Discussion Points

Coalition: Health insurance companies go too far - National push begins for affordable care

2008-07-09T18:08:00Z

By Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch
July 9, 2008

Nearly every week after her mother was killed and her father was gravely injured in a car crash, Stephanie Beck Borden battled her parents' insurance company.

He was ready to go home, insurance officials insisted.

But he couldn't walk and needed 24-hour care, the family argued.

Ultimately, rehabilitative services were extended a few more weeks when her father's surgeon called a friend at the insurance company.

"Something is wrong when a family in the midst of this kind of grief has to gear up for a pitched battle every week," said Borden, of Cincinnati.

She is one of thousands of Americans behind a national effort to take on insurance companies and push for comprehensive, affordable health care in the United States.

Health Care for America Now launched its campaign yesterday with news conferences in Columbus, Washington, D.C., and 51 other cities across the country.

The coalition of labor unions, faith-based groups, health-care organizations and consumer advocates says it will spend at least $40 million to push for affordable health care. (Keep reading...)

Strickland signs payday-lending bill

2008-06-03T20:27:00Z

(By Jim Siegel, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, June 3, 2008) Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday signed tough new restrictions on short-term lending in Ohio that supporters say will put an end to a payday loan industry that does far more harm than good for Ohioans in financial trouble.

When the law takes effect in 90 days, it will put an end to the payday lending industry as it exists in Ohio, likely pushing many of Ohio's 1,600 payday stores out of business. No longer will lenders be able to offer two-week loans with a 391 percent annualized interest rate ($15 per $100 on a two-week loan).

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Crafting an escape from a cycle of debt: Ohio has leashed payday lending. Now what?

2008-05-20T14:54:00Z

(Akron Beacon-Journal, May 20, 2008) Read any number of reports on consumer finances and you catch the drift that times are tough. The theme is that the net worth of the average American household is not growing as fast as its debt load. In the past decade or so, the average household has accumulated debt faster than its income has grown and has made up for shortfalls with combinations of cash advances, home equity loans and credit cards.

Many borrowers in a pinch have also found a source for quick loans in businesses that for a fee will cash checks or make advances against a borrower's paycheck.

A major rap against these lenders is that together, the business model (high interest rates, currently at 390 percent APR on a $100, two-week loan) and weak state regulations created a perfect vehicle for trapping clients in debt.

A three-year effort led by a coalition of social agencies, churches and consumer advocates to change the laws on payday loans came to a head in recent weeks at the Ohio Statehouse.

In a dramatic shift of support, first legislators in the House in April and then in the Senate last week, overwhelmingly approved the legislation for tighter regulations. Among other changes, the bill would put a 28 percent limit on the interest rate on payday loans.

Click here to continue reading the full story.

Two Contests Awarding Thousands for Innovative Ideas, Inspiring Stories

2008-03-26T21:04:00Z

SEIU is sponsoring “Everybody Wins,” a contest in which a public division member with an innovative idea about how to improve the quality of public services could win up to $5,000 personally and another $20,000 for their local union. To learn more about that contest, click here.

Meanwhile, the Reader's Digest Foundation will donate a total of $1 million to nonprofit organizations through an initiative called "Make it Matter."

Every month, the foundation will select one individual's story of a significant, good deed done for ones community and then grant $100,000 to a nonprofit organization in honor of that person. Reader's Digest magazine will then feature that person in its new column, "Make it Matter." Submissions for "Make it Matter" will be accepted by the foundation on a rolling basis throughout 2008. To learn more about the program and submitting a story, click here.

Nurse union sinks effort at peaceful vote

2008-03-17T14:08:00Z

SPRINGFIELD (EDITORIAL, NEWS-SUN) March 13, 2008 -- Three's a crowd when it comes to the attempt to settle a long running dispute between Springfield Regional Medical Center and a union that has waged a struggle to represent its workers.

An unusual deal to settle the question appeared to have been reached between the hospital and the Service Employees International Union to hold a non-contentious vote on unionization.

The California Nurses Union, no friend of the SEIU, had other ideas. It entered the process at the last minute bearing a monkey wrench.

The vote set here for Wednesday, March 12, was called off after the rival union sent representatives into the hospitals here to talk to workers. That poisoned the effort to skip the usual histrionics that too often mark such votes. The idea was to let local workers decide without a lot of pressure from either side.

To view the rest of this editorial, copy and paste the below into your web browser:

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/o/content/oh/story/opinions/editorial/2008/03/13/sns031308editunion_R.html

Sebelius in town to stump for Obama; Kansas governor criticizes McCain

2008-03-03T18:31:00Z

TOLEDO (THE BLADE) -- Kathleen Sebelius, the governor of Kansas, was fired up yesterday, and it wasn't just about Barack Obama, her candidate for president...

Ms. Sebelius spoke to a small group composed mostly of Service Employees International Union members at the University of Toledo's law school auditorium.

She urged her listeners to knock on doors and make phone calls for Mr. Obama, and maybe make history.

"If Ohio comes in for Barack on Tuesday, you will deliver the nomination to the next great president of the United States," Ms. Sebelius said.

To view the rest of this article, copy and paste the below into your web browser

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/NEWS09/803020353&SearchID=73310448637398

In Ohio, Candidates Court Unions

2008-03-03T18:15:00Z

Battle May Decide Tuesday's Primary

PARMA, Ohio (Washington Post) -- Not far away, in northeast Cleveland, two representatives of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has 30,000 members in Ohio, made their way across a mostly African American neighborhood of worn Victorians in a mud-streaked Buick Regal to drum up support for Obama among a new vanguard of organized labor -- hospital workers, grocery store clerks, home-care aides. Their pitch: Obama would make things happen because he is building a movement.

"He's been able to bring together different people, black and white, different parts of the country, and that's what it's going to take to get health care and jobs," said Gabe Kramer, 32, an SEIU organizer.

It was thankless work on both sides, with many residents not at home and others not deigning to open the door. But it represented the most visible manifestation of a clash that will help decide the outcome of Tuesday's Ohio Democratic primary and with it, perhaps, the outcome of the party's extended presidential nomination battle.

To view the rest of this article, copy and paste the below into your web browser

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/01/AR2008030101555.html

Mass. governor speaks at event

2008-03-03T18:09:00Z

Volunteers from Baltimore; Lansing, Mich.; and Penn State spoke at the event.

YOUNGSTOWN (THE VINDICATOR) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick addressed a crowd of more than 100 union members and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama supporters at the New Bethel Baptist Church on Hillman Street, stumping for the Democratic presidential candidate in the final days before Tuesday’s primary election.

The Saturday evening event was hosted by the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union with cooperation from the Teamsters’ union. Obama campaign volunteers from as far away as California and Cameroon, Africa, were in attendance, as well.

To view the rest of this article, copy and paste the below into your web browser

http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/mar/02/mass-governor-speaks-at-event/

Obama's success in Ohio rests on shoulders of ground troops

2008-03-03T15:33:00Z

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton drew the early support of much of Ohio's Democratic Party and most of its high-wattage politicians. And she was the overwhelming choice of the blue-collar workers who form much of the state's Democratic base.

Barack Obama had his own staunch -- if slightly less high-profile -- Ohio loyalists: Valli Frausto and Jeanine Michael.

To view the rest of this article, copy and paste the below into your web browser http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/02/obama.grassroots/index.html

Union status approved for area hospital

2008-01-22T19:50:00Z

Scot Allyn, Lorain Morning Journal

December 22, 2007

LORAIN -- The results of a challenged vote by workers at Community Regional Medical Center have been resolved in favor of union representation, according to Jennifer Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the hospital. On Dec. 13, five units of the hospital's non-supervisory staff voted on whether to join the Service Employees International Union, which has represented registered nurses at the hospital for about six years. Three units declined to join and one, the skilled maintenance unit, chose the SEIU to represent them.

The 417-member non-professional unit, however, had a result too close to call, Kennedy said. Union membership received 122 votes, while 123 voted against it and 10 ballots were challenged by the National Labor Relations Board, which supervised the Dec. 13 voting.

Yesterday, four of the challenged ballots were determined to be eligible for the voting while six were not, Kennedy said. The determination was mutually agreed-upon by the hospital, the SEIU and the NLRB, according to Kennedy. The NLRB could not be reached for comment.

All four of the eligible ballots were in favor of SEIU representation, yielding an official result of 126 for joining the SEIU and 123 against, Kennedy said.

Community Regional Medical Center will begin negotiating in January with the non-professional unit and the 16-member skilled maintenance unit, Kennedy said.

''We look forward to negotiating with them in good faith,'' she said.

Joyce Moscato, a spokeswoman for District 1199 of the SEIU, said she would be meeting with hospital workers in January to set specific goals for a new contract.
''We're looking forward to helping the support staff at the hospital negotiate a union contract,'' she said. ''Everyone has different reasons for forming a union, but they all want to participate in decisions on the job.''

Words cheaper than deeds

2008-01-22T19:47:00Z

By Edward Peeks for The Charleston Gazette

January 1, 2008

It remains to be seen for the new owners of Heartland nursing homes to show and for the public to know that patient care won’t slump from the buyout by the Carlyle Group as predicted by the labor union representing Heartland employees.

The Service Employees International Union District 1199 maintains that new owners will cut staff to increase profits, making good service a casualty of the changeover.

The SEIU’s argument persuaded the West Virginia Health Care Authority to balk at approving the deal. It involves seven nursing homes in the state among 550 in the nationwide buyout from HCR Manor Care Inc. for $6.3 billion.

The authority relented under pressure of holding up the deal at a cost of $1 million a day to shareholders. They include Manor Care shareholders in West Virginia with stock through the state pension fund.

Even so, the authority left a window open to revisit concern “whether elderly people in West Virginia are going to be harmed.”

Taxpayers and investors could be harmed, too, a reader would gather from a Sunday Gazette-Mail story by Gazette business editor Joe Morris.

The story fits the type of “fair and balanced” news touted by Fox News, although there are those who don’t regard Fox’s production to be what it claims.

But truly, the Sunday Gazette-Mail story, by any reasonable measure, stands in the New York Times tradition of gathering and printing news for the public record.

Morris does a bang-up job for the record, giving both sides of the question as to whether “buyout puts nursing home care on trial.”

Lawyers for SEIU offered data during hearings that said a pattern of declining nursing-home care followed such buyouts across the country.

Carlyle Group representatives testified to the contrary, saying good care will be maintained. The new owners will uphold Manor Care’s reputation as a “nursing home paragon.”

Truth be told, nursing homes for profit and nonprofit face growing challenges to maintain quality service. The Carlyle Group’s buyout again raises the question of whether a for-profit operation best serves nursing-home care, with concern first and last for service to patients.

Nobel laureate Milton Friedman said the first obligation of a corporation (for profit) is to make a profit for shareholders. Moreover, standard business practices show that labor gets the knife first in a crunch. The payroll is cut.

The Carlyle Group and other providers might well know and show in the vital nursing home industry that the usual cost-cutting practice is unnecessary and that there are better ways to maintain quality service.

Yet, as the saying goes, seeing is believing. And certainly, words are cheaper than deeds, but deeds count more in labor for good service, in and out of nursing homes. It’s something worth the wish and the watch in the new year.

KDMC Workers Picket for better Benefits, Contract

2007-12-12T16:19:00Z

By DAVID E. MALLOY, Huntington WV Herald-Dispatch.com

ASHLAND, KY — Dozens of union employees at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland picketed outside the hospital Monday afternoon calling for better health insurance benefits and a better contract.

District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union represents 563 workers at the medical center. The union employees have been working without a contract since Dec. 1. The workers earlier turned down a contract proposal by a total of 428-8. No contract negotiations currently are set.

Click here to read the article.

Check the Kentucky photo gallery on the Member Connector site to see photos of SEIU members picketing.