Guaranteed Healthcare

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON, DC –  Just yesterday, the new First Family measured the drapes in the White House just blocks from where I write this piece.  It has been but a week since we saw history as my U.S. Senator Barack Obama was elected to be our next President.  But for some of us, the joy is tempered by a reality that just won’t abate.

If I heard the candidates refer to the pain on “Main Street” one more time, I thought I might explode.  While I think most Democrats come closer to “getting it” on issues of economic disparity than most right-wing Republicans, I don’t really believe anyone yet is capable of embracing people who have been damaged and bruised as a part of the “change” we need in Washington. It may come, but we’re not there yet or they’d be acting with appropriate haste.

Before I go through my own personal list, we should all kneel in front of Senator Kennedy. 

Though the healthcare reform plan he is working on, is far from the ideal single payer plan many of us believe is the only solution to our national catastrophe, Senator Kennedy will force healthcare reform to the top of the legislative agenda, and God bless him for that.

But, now is the time to get it right, even if we need to take a bit more time.

To Senator Kennedy or anyone working with him, I'll echo the words of John McCain's failed VP candidate.  Thanks but no thanks on any version of Romneycare.  It's a failure in Massachusetts and it's a non-starter for the American people.

This is a good day for single payer.

Two champions, Kathy Dahlkemper from the 3rd CD in Pennsylvania and Eric Massa from the 29th CD in New York, won seats in the 111th Congress.

I think it's fair to say that we hope and expect Kathy and Eric will become co-sponsors of HR 676 as soon as they are sworn into office.

During the pre-election bus tour of Northeast swing states in which I was privileged to participate, we swung through the Massa and Dahlkemper districts.

Ms. Dahlkemper scored a huge upset  against the incumbent Representative Phil English in the socially conservative and traditionally Repuglican northwestern corner of Pennsylvania.

Mr. English, a lifelong resident of Erie, has held the Third District seat since 1995 and is a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Good bye  Good riddance Phil English. Go find yourself a job on K Street.

Ms. Dahlkemper, a co-owner of a family landscaping business, boasted that she was “not a career politician,” and she tied Mr. English to President Bush’s economic policies. Welcome to the movement for guaranteed and affordable healthcare.  We hope you will stand shoulder to shoulder with John Conyers on HR 676.

The bus tour also took us the the 29th Congressional district in New York. It was a good night for Eric Massa, another single payer supporter,  another co-sponsor of HR 676, a veteran and war hero, who took down Randy Kuhl. 

For the last several days, the blogosphere has been awash with a single admonition. A single plea.

Stay in Line.

"Don't think for a moment that power concedes."

Stay in line.

In many states the wait to vote could extend through the day. Stay on line.

In many states minorities, first time voters, and even the elderly will encounter all manner of obstructions. Stay on line.

If an elderly person needs assistance, work together with the people around you to provide whatever help you can. But please, stay on line.

Please, no matter the hours, the weather, the heat, the need for a toilet, or a sip of water, please, stay in line.

I just voted. I waited. I stayed in line. I'm one of the lucy ones, my line was only about an hour and a half.  My friend, who votes in a different election district, got up at 4AM and was on his line at 5, the polls open in New York at 6AM, he voted right before 8AM.

We stayed on line and so must you. No matter what.

Vote like you life depends on it, because it does.

STAY ON LINE. STAY IN LINE. NO MATTER WHAT.

If you don't know where to vote, click this link, it will direct you to your polling station.

By Donna Smith

CHESAPEAKE, Virginia --  Perhaps it would have been more logical to wrap up this road show in the nation's capital, grab the "money" shots and head for home.  But that wouldn't be quite the usual style of the brave and hard-working nurses of the National Nurses Organizing Committee or the California Nurses Association.  So long as there were voters to educate and healthcare "hero" candidates who needed support, the nurses worked on.

In Chesapeake, Virginia, Congressional candidate Andrea Miller of Congressional District 4 has been working hard and talking to her future constituents for several months, and she sure was thrilled to see the healthcare road show bus, complete with the RNs' candidate report card, in her district.  CNA/NNOC president Geri Jenkins shared some rally time with Andrea and wished her well in tomorrow's election.

While the presidential race is often the sexiest from a media perspective, nurses know that when they look for legislative support for making their profession stronger, it is often the people who hold Congressional office that are the most critical.  So on this long road show, the bus made its way to five of the Congressional districts where RNs identified healthcare heroes -- candidates who support single payer, publicly funded and privately delivered healthcare.

So, the road show wrapped up its 10-state run in Virginia.  It seemed like everywhere we went there were volunteers working on Get-Out-the-Vote efforts and infusing energy into the election process.  As we bid farewell to the road, the nurses were set to head home to their home states -- but not to put their feet up and rest.  The nurses were heading home to knock on doors, serve as poll watchers, give rides to polling places, make phone calls and continue the work so vital to this democracy.

Tomorrow, the work begins anew.  There is no rest so long as Americans are dying due to the lack of accessible healthcare.  Those deaths do not stop on election day or simply because one party or the other scores a win.  Yesterday, today and tomorrow, more than 60 American families will bury a loved one because our healthcare system is so very broken.  And unless our new leaders -- both our President and our new Congress -- launch into real healthcare reform efforts with all appropriate haste, the death toll will keep mounting.  Changing that reality would be the nurses' true victory.

Family Faces Foreclosure as Health Costs Crush Them

"We must now choose between buying groceries or paying our mortgage"

"We have refinanced our home six times in order to pay our medical costs amounting to more than $80,000 over the last few years," explained Deborah Krinsky of Magalia, Calif. "We have had seven different paltry health plans in eight years through my husband's job.  Between my husband, my daughter, and myself, we must buy 15 different medications. 

"Since 2000, we have been spending up to $12,000 per year in medical expenses. I am unable to work due to my ankles collapsing in 2000 after the birth of my second child. I have had six surgeries on my feet in the last eight years.  I filed for Social Security and got turned away three times because I wasn't disabled enough, and my husband Keith makes too much money. Each surgery required complete bed rest and non-weight bearing for at least three to six months. I am still under doctor's care.

Read more casualties

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON, DC -- Some scenes defy verbal description.  Above see our RNs at the Vietnam War Memorial sculpture depicting nurses on the battlefield.  Those of you lucky enough to know our president, Geri Jenkins, trauma RN, know she was teaching all the while... as her fellow members looked on and even a tour group became better informed about a nurse's role and duty, no matter what the emotion of the moment or the setting. 

Below we see a third grade student from Orange County, Calif., after her mom and grandmom had shared with her why all these names are etched in stone.  The family paid tribute to a fallen friend, but the girl's mother also took a moment to acknowledge the nurses of CNA who also rank among the family's heroes.  "Thank you for how hard you fight," she said as our nurses walked past.

By Donna Smith

SECAUCUS, New Jersey -- As you may see above, traveling on our bus can mean a bit of relaxing for some while others work on computers to plan the next stops and the next events.  Our work on the ground can be intense, and many days we held four or five separate stops, so any chance to settle in for a bit was welcome to us.

Today was a travel day.  We needed to make our way from Bangor, Maine, to Washington, DC, before Sunday afternoon, so there was no time to waste.  Up early and on our way, we were glad to have our necessary provisions on our bus and be making good time as we prepare for more reaching out to citizens who may need more information on healthcare reform before they head to the polls on Tuesday.

This bus has now carried us through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and New Jersey.  In every state we've met nurses and lots of our fellow citizens who are in great anticipation of this election.  Some are very hopeful, and some are fearful.  But from our observations, most citizens are certainly engaged in this election cycle.  They have been very appreciative of our nurses' information on healthcare reform.

From one end of these great New England states to the rolling hills of Ohio, families are struggling to meet their healthcare needs.  Health insurance costs too much and delivers too little to too many American families.  And still millions of other Americans have no health insurance coverage at all.  RNs know those without insurance are often working and often young, so we paid special care to reach out to those citizens so they would know that single payer healthcare in the way to go.

By Donna Smith

PORTLAND, Maine -- She's a nurse's daughter and mother of a state legislator.  Chellie Pingree is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st Congressional District.  Today the nurses of the Maine State Nurses Association, the National Nurses Organizing Committee and the California Nurses Association brought their healthcare report card bus to the town square for a rally with Chellie.

Chellie talked about HR676 and single payer healthcare with those assembled and expressed her desire to get going on her work to help fix this broken system.  The bus, the nurses and Chellie attracted print, radio and television press from the area just as Chellie prepares for her last weekend of campaigning before the Nov 4 election.

Tomorrow, I'll feature a wrap up of some of the less serious moments this week as we prepare for our final four days on the road.  We'll leave Maine for New Jersey and then arrive in Washington, DC, on Sunday.  Energy out in the communities we have visited is high surrounding this election, and we are thrilled to be visiting the communities where our endorsed candidates -- our 2008 healthcare heroes -- are running fantastic campaigns and standing firm on single payer.

Even Insured Get Stuck With the Tab

"I thought I had good coverage through the health insurance provided by my employer, Great-West," recalls Loveta Baker of Weaverville, N.C. "Due to our family history of colon cancer, I had a colonoscopy that led to the discovery of a mass. It was followed by a quick surgery that went well, without complications at all."

"In a few weeks the bills started rolling in. I knew I'd take a larger than normal hit because I've never had any luck finding an in-network provider in my area. The closest in-network gastrointestinal specialist provided by Great-West was over an hour away, and when I called the office, it was in fact a psychiatrist's practice and not a gastrointestinal doctor at all."

Read more casualties

By Donna Smith

PORTLAND, Maine -- Today we've been through Connecticutt, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.  And as you might imagine, at that pace, we aren't exactly wasting time on the ground.  Every stop, every step is one taken to reach toward our objective:  educating our fellow citizens about healthcare reform and about HR676, single payer, guaranteed healthcare for all.

Seems like we end up reaching lots of people in diners and coffee shops where they don't really seem to mind too much if a nurse walks up to offer some information and then engages in conversation about the problems related to healthcare that everyone has in within their families or circles of friends.

Today we joined with nurses from five states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and California.  The RNs share common frustrations about what they face every day in being advocates for their patients, and they share the goal of making sure the system is fixed before thousands more patients die.

Everybody in the diner needs healthcare: cooks, wait staff, owners, customers.  All are sure to find that if they give these nurses a moment, they'll be much better informed about the best way to clean up the mess in this nation's for-profit healthcare system.

We shared lunch with other labor folks also working to spread the word during this election season.  Though some citizens seem a bit campaign-fatigued in some ways -- especially in the battleground states -- most are still more than willing to take a peek at the RNs report cards on healthcare reform and learn a bit more.

Generally, citizens are energized and anxious to get on with the election and then continue their work on the issues they find most important.  But in recent days, along with some challenging interactions with a very few folks who have closed minds and hearts, nurses have been able to break through all the noise with their message. 

Tomorrow, Bangor, Maine... as we embrace nurses in Maine and reach out to folks still wondering what to think about all the women in red scrubs getting off that big, shrink-wrapped bus, and why these nurses care enough to travel so far. 

Insurance Company, Hospital Gang Up On Seriously Ill Woman

"My sister-in-law Candice has suffered from asthma since childhood," recounts Jean Minute of Hinckley, Ohio. "Severely abused as a child, she was hospitalized multiple times throughout her life. She is now in her late 20's, and when her husband filled out the paperwork for hospitalization through his job as a truck driver, he included the info about her asthma and noted all the medications she was on due to it."

Read more casualties

By Donna Smith

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania --  When the day began, I sipped coffee with Hilda and Krikor Sarkisyan of Northridge, California,  in a hotel restaurant as we waited to go confront the Cigna executives who denied their 17 year old daughter’s liver transplant.  Nataline died last December.  As this day closed, I sat across from an RN who was crying with sadness and rage for the Sarkisyan’s loss and the absolute horror of what we experienced together in the Cigna lobby today.

If ever we needed proof of why the for-profit health insurance industry cannot be trusted with our health and well-being, we saw it today.  We saw today the cruelty; we saw today all the reasons why we cannot trust that which we know we cannot trust.   The lack of human compassion and the outright obscenity of the broken system have somehow codified into reality for us all a pattern of delays and denials of care that never can be reversed.  Allowing a child to die – someone else’s child – has somehow become acceptable behavior, and we have allowed chronic abuse of our trust to flourish and to be explained away by insurance executives who cannot tell the truth.  

At Cigna, we walked into the lobby and moved toward the elevators that led to the inner sanctum of one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies. Though Cigna security held the line as Hilda and Krikor protested and demanded an audience with the CEO, H. Edward Hanway, the company sent down their PR guy, Chris Curran, to do their dirty work and to put off our protesters – the grieving parents and their nurses.  They were ringed now by many of the same nurses of NNOC and CNA (and now PASNAP) who had held them together on the day last December when Cigna allowed their daughter to die as the company first denied and then safely – for their revenue side, anyway – approved the needed transplant too late to save Nataline. 

During the protest today we all looked up to see a group of people looking over the mezzanine railings above us.  They must have been looking down at us during the whole protest.  Hilda called up, “Do you work for Cigna?”  And suddenly what we saw was too horrific to be believed.

Uninsurable Because of Diabetes, Now Paying Off $37,000 Hospital Bill to Collection Agency

"I have a chronic illness, diabetes Type 1, and have been uninsured for about four  years due to this fact," said Sharyn Kaye of Albuquerque, N. M. "There is a rider on any insurance I apply for because of my diabetes. I have been healthy and use preventative measures to stay that way."

"Last summer, I had a hypoglycemic attack, which caused me to be hospitalized. I was in the hospital for four days and I received a bill for $37,000, which eventually was forwarded to a collection agency. I paid minimum payments to the hospital, and each time I paid they didn’t let me know what my balance was or any information for that matter. I was never seen by a case manager or any other individual that might have given me a way to resolve this."

Read more casualties

By Donna Smith

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – This day began in the drizzle and cold wind of Pittsburgh where members of the CNA/NNOC road show team appeared at Carnegie Mellon University to join in a panel to educate citizens and students about single payer healthcare reform.  Geri Jenkins, RN, and CNA President, joined Congressman Mike Doyle, D-PA14, and Congressional candidate Steve O’Donnell, D-PA18, and many others to not only explain the ins and outs of single payer, publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare but also to acknowledge that the work of passing single payer legislation will need even more energy and passion following the November elections.

Geri was a powerful advocate – as usual – for the kind of change that RNs know must come.  Congressman Doyle is one of the congressional co-sponsors of HR676, the National Health Insurance Act, and he pledged to continue his support of single payer legislation with the seating of the new Congress in January.  Doyle told the audience that passing any healthcare reform legislation will not be so easy as some seem to think in the near future.

Audience questions were terrific, and Geri and the Congressman answered every one with all the detail necessary for those present.  It was a great panel, and it is always good for single payer to step onto campuses where conservative thought and practice sometimes keep alternative views at bay. 

But I couldn’t help thinking about all the plotting and planning and emailing and faxing and texting and power-mongering already underway on the issue of healthcare reform.  No matter where we are in citizen discussion and activism, the big money interests are moving right along.

But Washington and the powers that be wait for no one.  The election campaigns have not stopped anyone in the private health insurance and pharmaceutical industries from thundering forward, and the corporations wait with great anticipation for the expansion of their markets if healthcare reform legislation accomplishes signing up millions more new policyholders from whom to collect premiums and from whom to withhold payouts of claims whenever possible.  No other American industry, save the banks and financial services folks basking in the blush of bailout riches, can expect such handsome protections from downward market forces as the for-profit health insurance folks who are looking forward to an embarrassment of riches in the coming months and years unless someone grows some guts somehow and refuses to capitulate to their pressures.