News

Blue Shield to cap profits at 2 percent

Blue Shield of California today unveiled a pledge to limit its profits to 2 percent a year and give back anything over that amount to its health care providers and policyholders.

San Francisco Chronicle

June 7, 2011

Nurses Call for ‘Main Street Contract’ To Reverse National Priorities, Policies

National Nurses United, the country's largest union and professional association representing registered nurses, is launching a campaign to reverse national priorities and policies that have put the interests of Wall Street ahead of the crisis facing American families today, the union announced June 6.

Bureau of National Affairs

June 7, 2011

Alvarado nurses to hold candlelight vigil

Registered nurses at Alvarado Hospital plan to hold a candlelight vigil from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, as the hospital and nurses’ union enter their fourth month of contract negotiations.

San Diego Union Tribune

June 2, 2011

Crozer-Chester nurses one step closer to potential strike

The 700-member Crozer-Chester Nurses Association voted to authorize a strike this week in the event bargaining with Crozer-Keystone Health System officials breaks down.

Delaware County Times

June 2, 2011

Hospitals Eliminate 1 in 4 U.S. Emergency Rooms Since 1990, Study Finds

More than one in four U.S. emergency departments were closed in the past two decades, forcing the nation’s poor and elderly to seek care in fewer, more crowded facilities, researchers found.

Bloomberg News

June 2, 2011

Vermont Steps Closer To Single-Payer Health Care

Vermont is about to accomplish something the federal government couldn't. Once Gov. Peter Shumlin signs a bill on May 26, the state will be on track to having a single-payer health care system.

NPR

May 24, 2011

New Polling Says Overwhelming Majority Wants Social Security Left Alone

Ask the voters and they'll tell you: Social Security cuts are off the table when it comes to cleaning up the budget mess in Washington.

Talking Points Memo

May 24, 2011

Does Official Washington Care about the Jobless, Really?

Unemployment is up. Joblessness has increased for African Americans. Black women are being hit especially hard. The question now is whether the people running the country really care? And if they do, why are they avoiding the subject?

BlackCommentator.com

May 24, 2011

Snyder's plans aren't as new as they seem

Back in 2007, the Mackinac Center produced a report about how the state could address its budget deficit without raising taxes. As you might expect from a rightwing think tank, their solution was all cuts. Some of the cuts involved programs for which the state receives matching dollars from the federal government and some of the suggestions like cutting health care benefits for teachers were entirely unrealistic (teacher benefits are a product of negotiations at the local level).

Michigan Morning Sun

May 24, 2011

Medicare doesn't have to be cut

They're not buying it. Most Americans say they don't believe Medicare has to be cut to balance the federal budget, and ditto for Social Security, a new poll shows.

Associated Press

May 24, 2011