healthwire, november/december 2012, ground game · copy editors jennifer chang production manager...

Hospital detectives tackle superbugs 0

Congressional Voting RecordPage 4

Getting the anti-worker group ALEC out of New JerseyPage 3

VOL. 35, NO. 2 | NOVember / December 2012

THE NATIONAL PUBLICATION OF AFT HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALSTHE NATIONAL PUBLICATION OF AFT HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALSTHe NATIONAL PUbLIcATION OF AFT HeALTHcAre PrOFeSSIONALS

AFT members like Karen Haglund are staffing phone banks and going door to door to help re-elect President Obama Page 8

GroundGame

2 HeALTHWIre | NOVember / December 2012 NOVember / December 2012 | HeALTHWIre 32 HeALTHWIre | SePTember / OcTOber 2011

wHERE wE stANd

Raise your voicerANDI WeINGArTeN, AFT President

Electing leaders who support affordable healthcare for all, as well as democratic rights and broadly shared economic opportunity, is essential to achieving a better America.

RANDI WEINGARTENPresidentLORRETTA JOHNSONSecretary-TreasurerFRANCINE LAWRENCEexecutive Vice President

KRIS HAvENScommunications Director

© 2012 AmerIcAN FeDerATION OF TeAcHerS, AFL-cIO

cover photo: jOHN SALLer

ROGER S. GLASSeditor

ADRIENNE COLES managing editor

DANIEL GuRSKyANNETTE LICITRAbARbARA mcKENNAvIRGINIA myERSmIKE ROSEcontributing editors

LAuRA bAKERJANE FELLERcopy editors

JENNIFER CHANGProduction manager

mICHELLE FuRmANPAmELA WOLFEGraphic Designers

SHARON WRIGHTProduction Specialist

SHARON FRANCOuRProduction coordinator

SHAWNITRA HAWKINSALICIA NICKProduction Staff

HeALTHWIre (ISSN 0199-8552)HeALTHWIre (USPS 011536) is published five times a year: Sept./Oct., Nov./Dec., jan./Feb., march/April, may/june by the American Federation of Teachers, 555 New jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, Dc 20001-2079. Phone: 202-879-4400www.aft.org

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POSTmASTER: Send address changes to HealthWire, 555 New jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, Dc 20001-2079.

mEmbERS: To change your address or subscription, notify your local union treasurer or visit www.aft.org/members.

Letters to the editor may be sent to the address above or to [email protected].

HeALTHWIre is mailed to all AFT healthcare members as a benefit of membership. Subscriptions represent $2.25 of annual dues and are available only as a part of membership.

Although advertisements are screened as carefully as possible, acceptance of an advertisement does not imply AFT endorsement of the product or service.

wHERE wE stANd

WE KNOW THE ATTACKS on healthcare workers, teachers and other middle-class Americans are fierce and mounting. In many state capitals, anti-worker governors elected in 2010 embarked on an anti-worker cam-paign on a scale we had never seen. These governors tried to take away the voices of those on the frontlines who work most close-ly with the public. Too often, we have found ourselves on the defensive as our critics and opponents controlled the public debate on is-sues that were important to us. They defined the problems, and they assigned the blame.

This is what has happened in the health-care reform debate. Access to affordable healthcare is an essential building block to restoring the middle class and providing economic security to all Americans. High-quality, affordable healthcare should not be a luxury for a few, but a promise to all. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will make that promise a reality for millions of Americans. Those who work in healthcare know it will be a disaster if we have to go back to square one in a situation we already see is unsustainable. That is why the voices of nurses and other frontline healthcare work-ers must be heard—not just in clinics and hospitals, but at the bargaining table and at the ballot box.

Electing leaders who support affordable healthcare for all, as well as democratic rights and broadly shared economic op-

portunity, is essential to achieving a better America. Many factors affect the direction of the country, but the upcoming elections will greatly influence it.

This presidential election presents a choice between starkly different visions for the future of our country. The candidates are poles apart when it comes to economic fairness, restoring the middle class, and the importance of public institutions. Americans will choose between a candidate who tries to divide communities and who disparages 47 percent of the coun-try by saying they expect a handout, and a

president who believes not only in personal responsibility but also that we are all in it to-gether. The choice we make on Nov. 6 will af-fect the country for years to come.

Mitt Romney has repeatedly assailed pub-lic employees and our unions, even saying he would take actions that would deprive us of our constitutionally protected rights of free speech and association. Romney says he would pre-serve the U.S. Department of Education only so he’d have a club to beat back unions. And if Romney gets his way, he would bar teachers unions from making political contributions.

The Romney-Ryan ticket has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a healthcare voucher system that would shift risk to the patient. Such a system would foster unnecessary and duplicative care, and many patients simply would not be covered. It would leave seniors and middle-class

Americans to worry every day whether their next illness will bring them to—or over—the brink of financial disaster.

Romney would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the very wealthy, yet he supports Paul Ryan’s plan that would turn Medicare into a voucher system and would double out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Romney supported attempts to end collective bargaining in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin, and he tried to end it in his own state of Massachu-setts. This is a candidate who wants to wipe us off the map.

President Obama has fought for economic opportunity for all Americans. He supports making corporations and the very wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes, and he would extend tax cuts for middle-class fami-lies. His stimulus efforts in 2009 were a lifeline for public education and public services, pre-serving 400,000 jobs. He has worked to make college more affordable and student debt more manageable. Although we have not agreed with everything the Obama administration has done, particularly its emphasis in education policy on measurement and competition, the door is open—and we have been heard.

Mitt Romney may not want to hear what frontline healthcare workers have to say, but we will make our voices heard on Nov. 6 and beyond. We will continue to stand up and speak up about what it takes to provide all children with an excellent public education that prepares them for fulfilling lives. Our members and our union are a powerful force for fairness, opportunity and high-quality public institutions—for our members and those we serve. I urge you to vote for candi-dates who share this vision.

2 HeALTHWIre | NOVember / December 2012 NOVember / December 2012 | HeALTHWIre 3

Vermont nurses honored for their work in HaitiLocal given the Bayard Rustin Human Rights Award

“THE PROOF that one truly believes is in ac-tion.” This well-known quote from civil and la-bor rights activist Bayard Rustin serves as inspi-ration for members of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. Fittingly, the AFT Healthcare local was honored for its beliefs and actions with the Bayard Rustin Hu-man Rights Award at the union’s Human Rights Luncheon during the AFT convention in July.

After seeing the destruction and death caused by the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, members of the VFNHP were determined to help. In the days following the quake, many members and their colleagues volunteered to be part of the medi-cal relief effort in Haiti. The nurses, doctors, paramedics, and physical and occupational therapists exhausted their vacation and per-sonal leave to rotate in and out of the country for nearly a year.

“Bayard was a lifelong champion for eco-

nomic and social justice here and beyond our shores,” said AFT president Randi Weingarten. “The award goes to those who personify his ideals and commitment. So, when we thought about who to honor this year, we looked to the work of the VFNHP.”

“This tragedy reminded us that natural di-sasters—wherever they occur—have the power to touch us all,” said Weingarten, who presented the award to Mari Cordes, the local’s current president, and former president Jennifer Henry.

The VFNHP made a long-term commitment to the people of Haiti by establishing a union-run health clinic for women and children in Port-au-Prince. The members worked closely with the Confederation of Public and Private Sector Workers (a Haitian trade union also known as the CTSP), Public Services Inter-national, and PSI’s affiliate in Haiti to get the clinic off the ground. Funds from the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, the New York State United

Teachers and the AFT, as well as individual dona-tions, helped to finance the clinic, aptly named the Workers’ Solidarity Clinic. The facility opened its doors in August 2011.

The humanitarian work of VFNHP members not only has changed lives of people in Haiti, it also has changed the lives of the nurses and health professionals who have volunteered, said Cordes. “Being so transformed through our experience, we can accept this award with a much deeper understanding of how an injury to one is an injury to all.”

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Mari Cordes (left), current president of the Vermont Fed-eration of Nurses and Health Professionals, and Jennifer Henry, former president.

Coalition seeks to move anti-worker group out of New JerseyA new report shows conservative organization’s influence in the state

EARLIER THIS YEAR, a number of major cor-porate funders, including Coca-Cola, Intuit, Kraft, McDonald’s and Pepsi, cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC, a nationwide organization designed to push a pro-corporate conservative agenda in state leg-islatures, has faced well-deserved criticism for promoting model legislation that undermines

public health services, limits voting rights, and privatizes govern-ment services at a cost to taxpayers.

“We are all affected

by ALEC and its extreme legislative agenda, whether it’s focused on voter ID, defunding public healthcare services, or privatizing public services,” says AFT vice president Ann Twomey, who heads New Jersey’s AFT-affiliated Health Professionals and Allied Employees. “The leg-islation hurts those we represent in the com-munity at large.”

The ALEC agenda prompted HPAE to head up a broad coalition to encourage New Jersey-based corporations to end their membership in ALEC.

On Oct. 1, representatives of the New Jersey ALEC Exposed Coalition held a press confer-ence to unveil a new report showing the in-fluence of ALEC on the New Jersey political process. The new report, “ALEC in New Jersey: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests in the Halls of New Jersey’s Legislature”—which was jointly produced by the Center for Media and Democracy, Common Cause, People For the American Way Foundation, and Progress Now—shows how legislation written by ALEC lobbyists has been introduced or enacted into law in New Jersey.

“There have been a surprising number of bills promoted by ALEC in the New Jersey state

Legislature,” Twomey says. “Fortunately, we have a Democratic majority in the Assembly and the Senate. But we have a governor who would support the ALEC agenda.”

The work of the coalition to pressure New Jersey-based corporations likely pushed the pharmaceutical giant Merck to decide not to renew its ALEC membership next year. Mem-bers of the coalition sent letters to the CEO of Merck and had a chance to speak with company leadership to discuss its participation in ALEC. Merck ultimately joined the numerous corpora-tions, nonprofits and elected officials who have resigned from the organization this year.

The coalition’s job is not done, says Twomey. There are at least four more corporations that the coalition is targeting—Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo, Honeywell and Novartis. Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company based in Bridgewa-ter, N.J., that was on the coalition’s list dropped its ALEC membership just before the press conference.

“We are happy to talk to the CEOs of these corporations, but we will put more public pres-sure on them if they don’t end their member-ship in ALEC,” Twomey says. “This is an impor-tant fight and one we plan to win.”TI

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HPAE president Ann twomey at a press conference unveiling a report showing the influence of ALEC on the New Jersey politcal process.

THE 2010 MIDTERM ELECTIONS produced a newly divided Congress, as Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives while Democrats maintained a slim majority in the Senate. From the outset of the 112th Congress, it was clear that both par-ties’ agendas were drawn up with an eye toward the rapidly approaching 2012 presidential election and hopes of gaining control of Congress or, at a minimum, maintaining control of their respective houses. These dynamics set the stage for one of the most polarized and least productive congressional sessions in U.S. history. In fact, during the first session of the 112th Congress, the House and the Senate each passed fewer bills than any Congress since 1947, when the compilation of statistics about lawmaking activity began.

The record of the current Congress stands in marked contrast to its predecessor. On the brink of a recession that was nearing the depths of the Great Depression, Demo-cratic majorities in the House and Senate worked with then newly elected president Barack Obama to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This plan assisted struggling Americans and eased draconian cuts to public services at the state and local levels, helping bring the country back from the brink of economic disaster. The ARRA prevented layoffs of thousands of educators and other public employees. The previous Congress also passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which made historic reforms to our healthcare system in the face of fierce Republican opposition.

For the 112th Congress, partisanship has been the strategy of choice. In the House, the leadership has worked to obstruct, block or undo most, if not all, of the president’s pro-gressive and proactive agenda. As its first order of business after regaining control of the House, the Republican majority voted to repeal the ACA, subsequently voting to repeal all or part of it more than 30 times. Repealing the ACA would, among other things, cause 1.2 million young adults to lose healthcare coverage, cause 2.7 million senior citizens to pay more for prescription drugs, and make it easier for private insurance companies to deny coverage or limit care. A similar effort in the Senate to repeal the ACA failed.

As part of an ideological push to reduce the role of the federal government, the House of Representatives in spring 2011 passed the budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). If enacted, this budget would cut education and programs serving low-income Americans while replacing the traditional Medicare program with a federal voucher plan. Despite historic cuts to state budgets and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, House and Senate Republicans blocked efforts in their respective chambers to bring up the American Jobs Act (AJA). The AJA represents the president’s plan to grow the economy by investing in repairing and upgrading our crumbling infrastructure and creating as many as 2 million new jobs.

Whatever the outcome of the November elections, the 112th Congress will return to Washington to complete some of its unfinished work in a lame-duck session. Decisions about whether to extend portions of the expiring Bush tax cuts and how to avert billions in required cuts (equally split between defense and domestic programs) through a process called “sequestration” are but a few of the monumental issues that will need to be ad-dressed after the election. This Voting Record, spanning 2010-12, contains a selection of votes that are especially important for AFT members, the institutions in which we work and the people we serve. It provides a summary of how your elected representatives in Congress voted on key issues. Votes are listed as right (R) or wrong (W) according to the AFT position on each issue. Party affiliation (D=Democrat, R=Republican or I=Independent) follows each member’s name. The Voting Record was prepared by the AFT department of legislation. It is available online at www.aft.org/votes.

of the 112th Congress1. Repealing Healthcare Reform: House

republicans made repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable care Act (AcA) their first priority after winning the majority in the 2010 elections. The AcA, as signed by President Obama, improves access to affordable healthcare coverage and provides consumer protections. If the AcA were repealed, 1.2 million young adults would lose healthcare coverage, and 2.7 million senior citizens would have to pay more for prescription drugs and would lose free preventive services. In addition, a repeal would end measures to control healthcare costs and to prevent private insurance companies from denying coverage or limiting care. A bill to repeal the AcA, H.r. 2, was passed by the House on jan. 19, 2011, by a vote of 245-189. A no vote is a right vote.

2. Spending Cuts: The vote on this resolution required that the fiscal year 2011 budget reduce federal spending to 2008 levels. This action translated into massive cuts to education, healthcare, environmental programs, workplace safety measures, enforcement of wage protections and other AFT priority programs. The resolution was passed by the House on jan. 25, 2011, by a vote of 256-165. A no vote is a right vote.

3. National Labor Relations board: rep. Tom Price (r-Ga.) offered an amendment to H.r. 1, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, which would defund the National Labor relations board for the remainder of 2011. This would further the republican attack on workers’ rights and protections. The amendment failed on Feb. 17, 2011, by a vote of 176-250. A no vote is a right vote.

4. Davis-bacon Wage Protections: The federal prevailing wage law, Davis-bacon, ensures that workers on federally funded construction projects are paid comparably to local “prevailing wage” rates. It prevents contractors from low-balling bids and undercutting local workers. rep. Steve King (r-Iowa) offered an amend-ment to H.r. 1, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, that would have repealed the Davis-bacon prevailing wage law. The amendment failed on Feb. 19, 2011, by a vote of 189-233. A no vote is a right vote.

House votes

The Voting record is also available online at www.aft.org/votes.

5. Ryan budget: The AFT opposed the budget authored by rep. Paul ryan (r-Wis.) for fiscal year 2012. The budget, H.con.res. 34, would cut $6.2 trillion in government spending over the next 10 years, with two-thirds of the proposed cuts made in education and programs serving low-income Americans. The plan also would destroy the traditional medicare program, replacing it with a federal voucher plan, and convert medicaid into a block grant that would threaten healthcare coverage for 14 million seniors and people with disabili-ties, and 30 million children. The ryan budget passed 236-193 on April 15, 2011. A no vote is a right vote.

6. Fair union Elections: Despite its name, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.r. 3094) would give companies more power to erode union support. H.r. 3094 would open the door to a host of obstacles to forming a union, such as longer delays in elections, rampant employer intimidation against employees interested in forming a union, and retaliatory job losses for workers interested in organizing. H.r. 3094 passed in the House by a vote of 235-188 on Nov. 30, 2011. A no vote is a right vote.

7. Ryan budget II: The AFT opposed the budget authored by rep. Paul ryan (r-Wis.) for fiscal year 2013. The budget, H.con.res. 112, prioritized tax breaks for upper-income Americans and corpora-tions, while dramatically cutting discre-tionary funds that support education, training and health initiatives that are essential to educating our children and helping our economy grow. The budget included specific proposals in the area of financial aid that would make obtaining a higher education more difficult and expensive. In particular, the budget allowed for the federal student loan interest rate to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. The budget moved to destroy the traditional medicare program by privatizing and “voucherizing” it, and by raising the medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. The ryan budget passed 228-191 on march 29, 2012. A no vote is a right vote.

VOTe KeY:r Member’s position agrees with AFT positionW Member’s position disagrees with AFT positionX Member did not cast a yea or nay voteI Member was ineligible to voteP Member voted present

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CAliForniABaca (D) r r r r r r rBass, K. (D) r r r r r r rBecerra (D) r r r r r r rBerman (D) r r r r r r rBilbray (r) W W W W W W WBono Mack (r) W W W W W W WCalvert (r) W W W W W W WCampbell (r) W W W W W W WCapps (D) r r r r r r rCardoza (D) r r r r r r rChu (D) r r r r r r rCosta (D) r W r r r r rDavis, S. (D) r r r r r r rDenham (r) W W W W W W WDreier (r) W W W W W X WEshoo (D) r r r r r r rFarr (D) r r r r r r rFilner (D) r r r r r r XGallegly (r) W W W W W W WGaramendi (D) r r r r r r rHahn (D) i i i i i r rHarman (D) r r X X i i iHerger (r) W W W W W W WHonda (D) r X r r r r rHunter (r) W W W W W W Wissa (r) W W W W W W Wlee (D) r r r r r r rlewis, Jerry (r) W W W W W W Wlofgren (D) r r r r r r rlungren (r) W W W W W W WMatsui (D) r r r r r r rMcCarthy, K. (r) W W W W W W WMcClintock (r) W W W W W W WMcKeon (r) W W W W W W WMcnerney (D) r r r r r r rMiller, George (D) r r r r r r rMiller, Gary (r) W W W W W W Wnapolitano (D) r r r r r r rnunes (r) W W W W W W WPelosi (D) r r r r r r Xrichardson (D) r r r r r r rrohrabacher (r) W W W W W W Wroybal-Allard (D) r r r r r r rroyce (r) W W W W W W WSánchez, linda (D) r r r r r r rSanchez, loretta (D) r r r r r r rSchiff (D) r r r r r r rSherman (D) r r r r r r rSpeier (D) r r r r r r rStark (D) r r r X r r rThompson, M. (D) r r r r r r rWaters (D) r X r r r r rWaxman (D) r r r r r r rWoolsey (D) r r r r r r rColorADoCoffman (r) W W W W W W W

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DeGette (D) r r r r r r rGardner (r) W W W W W W Wlamborn (r) W W W W W W WPerlmutter (D) r r r r r r rPolis (D) r r r r r r rTipton (r) W W W W W W WConnECTiCuTCourtney (D) r r r r r r rDelauro (D) r r r r r r rHimes (D) r r r r r r rlarson, J. (D) r r r r r r rMurphy, C. (D) r r r r r r rDElAWArECarney (D) r r r r r r rGuAMBordallo (D) i i i i i i iillinoiSBiggert (r) W W r r W W WCostello (D) r W r X r r rDavis, D. (D) r r r r r r rDold (r) W W r r W W WGutierrez (D) r r r r r X rHultgren (r) W W r r W W WJackson, J. (D) r r r r r r XJohnson, Timothy (r) W W r r W r WKinzinger (r) W W r r W W Wlipinski (D) r W r r r r rManzullo (r) W W W W W W WQuigley (D) r W r r r r rroskam (r) W W r r W W Wrush (D) r r r r r r rSchakowsky (D) r X r r r r rSchilling (r) W W r r W W WSchock (r) W W r r W W WShimkus (r) W W W r W W WWalsh (r) W W W r W W WKAnSASHuelskamp (r) W W W W W W rJenkins (r) W W W W W W WPompeo (r) W W W W W W WYoder (r) W W W W W W WlouiSiAnAAlexander, r. (r) W W W r W W WBoustany (r) W W W W W W WCassidy (r) W W W W W W WFleming (r) W W W W W W Wlandry, J. (r) W W W W W W Wrichmond (D) r r r r r r rScalise (r) W W W W W W WMAinEMichaud (D) r r r r r r rPingree (D) r r r r r r XMArYlAnDBartlett (r) W W W W W W WCummings (D) r r r r r r rEdwards (D) r r r r r r rHarris (r) W W W W W W W

NOVember / December 2012 | HeALTHWIre 5

The Voting record is also available online at www.aft.org/votes.

6 HeALTHWIre | NOVember / December 2012

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Hoyer (D) r r r r r r rruppersberger (D) r r r r r r rSarbanes (D) r r r r r r rVan Hollen (D) r r r r r r rMinnESoTABachmann (r) W W W W W X WCravaack (r) W W r r W W WEllison (D) r r r r r r rKline, J. (r) W W r W W W WMcCollum (D) r r r X r r rPaulsen (r) W W W W W W WPeterson (D) r W r r r r rWalz (D) r r r r r r rMonTAnA

rehberg (r) W W r r r W rnEW JErSEYAndrews (D) r r r r r r rFrelinghuysen (r) W W W W W W WGarrett (r) W W W W W W WHolt (D) r r r r r r rlance (r) W W r r W W WloBiondo (r) W W r r W r WPallone (D) r r r r r r rPascrell (D) r r r r r r rPayne (D) r X r r r r irothman (D) r r r r r r rrunyan (r) W W r r W r WSires (D) r r r r r r rSmith, C. (r) W W r r W r WnEW YorKAckerman (D) r r r r r r rBishop, T. (D) r r r r r r rBuerkle (r) W W W W W W WClarke (D) r r r r r r rCrowley (D) r r X r r r rEngel (D) r r r r r r rGibson, C. (r) W W r r W W rGrimm (r) W W r r W r WHanna (r) W W r r W W WHayworth (r) W W W W W W WHiggins (D) r r r r r r rHinchey (D) r X r r r r XHochul (D) i i i i i r risrael (D) r r r r r r rKing, P. (r) W W r r W r Wlee, C. (r) W W i i i i ilowey (D) r r r r r r rMaloney (D) r r r r r r rMcCarthy, C. (D) r r r r r r rMeeks, G. (D) r r r r X r Xnadler (D) r r r r r r rowens (D) r r r r r r rrangel (D) r r r r r r Xreed, T. (r) W W r W W W WSerrano (D) r r r r r r rSlaughter (D) r r r r r r rTonko (D) r r r r r r r

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Towns (D) r r r r r r rTurner, B. (r) i i i i i W WVelázquez (D) r r r r r r rWeiner (D) r r r r r i ioHioAustria (r) W W W W W W WBoehner (r) W X X X X X XChabot (r) W W W W W W WFudge (D) r r r r r r rGibbs, B. (r) W W W W W W WJohnson, B. (r) W W r W W W WJordan (r) W W W W W W WKaptur (D) r X r r r r rKucinich (D) r r r r r r rlaTourette (r) W W r r W r Wlatta (r) W W W W W W Wrenacci (r) W W W W W W Wryan, T. (D) r r r r r r rSchmidt (r) W W W r W W WStivers (r) W W r r W W WSutton (D) r r r r r r rTiberi (r) W W r r W W WTurner (r) W W r r W W WorEGonBlumenauer (D) r r r r r r rBonamici (D) i i i i i i rDeFazio (D) r r r r r r rSchrader (D) r W r r r r rWalden (r) W W r r W W WWu (D) r r r r r i iPEnnSYlVAniAAltmire (D) r W r r r r rBarletta (r) W W r W W W WBrady, r. (D) r r r r r r rCritz (D) r r r r r r rDent (r) W W r W W W WDoyle (D) r r r r r r rFattah (D) r r r r r r rFitzpatrick (r) W W r r W W WGerlach (r) W W r r W W WHolden (D) r W r r r r rKelly (r) W W r r W W WMarino (r) W W W W W W WMeehan (r) W W r r W W WMurphy, T. (r) W W r r W W WPitts (r) W W W W W W WPlatts (r) W W W W W W rSchwartz (D) r r r r r r rShuster (r) W W X W W W WThompson, G. (r) W W W W W W WrHoDE iSlAnDCicilline (D) r r r r r r rlangevin (D) r r r r r r rTEXASBarton (r) W W W W W W rBrady, K. (r) W W W W W W WBurgess (r) W W W W W W W

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Canseco (r) W W W W W W WCarter (r) W W W W W W WConaway (r) W W W W W W WCuellar (D) r r r r r W rCulberson (r) W W W W W W WDoggett (D) r r r r r r rFarenthold (r) W W r W W W WFlores (r) W W W W W W WGohmert (r) W W W W W W WGonzalez (D) r r r r r r rGranger (r) W W W W W W WGreen, A. (D) r r r r r r rGreen, G. (D) r X r r r r rHall, r. (r) W W W W W W WHensarling (r) W W W W W W WHinojosa (D) r r r X r r rJackson lee (D) r r r r r r rJohnson, S. (r) W W W W W W WJohnson, E. (D) r r r r r r rMarchant (r) W W W W W W WMcCaul (r) W W W W W W Wneugebauer (r) W W W W W W Wolson (r) W W W W W W WPaul, ron (r) W W W X r X XPoe (r) W W W W W W Wreyes (D) r r r r r r rSessions, P. (r) W W W W W W WSmith, lamar (r) W W W X W W WThornberry (r) W W W W W W WVErMonTWelch (D) r r r r r r rWiSConSinBaldwin (D) r r r r r X rDuffy (r) W W r W W W WKind (D) r r r r r r rMoore (D) r r r r r r rPetri (r) W W r r W W Wribble (r) W W W W W W Wryan, P. (r) W W r r W W WSensenbrenner (r) W W r W W W W


NOVember / December 2012 | HeALTHWIre 7

Senate votes1. Repealing Healthcare Reform: Sen-

ate minority Leader mitch mcconnell (r-Ky.) offered an amendment to S. 223, the FAA Air Transportation mod-ernization and Safety Improvement Act, which would have repealed the Patient Protection and Affordable care Act (AcA). The AcA is an important law that expands access to affordable health insurance coverage to 32 million previously uninsured Americans (includ-ing young adults and children), lowers drug costs and provides consumer pro-tections. The amendment also would have repealed aid for community colleges and investments in Pell Grants. The amendment was rejected 47-51 on Feb. 2, 2011. A no vote is a right vote.

2. Davis-bacon Wage Protections: Dur-ing consideration of the FAA reauthori-zation bill, S. 223, Sen. rand Paul (r-Ky.) offered an amendment to ban the use of funds for the Davis-bacon wage pro-tections. The Davis-bacon Act provides that workers on public construction projects are paid a wage comparable to the local “prevailing wage” rate. repealing Davis-bacon would make it easier for contractors to low-ball bids and would undercut opportunities for skilled and trained workers. Sen. john rockefeller (D-W.Va.) offered an amendment to table Sen. Paul’s amend-ment on Feb. 3, 2011, and the rock-efeller amendment passed by a vote of 55-42. A yes vote is a right vote.

3. Funding for medicare/medicaid/Higher Education: This budget pro-posal for fiscal year 2012, which reflects the policies of rep. Paul ryan (r-Wis.), gave more to those who needed it the least and froze domestic spending at unrealistically low levels. This budget proposal would have slashed funding for medicaid, privatized medicare, and cut funding for critical education and social programs by $250 billion over the next 10 years. The Senate rejected the budget 40-57 on may 25, 2011. A no vote is a right vote.

4. American Jobs Act: To counter state budget cuts, President Obama pro-posed the American jobs Act (AjA) to create as many as 2 million new jobs, prevent 280,000 teachers from being laid off and rehire other educators who had lost their jobs. It also extended

unemployment insurance benefits to 5 million jobless Americans and provided investments in infrastruc-ture repair. republicans succeeded in blocking passage of the bill when a motion to end debate failed to get the necessary 60 votes on Oct. 11, 2011. The final vote on the AjA was 50-49. A yes vote is a right vote.

5. Teacher/First Responder Jobs: The Teachers and First responders back to Work Act provided $30 billion to help school districts prevent 280,000 ad-ditional teacher layoffs next year, hire additional school staff, and/or rehire the tens of thousands of teachers and other school employees who lost their jobs during the past three years. It also included $5 billion to keep thousands of police officers and firefighters on the job. Like the previous vote on the American jobs Act, republicans successfully blocked consideration of the bill when a Democratic effort to gain the 60 votes necessary to pro-ceed to the bill failed 50-50 on Oct. 20, 2011. A yes vote is a right vote.

6. Infrastructure/Jobs: On Nov. 3, 2011, the Senate considered a bill that would provide $50 billion for transporta-tion and infrastructure systems, plus $10 billion for a national infrastruc-ture bank to further support invest-ments. It was rejected by a vote of 51-40. A yes vote is a right vote.

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AFT Position: N Y N Y Y Y

CAliForniABoxer (D) r r r r r rFeinstein (D) r r r r r rColorADoBennet (D) r r r r r rudall, Mark (D) r r r r r rConnECTiCuTBlumenthal (D) r r r r r rlieberman (i) X r r r W WDElAWArECarper (D) r r r r r rCoons (D) r r r r r rillinoiSDurbin (D) r r r r r rKirk (r) W r W W W WKAnSASMoran, Jerry (r) W W W W W Wroberts (r) W W X W W WlouiSiAnAlandrieu, M. (D) r r r r r rVitter (r) W W W W W WMAinECollins (r) W W r W W WSnowe (r) W W r W W WMArYlAnDCardin (D) r r r r r rMikulski (D) r r r r r rMinnESoTAFranken (D) r r r r r rKlobuchar (D) r r r r r rMonTAnABaucus, M. (D) r r r r r rTester (D) r r r W r rnEW JErSEYlautenberg (D) r r r r r rMenendez (D) r r r r r rnEW YorKGillibrand (D) r r r r r rSchumer (D) r r X r r roHioBrown, Sherrod (D) r r r r r rPortman (r) W W W W W WorEGonMerkley (D) r r r r r rWyden (D) r r r r r rPEnnSYlVAniACasey (D) r r r r r rToomey (r) W W W W W WrHoDE iSlAnDreed, J. (D) r r r r r rWhitehouse (D) r r r r r rTEXASCornyn (r) W W W W W WHutchison (r) W W X W W WVErMonTleahy (D) r r r r r rSanders (i) r r r r r rWiSConSinJohnson, r. (r) W W W W W WKohl (D) r r r r r r



WHAT WILL BE THE FATE of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the millions of Americans who now have healthcare coverage under this legislation? Will young people and families continue to have access to Pell Grants and other college tuition assistance? And will right-wing governors and other elected officials feel emboldened to go after the bargaining rights of teachers and other public employees in a naked attempt to silence their voices?

These are questions that AFT members and others are pondering as they prepare to go to the polls on Nov. 6. Put simply, it’s a choice between President Obama’s vision of an America that cares for all of its people—the young, the old, the middle class and the most vulnerable—and Mitt Romney’s vision of a country whose guiding principle is survival of the fittest.

It’s a clear and stark choice for members like John Epple, a cytotechnologist in Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) member says he is sup-porting the president because he is worried about potential changes to Medicare and Social Security and wants to keep the Affordable Care Act in place. “It’s very important to get insurance coverage for as many people as possible,” says Epple. “I know the ACA is not perfect, but it is a starting point.” Epple has been participating in neighborhood canvassing and other political activities. Being part of a group that shares his beliefs is “uplifting” for Epple, who says he’s been much more politically active since the protests in Wisconsin. “This is an opportunity to spread our message in more ways than one,” he says.

Pat Forrai-Gunther, a school nurse in Cleve-land, spends many afternoons with other mem-bers of the Cleveland Teachers Union phone banking on behalf of President Obama. Forrai-Gunther says she is supporting the president because he champions the middle class, work-ing families and children. “He supports getting children good healthcare, and that is evidenced by the Affordable Care Act. As a school nurse, that’s important to me.”

WFNHP member Karen Haglund has come full circle. Haglund is a former Republican who never paid much attention to politics until she got involved in her union. Haglund, a mental health nurse in Milwaukee County, did not vote for Obama in 2008, but she says she has grown to like him over the last four years. This year, she is canvassing and phone banking with the WFNHP in an effort to get the president re-elected.

Haglund and her family have been hit hard by the economy, but she believes things are get-ting better. “I’ve been paying attention to the numbers, and I think Obama is doing the right

thing.” She is also pleased that the Affordable Care Act has helped her adult children. And as a mental health nurse, she worries about Paul Ryan’s plan to convert Medicaid and Medicare to a voucher program. “They don’t have a clue how many people these programs are helping,” says Haglund.

Talking about what’s at stake

Thousands of AFT activists are talking to friends and family about what’s at stake this election.

Cynthia Wynn, president of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Association, has volun-teered at the Obama for America phone bank in her Milwaukee neighborhood. As a public defender, Wynn wants to preserve the social safety net and is concerned about Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and services for the mentally ill. “I’m also very concerned about the horrible positions the Republican Party has taken on women’s issues,” she says.

Bruce Ewan teaches economics at Wayne County Community College in Michigan, where he is active in the WCCC Federation of Teachers. He is mobilizing colleagues to vote and to talk to other members one-on-one. The conversations are about re-electing Obama and, especially im-portant in Michigan, about passing Proposal 2, which guarantees collective bargaining rights in the state constitution.

Retiree Tom Luvison spends most after-noons helping manage a phone bank at the Cleveland Teachers Union offices. In addition to the usual issues that concern seniors—health-care, Medicare, a decent retirement—Luvison wants to help preserve the middle class for his grandchildren.

“We are at a crossroads,” he says. “Do we

AFT members are staffing phone banks and going door to door in an effort to help re-elect President Obama

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Milwaukee County mental health nurse Karen Haglund, right, going door to door in wisconsin on behalf of President Obama.

For more information,visit http://www.aft.org/election2012


want a progressive agenda that cares for the majority of people and tries to include them in social programs that promote the general welfare?” Or, Luvison asks, do we want a Romney administration that would steer the country toward privatization and an attitude he describes as “you have to survive on your own”?

The way Ken Goodfriend sees it, this year’s election is about choosing between two very different views of the future—es-pecially when it comes to healthcare for seniors.

Goodfriend, a retired member of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, is concerned that under “a President Romney,” changes made to Medicare and other healthcare programs would have a negative effect on senior citizens.

Goodfriend, who now lives in Boca

Raton, Fla., is an active member of his Florida retiree chapter. He’s been helping coordinate the chapter’s phone banks and letter-writing campaign, where he and his colleagues are encouraging other retirees to vote for Presi-dent Obama either by using the “early voting” option or by casting absentee ballots.

Across the country, AFT members are ac-tively working in local and state campaigns and, of course, in the presidential election, to get out the vote for candidates who support working Americans and the middle class.

THIS eLecTION DAY, Nov. 6, AFT members face a critical choice about the future of our country. Important issues define this election—economic fairness, restoring the middle class, the future of our public schools, the right of employees to have a voice in the workplace, and healthcare.

President Obama and Joe Biden have a track record of fighting for the middle class, stand-ing up for workers’ rights and protecting medicare and Social Security; their priorities stand in sharp contrast to the agenda of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Jobs and the economyMitt Romney and Paul Ryan opposed the Obama administration’s emergency loans to the U.S. auto industry that ultimately saved 1.4 million jobs. And romney and ryan have repeated their intention to cut funding for police officers, firefighters and teachers.

by contrast, President Obama entered office determined to pull our economy out of the worst recession since the Great Depres-sion. He not only helped save 1.4 million jobs in the auto industry, but also championed the American recovery and reinvestment Act, protecting critical public services and saving or creating approximately 400,000 education and public service jobs.

Romney and Ryan would increase taxes on the middle class by $1,300 per family while providing millionaires with an average annual

tax break of more than $200,000. President Obama supports making corporations and the richest 2 percent of Americans pay their fair share, and would extend tax cuts for middle-class families.

Workers’ VoiceMitt Romney has a demonstrated record of trying to break unions, both as governor of massachusetts and as ceO of bain capital. He supported efforts in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin to end collective bargaining for public employees, and he promises to use the U.S. Department of education to “push back” against teachers unions.

President Obama opposed the attacks on workers in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wiscon-sin, and he supports public employee collective bargaining.

educationRomney and Ryan want to cut education funding by 20 percent, and they oppose ef-forts to reduce class sizes. President Obama provided more than $25 billion to keep edu-cators on the job and class sizes from grow-

ing, and to protect against cuts in courses and programs.

Under the Romney-Ryan budget plan, 1 million fewer students would be eligible for Pell Grants over the next 10 years, greatly restricting higher education access. President Obama doubled funding for Pell Grants, result-ing in 3 million new grant recipients.

Healthcare and MedicareMitt Romney has vowed to repeal President Obama’s landmark Patient Protection and Affordable care Act, which would leave more than 30 million Americans without insurance and permit insurance companies to deny healthcare coverage to people who have pre-existing conditions.

Romney supports a plan that would voucherize medicare, doubling out-of-pocket costs for seniors. President Obama opposes ef-forts to turn medicare into a voucher, and has expanded coverage for seniors by closing the medicare “doughnut hole,” thereby making prescription drugs more affordable.

On issue after issue, the choice is clear. that is why the AFt has endorsed the re-election of President Barack Obama.

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Above: From left, Cleveland teachers Union mem-bers Pat Forrai-Gunther, susie Rice and Elaine Ebose at a CtU phone bank. At right: AFt president Randi weingarten makes a few calls at the CtU phone bank.

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eaCH YeaR, MORe THaN 1 million healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) oc-cur in a variety of healthcare settings; in hos-pitals alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 20 hospitalized patients has an HAI. These in-fections can be devastating and even deadly, and they add tremendously to the cost of healthcare.

“Germs are evolving and are very difficult to treat because the antibiotics to treat them haven’t been developed,” says Karen Hilmy, infection preventionist at the Greater Bing-hamton Health Center in New York. “The drugs that once seemed like miracles could someday, and someday soon, be useless. We can no longer limit ourselves to treating in-fections, due to resistance, but must prevent the development of infection.”

For example, when there was a deadly out-break of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., last year, staff struggled to contain it.

A patient from New York City carrying a multidrug-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a germ frequently associated with hospital-borne infections, introduced the dangerous bacteria into the 243-bed re-search hospital in the summer of 2011. De-spite enhanced infection control practices, including patient isolation, the germ began to spread to other Clinical Center patients at an alarming rate.

The infection control team used increas-ingly aggressive strategies to stop the infec-tion from spreading. They used a vapor of hydrogen peroxide to sanitize rooms, and re-moved sinks and drains where the germ had been detected. They also limited the activities of hospital staff and the use of equipment that had been exposed to infected patients so the germ wouldn’t spread to uninfected patients.

Ultimately, the outbreak was contained, but only after 11 patients had died.

“Infection-control specialists need a facil-itywide support system. No one person can engineer away the infections we are seeing in hospitals today,” says Hilmy. “Keeping hospi-tals infection-free is the job of every health-care professional. As professionals, we need to chip in and do our part too. It takes a team approach.”

There are ways that healthcare workers can help their hospitals combat “superbugs,” and many of the hospitals where AFT Healthcare represents members are doing these things, including using hand hygiene procedures and personal protective equipment, and provid-ing proper training and education for patients and staff on the appropriate use of antibiotics.

“Infection is preventable, not inevitable,” says Hilmy. “It sounds like a cliché, but it’s the truth.”

No superbugs here

“Luckily, we haven’t seen superbugs in our hospitals, but we are aware of them and hav-ing that awareness allows us to be proactive,” says Deb Snell, a registered nurse at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt. A nurse for 12 years, Snell is a member of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Profession-als (VFNHP).

She says the health professionals at Fletch-er Allen encounter infections found in hospi-tals like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant entero-cocci (VRE) and gram-negative bacteria.

Snell splits her time between the inten-sive care unit and the infection prevention department. Being on the frontlines gives her an opportunity to see how infection control practices are working or, in some cases, not working. “It’s nice to divide my time between two completely different places, and it’s very

You might hear about one particular organism, but there are others out there that are just as pathogenic.

—NANCy DuPONT, Infection control Specialist

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Proactive efforts that involve all healthcare workers often aid infection prevention


eye-opening,” says Snell. Snell is one of two part-time infection

prevention nurses in the department. “We have the support to capture information we need. That allows us to have a good handle on what’s happening in the hospital.”

The AFT member points to the hospital’s infection prevention advocate program as one of the reasons the hospital’s infection rate is under control. The program was started in 2009; it is completely voluntary and open to all staff. The volunteers who take part are given intensive training on in-fection control practices. “The advocates are out on the hospital floor keeping an eye out for things, and they are trusted resources for the infection prevention department,” says Snell. “Having the program has really stepped up the vigilance in the hospital.”

Infection prevention nurses also work closely with the hospital’s pathology and laboratory medicine staff to stay on top of lab work. “The staff will call us if they find anything suspicious or notice an infection trend,” says Snell.

Last year, the state used money it re-ceived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help its hospitals and local health departments reduce multidrug-resistant organisms in their facilities. To this end, the infection control unit at Fletcher Allen collaborates with long-term health-care facilities in the area to monitor patients who are transported frequently back and forth to and from the hospital and may carry infections with them.

The VFNHP also has played a role in keeping the infection rate down at Fletcher Allen. During the most recent contract negotiations between the VFNHP and the hospital, the local’s negotiating team used data gathered by its infection control nurses

to show how nurse staffing affects infection rates. “Moving nurses from unit to unit and using traveling nurses causes infection rates to go up,” says Snell. “Being able to present that data to hospital administration helped support our goal of keeping nurse staffing ratios up.”

be proactive

Nancy Dupont, an infection control special-ist at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington and a member of the University Health Professionals, says super-bugs are a significant issue and are a major focus of all of infection control practices.

Dupont notes that while some specific organisms like MRSA and Clostridium dif-ficile have a higher prevalence in hospitals, no place is completely safe. “We may have them controlled here, but infections travel. No institution is safe from having infections.

Patients and visitors may have the organism but not be sick, and they can still pass the organism on,” she says. “It’s a sticking point in infection control. And you might hear about one particular organism, but there are others out there that are just as pathogenic.”

One of the best ways to combat infec-tions is to be proactive, says Dupont. The Health Center has been working with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and they have established an Antibiotic Stewardship Committee. The committee

is charged with monitoring the use of an-tibiotics in healthcare facilities—an issue that relates to the development of drug-resistant infections—to determine if they are being used appropriately and to limit the frequency of their use. The committee also wants to educate patients about not relying on antibiotics. “We have to be more thoughtful and judicious about prescribing antibiotics,” says Dupont.

As infection preventionist Hilmy notes, being proactive also means teaching staff about good hand hygiene and the proper use of protective equipment, and educating patients and visitors about containing infec-tions—such as explaining why it’s important for everyone to wash their hands.

As in most hospitals, Dupont and her colleagues encourage everyone to follow CDC guidelines that promote good hand hygiene, and they also educate staff about

the different infections, provide resources for patients and their families, and advocate for adequate staffing ratios.

“Our role is to support our colleagues and provide them with comprehensive infection control education,” says Dupont. “We have our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the hospital every day. The biggest benefit for us is being on the units, working on the frontlines, to show how we can prevent infections.”

—ADRIENNE COLES

We have the support to capture the information we need. That allows us to have a good handle on what’s happening in the hospital.

—DEb SNELL, Infection Prevention Nurse

deb snell, left, a member of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Profession-als, splits her time between working in infection preven-tion and intensive care at Fletcher Allen Health Care. A

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CT Sharon Palmer, an AFT vice president and president of AFT

Connecticut, was named commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor on Aug. 28. As a union leader, Palmer successfully fought for a change in state law that expanded access to affordable healthcare by allowing municipalities, small businesses and nonprofits to par-ticipate in the state employee health plan. And through her leadership, the licensed practical nurse adult education program was restored in state vocational-technical schools. “Sharon Palmer is a passion-ate champion for all working people,” AFT president Randi Weingarten says.

IL With impressive solidarity, teachers and paraprofessionals represented

by the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike for nine days beginning Sept. 10, returning to the classroom only after their voices had been heard. They ratified the new contract Oct. 4, as soon as all mem-bers had a chance to review it. CTU presi-dent Karen Lewis and her leadership team “made clear that their concerns go beyond wages and benefits to include all the issues affecting their students’ education,” says AFT president Randi Weingarten. The strike came on the heels of numer-ous steps that left CTU members feeling disrespected, she adds, and only after negotiations failed to lead to an agree-

ment that would give CTU members the tools they need to help all their students succeed.

WI A judge in Dane County, Wis., has struck down the main portions of

Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union law, which stripped Wisconsin public employees of their right to collectively bargain. Judge Juan Colas ruled on Sept. 14 that Act 10—which Walker signed into law in March 2011—violated both the state constitu-tion and the U.S. Constitution because it infringes on employees’ rights to free speech, association and equal protection.

“This is a good day for Wisconsin’s working people and the union move-ment,” says Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “When workers choose to join together for mutual aid and protec-tion, their employer should honor their choice, come to the table, and discuss wages and working conditions.”

Rep. Peter Barca, the Democratic mi-nority leader in the state Assembly, calls the ruling a huge victory for workers and free speech. “This decision will help re-establish the balance between employees and their employers.” Walker has said he will appeal the decision, and some legal experts are predicting that the case will end up being resolved by the state Supreme Court.

The judge’s decision covers mu-nicipal and county workers.

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the strike by the Chicago teachers Union resonated with teachers and parents across the nation.

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while wisconsin employees could not shame legislators into shunning Gov. scott walker’s union-busting law, a judge ruled it unconstitutional.

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The 2013 AFT Healthcare- AFT Public Employees Joint ConferenceApril 25-27, 2013 Baltimore, Md

SAVE THE DATE

KamaliKulture fashion collection is giving AFT members a 25 percent discount on all purchases, at kamalikulture.com. Sales code: AFT2012

healthwire, november/december 2012, ground game · copy editors jennifer chang production manager...

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