Liberal senators join nurse union protest, advocate single-payer health care system

Two Democratic senators and hundreds of red-clad union nurses gathered on the Upper Senate Lawn Tuesday and made a lot of noise for the vision from the political left: health care for all in the form of a cost-saving single-payer system, and more contributions to the cause from financial and corporate America.

National Nurses United, a conglomerate of nurse unions from multiple states, put forth its “Main Street Contract,” and protesters were encouraged by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. – each of whom has introduced progressive health care legislation.

The unions want corporate America to pay more taxes so entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid don’t get cut.

“This is what it’s about, it’s developing a strong grassroots movement. We’ve got people saying the current system is not working. It’s enormously expensive. Health care outcomes are not good. We need change,” Sanders said after his fiery speech blasting insurance companies, the growing wealth gap as average Americans saw stagnant income while the wealthy got raises, and America’s lack of universal health care.

The Chamber of Commerce said in a statement that it welcomed all voices to the debate, but argued that the strategy would be irresponsible.

“The debate has to remain focused on creating American jobs and keeping our economy growing. Right now U.S. businesses are saddled with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, which is undercutting our global competitiveness,” spokeswoman Blair Latoff said in the statement.

With Republicans in control of the House and national concern over the size of the national debt and budget deficit, their efforts face long odds at the federal level. Sanders, admitting as much, said the best chance is for individual states – he believes Vermont could lead the way – to start single-payer systems, and have the success prompt others to follow.

Before chanting and singing in front of the Capitol, nurses met in Lafayette Park to walk to the Chamber of Commerce, where they protested what they see as the demonization of unions and working Americans by big business while doing nothing to hold Wall Street accountable for its role in the financial crisis.

“In Wisconsin they vilified the workers, pensions, living wages; that’s criminal there,” said Deborah Burger, a co-president of NNU and of the California Nurses Association. “Yes, we have good benefits, and, yes, we have good wages, but we think everybody should in America.”

Boxer’s legislation proposes mandated nurse-to-patient ratios similar to a law in California she said has improved outcomes and saved lives. Sanders’ American Health Security Act proposes expanding Medicare for all. Both senators vowed to vigorously defend Medicare and Medicaid in looming budget battles. Boxer said harming those programs will expose the nation’s most vulnerable to tragedy.

“They will die. They will suffer badly. And they will leave this world thinking no one cares about them,” Boxer said in her speech.

The NNU’s contract includes various progressive ideals. One specific proposal advocated for a new tax on Wall Street transactions to help protect commitments to social programs.

“I pay and you pay whenever we buy groceries or we buy anything. But in the stock market, when they trade, buy or sell, they don’t pay anything,” said Berger. “It’s a commodity; why shouldn’t they be part of the solution to this problem?

The organization said the tax could raise $175-300 billion to address the $1.4 trillion deficit, helping protect social programs that budget hawks have been circling. Berger admits it won’t solve everything but said it would be a step in the right direction.

Health Care Now, which co-organized the event, specifically promotes single-payer health care. The group says having government be the sole payer for public health care would slash costs because the government would have greater bargaining power than individual insurance companies negotiate costs. The group also says administrative costs and insurance profits eat up more than a third of every health care dollar spent.

Wait times, a major fear among opponents of single-payer, are preferable to denial of care inherent in the current system, advocates say.

“If they delay and deny care, they make money. They keep denying and then you go away,” Berger said.

Not everyone agrees with the degree of blame insurers as the root of the problem.

Melanie Dreher, dean at Rush University Nursing School who also sits on the board of a Blue Cross Blue Shield company serving two states, said that while “some insurance companies are terrible,” the levels of costs that activists claim could be saved merely by eliminating insurance companies are overstated.

Rules mandate a high percentage of expenditures go to health care, she said. Bureaucracy would have to be set up on the government side. She also said insurers do push generic brands and do have power pushing costs down.

“It’s disappointing for me to see nurses rally for things they haven’t done their homework on,” said Dreher. “Although, I guess that goes for politicians as well.”

The nursing educator also said she opposed unions in her profession for philosophical reason, saying “usually champion mediocrity” by protecting jobs for subpar nurses.

She did say there were merits to single-payer systems, but it lacks political legs.

“It is a good solution and there are a lot of people for it. But I like to attack the battles you have a hope of winning. A single-payer system is not one of them now,” Dreher said.

Earlier this year, Republicans passed a budget in the House that turned Medicaid into a block grant system where states get a lump sum and Medicare into a privatized voucher system. It failed in the Senate but underscored the Republican strategy to fight the growing budget gap by paring back social programs rather than increase revenue through taxes.

The plan has also gained the help of some moderate Democrats in removing the public insurance option from the 2010 health reform bill, passed by the then-Democrat-controlled Congress.

Saunders said that while the Affordable Care Act was no small victory as it would insure insurance for tens of millions and increase funding to key programs, it doesn’t address the root of the cost problem the way a single-payer system does.

“If a state goes first, and it works well, people around the rest of the country will say ‘hey we want the same thing,’” said Saunders. “It’s going to be hard, no question about it. But somebody’s got to do it.”