now with the profession. I appreciate the insights posted. D. Goulet, I am also interested in finding a link to the whole bill, despite the legalese. If you or anyone could post it, I would appreciate it.
With sincere prayers for the sick and all those who care for them…
October 15th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I believe most nurses agree that healthcare reform is needed. What is not needed is the government controlling our healthcare through a universal health care plan. As educated professionals we must read these bills and be informed on what they say before we go promoting them. What is being planned in these bills is not the kind of health care we want! Be informed and be wise.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Where are your heads if contold heathcare is sooooooooooo good why are there so many forgien people here to get surgry?????????? when in thier own country they can get it free get all info we need reform but not health care we need reformed insurance and when are we going to wake up and start telling other countries either help pay for the research on new drugs or you will pay higher prices to have the drug whgen did we become whimps when did we start saying ok we will write things in spanish so every one can understand?????????? we did not write things in german or every one needs to learn sign get a grip we are losing control if we are nurses we are compassion but if you come to my county learn my english others have before you what is your problem
October 19th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DII7v8yeRjs&feature=related
October 19th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
More information on where Dennis is coming from.
I totally agree. I would prefer single payer to pubic option.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izbA_1Yo2mk
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:09 am
I work in a facility that is run by the government - and their proposed healthcare reform would be a travisty. They do NOT know how to manage healthcare, and people go without basic needs being met because the funds are not there to provide all the services they need. Do you want to be unable to work because the funds aren’t there for you to have a simple knee surgery - those went to someone else with a more urgent need at the moment, so you’re out of luck. You can get colds and coughs treated, and basic illnesses covered, but if you need a speciality service - forget it. Everyone’s healthcare will suffer if the proposed plan is put into place. There are things in healthcare that need to be fixed, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The federal government does not know how to efficiently manage anything - and healthcare is too important to let them mess it up more than they already do. We are already buried in paperwork for CMS and TJC - it would only get worse if this plan is passed.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I do not support the current health care bill being pushed on the American public. I have also withdrawn my membership from the ANA. I do not want my money going to a lobby for a bill that will further the government financial decline. Please look at the Canadian, United Kingdom and French health care systems, they are not ideal.
Stop and consider a less entitled system that allows the patient to be involved in the financial responsibility of their care. When there is no cost to the patient, they do not truly value the care that they receive (Ron Paul). As a health care provider, I often see patients that have not cost over utilize their free benefits.
Please look at our current government run health care, in California Medicare and Medical, these are not ideal programs. In many facilities care is provided to these patients at a reimbursement rate less than the cost of providing service. Many times the shortage caused by these programs is balanced only by the patient whose payor is private insurance.
No, I do not support the current Health Care Reform legislation.
November 8th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I work at the VA which gives excellent care
I prefer single payer, like the system for the VA.
My clinic gives better care than my own heath insurance plan does.
And my part of the premium for single coverage is 91 dollars every 2 weeks.
December 14th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I think it is amazing the Obama administration is conducting seminars for nurses about the health care reform bill, when I did NOT realize it had passed yet.
I am very, very concerned about the bill, and what it brings to the table. How can you mandate insurance, when collectively insurance companies can’t agree what is covered and what isn’t, and what the cost for it will be. How can the government that has ruined almost everything it has touched, but in charge of our most precious commodity, our health.
So, no, this registered nurse, does not back the health reform bill, and I am ashamed about the American Nurses Association!