Hastings medical workers begin two-day strike

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Employees at Regina Medical Center walked off the job today, commencing a two-day strike to protest the hospital’s current contract proposal. The 230 employees, represented by Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota, include nurses’ aids, custodial workers and x-ray technicians. The current three-year contract expired at the end of October, and there are no additional contract negotiations planned. Unlike most recent labor disputes, the chief stumbling block here isn’t healthcare coverage, but rather employee retirement accounts. “We are here to save our pensions,” said Jan Salo, who has sterilized surgical tools at the facility for 20 years, at a rally this afternoon in front of the facility in Hastings. Continue Reading

McCain Care could be a hard sell to Minnesotans concerned about health care costs

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James Kvaal, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Center for American Progress was in St. Paul yesterday to issue a warning about Sen. John McCain’s “radical” plan for health care. Kvall was one of five Center staff members who are fanned out across the nation to outline the plan, which has received little national attention. The cornerstone of the plan is the elimination of the tax exclusion for employers who provide health coverage as an employee benefit. If employers were to be taxed on health benefits, they’d be less likely to offer them, opponents reason. Continue Reading

How to save $18 billion in health care costs

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The health care crisis. It’s an issue that tops Minnesotans list. Last year, Minnesota spent an average of $6,500.00 on out of pocket medical expenses. In 1970, we spent about $390.00 annually. What if there was a way to cut between $8 and $18 billion off that number? Continue Reading

This Opportunity for Health Care Reform Cannot Be Missed

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For more than 25 years, the Citizens League has pushed for market reform through meaningful competition and universal access in the delivery of medical care. In 2006, we co-chaired a Citizens League study committee on medical facilities that independently reached some of the same conclusions as a 1981 Citizens League committee: namely that escalating health care costs in are the result of a dysfunctional market and ineffective regulation. Our most important conclusion in 2006 was that we must build the proper information system for a market to function in medical care. Based on this work, the Citizens League contributed to the Governor’s Health Care Transformation Task Force. (Executive director Sean Kershaw was a member.) Legislation has been introduced — based on the Task Force work — that is focused on a comprehensive approach to health care reform, one that doesn’t just address state law and regulation, but also identifies what providers, other organizations and citizens need to do to transform the health care system. Continue Reading

Saving a sinking SCHIP: Bush, Bachmann targeted by religious groups on the left and right

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President Bush’s veto of an expanded State Children’s Health Insurance Program on Oct. 2 has ignited a debate over how to insure the nation’s most vulnerable citizens — children. The veto has caused a rift among some of Bush’s staunchest supporters: his Christian base. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is feeling the heat in Minnesota for her vote against an expanded program, with many groups targeting her to switch her vote when the House seeks a veto override this week. Some groups are even accusing the Congress member of abandoning her pro-life values in order to vote with the President. Continue Reading

Covering Minnesota kids needs to remain our focus

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With the showdown this week between conservatives and progressives over a proposal to reauthorize and expand the hugely popular and effective State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the health care debate has naturally shifted to Washington. With the recent Presidential veto, the debate has become even more critical. Opinion: Covering Minnesota kids needs to remain our focus
It also demonstrates clearly how intertwined state and federal interests are when it comes to health care policy and how important it’s going to be for Minnesota officials to work with the federal government in finding a solution to the growing health care crisis in this country. The outcome of this reauthorization debate is going to have a huge impact in Minnesota. If it passes, it could provide Minnesota with $50 million or more each year to cover more kids and their families. Continue Reading

Long-term care reform needs to be part of the health care solution

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If we’re ever going to reform our health care system successfully, part of the solution must address long-term care. Given the growing role of long-term care as America ages, that’s just common sense. Right now, nursing homes and long-term care in homes and communities consume about 16 percent ($4.3 billion) of overall health spending in Minnesota and about 31 percent of state-sponsored health budgets ($3.5 billion). Those percentages are expected to rise dramatically as Baby Boomers hit retirement age. Minnesota’s population between the ages of 65 and 85 will double by the year 2030, according to the latest census projections. Continue Reading

Reps. Ellison, Conyers take single-payer health care to suburbia

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Single-payer health care has the support of a majority of the populace, its supporters say. Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and John Conyers, D-Mich., hosted a community forum Sunday at the Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights on the United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676), a bill that would “expand and improve Medicare for all.” The act, synonymous with single-payer health care, would cut costs for both individuals and the government and has the support of a majority of the populace, advocates said. Nevertheless, the bill faces a steep uphill battle, with a likely veto by the president. Continue Reading