ISSUE UPDATES

Legislative Update

Side-By-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals
Produced by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

AFSCME President McEntee: “Finance Committee Health Care Bill is Deeply Flawed”

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Washington, D.C. – "The Senate Finance Committee health care bill is deeply flawed. It does not come close to meeting the needs of America’s working families. Nor does it meet the standards President Obama laid out in his address last week to Congress. There is no employer mandate, no public option, no help for retirees. The bill weakens state insurance regulations and taxes health plans that provide benefits for many middle class families. This bill fails to provide good, affordable coverage and does not protect families from medical bankruptcy. It is unacceptable. We call upon members of the Finance Committee to fix this bill.”

Political Update

State Legislation 2009

7 PRIORITY BILLS

AB 664 Hospital employee workers' compensation presumption (Nancy Skinner - D):
Creates presumption under workers compensation that hospital employees who suffer from back or neck injuries, MRSA, and other blood-borne infectious diseases are job related.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

AB 849 Family and Medical Leave (Sandre Swanson - D):
Expands job-protected leave to include care for adult children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and parents-in-law, assuring protection of long term financial security for California workers.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

AB 1295 Postsecondary Education, Nursing Programs (Jean Fuller - R):
Establishes clearly defined pathway for Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) students to transfer between California Community Colleges and State Universities to obtain Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

SB 1 Healthcare coverage for children (Darrell Steinberg - D):
Expands eligibility for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs by modifying the applicable program requirements.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

SB 294 Nurse Practitioners Scope of Practice (Gloria Negrete McLeod - D):
Clarifies scope of practice to include signing of disability certifications for patients who need documentation for their employers, ordering durable medical equipment, and ordering treatment in home care environments.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

SB 360 Health Facilities and Direct Care Nurses (Leland Yee - D):
Requires each new direct care registered nursing hire to receive and complete an orientation to the hospital and patient care unit in which he or she will be working. New hires would not be counted as staff in computing the nurse-to-patient ratio until completion of orientation.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

SB 810 Single-Payer Healthcare Coverage (Mark Leno - D):
Establishes the California Healthcare System (CHS), making all California residents eligible for certain health care benefits.
UNAC/UHCP Position: SUPPORT

OFFICIAL CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION

Federal Legislation 2009

Employee Free Choice Act

Healthcare Reform

As part of UNAC/UHCP's effort to support comprehensive healthcare reform, state officers sent a letter to key congressional committees working on the various Health Care Reform proposals. The committees include the US Senate Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), and the US House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor. The letter provides a brief background on the role UNAC/UHCP has taken in health care reform over the years and the principles we feel must be included in developing a final model.

Click on the links below to access the letters sent to the two Senate committee chairmen.

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Letter to Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA)

U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
Letter to Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)

UNAC/UHCP Record of Legislative Accomplishments

Today, nurses and healthcare professionals face a far different working environment than 30 years ago. As such, we find it important to remind ourselves that the benefits all nurses and healthcare professionals enjoy today were hard won by UNAC/UHCP leaders and members at the bargaining table and through the legislative process. Listed below are timelines of UNAC/UHCP's record of legislative accomplishments and involvement on issues ranging from staffing ratios to health care reform.

Nurse-Patient Staffing Ratios
Overtime and Alternative Workweek Schedules
Protecting Nurses on the Job
Nursing and Healthcare Professional Education
Scope of Practice for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals
Fighting for better health care for all

UNAC/UHCP Legislation 2007-2008

These legislative scorecards review and rate the performance of California legislators on how they voted on the seven UNAC/UHCP supported bills during 2007-2008 state legislative sessions.

The scorecards only list California legislators whose districts cover UNAC/UHCP represented healthcare facilities. UNAC/UHCP affiliates and members should review these scorecards as it is important that we hold our elected officials accountable.

Assembly Scorecard 2007-2008 Priority Bills
Senate Scorecard 2007-2008 Priority Bills
Scorecard 2007-2008 Bill Summaries