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When health insurers play games, patients lose

Dr. Theodore Corwin jumps through numerous hoops to get UnitedHealthcare to pay for a patient's breast reduction — only to finally be told the surgery wasn't covered by her policy. A 26-year-old woman recently came to his office complaining of back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as numbness in her hands and arms, resulting from her unusually ample bust. She's 5-foot-6, not overweight, Corwin said. She wanted a breast reduction.

April 18, 2014

LABOR: Board finds in favor of nurses’ union

The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a judge’s ruling that found that management of Fallbrook Hospital did not negotiate in good faith with a union representing registered nurses, and has also ordered the hospital to reimburse the union for its expenses.

Riverside Press Enterprise
April 16, 2014

National Health Groups Join Call for Comprehensive Health Study on Keystone Pipeline

Washington, DC - Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), announced today during a press conference call that two national public health groups, the American Public Health Association and the National Association of County and City Health Officials, sent a letter to Secretary of State, John Kerry, joining the request for the Obama administration to complete a comprehensive human health study on the Keystone pipeline.

U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
April 11, 2014

Earth Day Parade and Rally In San Francisco On April 19, 2014

Join nurses on Saturday, April 19 in San Francisco to highlight issues of environmental justice and public health, and to lift up climate solutions.

California Nurses Association
April 10, 2014

Levine, nurses lobby for delay in Palm Drive vote

State Assemblyman Marc Levine met with nurses and labor advocates Saturday to discuss his legislative effort to keep open Sebastopol’s fiscally ailing Palm Drive Hospital. The San Rafael Democrat said he’s introduced a bill that would allow the hospital to refinance its debt so bonds could be paid off at lower interest rates. AB582 already has won unanimous, bipartisan support in its first committee hearing and is awaiting approval of the full Senate in the next month or so, he said.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat
April 7, 2014

On the Ground With RNRN: In the Wake of the 2013 Philippine Floods

By DAVID ABELES, RN--The archipelago of Philippines consists of 7107 islands with a population of close to a 100 million people lying within the Pacific Rim of Fire where 81% of the world’s largest earthquakes occur. In addition, the large tropical typhoons (locally known as bagyos) season lasts from June thru November. On October 15, 2013 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck the Visayans Island of Bohol killing several hundred people, injuring thousands, and laying waste to thousands of homes.

RN Response Network / NNU
April 3, 2014

Nurses Seek Health & Safety Evidence for Keystone XL Pipeline

Katy Roemer, RN, remembers the fire that took place in 2012 at the Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, Calif., a 12-mile drive from the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, where she works as a maternity nurse. The fire burned out of control for more than five hours, spewing a huge black cloud of toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, into the air. Bay Area residents were advised to stay inside, close windows and doors, turn off air conditioners and heating units, and have duck tape on hand in case it was needed to further seal the windows and doors. Pets and children were to be kept inside.

The ONC
April 1, 2014

Could This Tax on Wall Street Turn Back America’s Tide of Inequality?

How will you honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. this April 4, the anniversary of his assassination? How about by demanding that Congress get out of Wall Street’s pocket? How about by letting your representative know that you support economic equality and a just distribution of wealth in America? As Dr. King himself said, “This is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty.

The Nation
April 1, 2014

Hospital administrators in Connecticut tout the financial benefits of mergers

Several studies, as well as data from the federal Medicare program, suggest that mergers and for-profit conversions may lead to higher prices. But the state has yet to study the impact of mergers on patient pricing, and has no requirement that hospitals try to hold patient costs steady after a merger or conversion. The state also has no comprehensive blueprint guiding hospital configuration or limiting the number of takeovers or networks it will allow.

CTpost.com
March 24, 2014

California nurses have no regrets about mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios

Nurses, members of Local 97 of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union, say that mandatory ratios are necessary. Too often the nurses are understaffed, putting patients' health and even lives at risk. Capital Health, their employer, argues that mandatory ratios are too costly to implement and not effective. Bargaining has reached a standstill, a mediator has been appointed and the countdown to a strike has started.

Halifax Media Co-op
March 21, 2014