Monday
Mar222010
Doctors For America Rejoice Following Passage Of Health Care Reform
Monday, March 22, 2010 at 2:57PM
By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service
Advocacy group Doctors For America expressed their excitement Monday over the passage of sweeping health care reform legislation the previous day. The doctors joined together from across the country in D.C. for a march and rally to congratulate the Senate and House for their work on health care reform.
“This legislation will go further and do more to fix the problems of the health care delivery system in my state then anything that I have seen proposed in the 27 years I’ve been here in the Senate,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) during a news conference for the association. “This is a great day for our country.”
The doctors, who wore patient identification bands to help associate themselves with their patients that are struggling with the cost of health care, will continue to urge the Senate to pass the reconciliation, which Bingaman says will be passed this week.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) warned that many new programs will have kinks in the beginning, but that health care reform is a monumental achievement for the nation.
“What you are seeing happen here is the beginning of an enormous change, it is not a change that is all done,’ said McDermott “We have to keep coming back and working on it just like we did with Medicare.”
The new reform should be treated like Medicare, according to McDermott, which has been amended every year since its enactment in 1965. One of the amendments that McDermott and Doctors For America pressed hope to create is a program to help future doctors, dentists and nurses with the ever rising cost of school for those fields.
“This bill tells all Americans who are suffering with chronic conditions, whose insurance companies set a lifetime or annual cap on their benefits, that those days are over this year,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) said.
Advocacy group Doctors For America expressed their excitement Monday over the passage of sweeping health care reform legislation the previous day. The doctors joined together from across the country in D.C. for a march and rally to congratulate the Senate and House for their work on health care reform.
“This legislation will go further and do more to fix the problems of the health care delivery system in my state then anything that I have seen proposed in the 27 years I’ve been here in the Senate,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) during a news conference for the association. “This is a great day for our country.”
The doctors, who wore patient identification bands to help associate themselves with their patients that are struggling with the cost of health care, will continue to urge the Senate to pass the reconciliation, which Bingaman says will be passed this week.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) warned that many new programs will have kinks in the beginning, but that health care reform is a monumental achievement for the nation.
“What you are seeing happen here is the beginning of an enormous change, it is not a change that is all done,’ said McDermott “We have to keep coming back and working on it just like we did with Medicare.”
The new reform should be treated like Medicare, according to McDermott, which has been amended every year since its enactment in 1965. One of the amendments that McDermott and Doctors For America pressed hope to create is a program to help future doctors, dentists and nurses with the ever rising cost of school for those fields.
“This bill tells all Americans who are suffering with chronic conditions, whose insurance companies set a lifetime or annual cap on their benefits, that those days are over this year,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL.) said.
Nursing shortage could hinder health care reform
Peter Buerhaus, RN, professor of Nursing, and Director said that the shortage of registered nurses began in 1998 and has continued to be the longest lasting shortage on record. He said the number of registered nurses continues to grow, but at a rate that is too slow to meet demand. Citing that less than one percent of American men and Latinos are RNs, Buerhaus said that an increase in RNs from those demographics would help alleviate the shortage.
Beth Ulrich, RN and Senior Vice President, surveyed nurses about presidential candidates’ positions on health care and nursing and found that while Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) received the highest endorsement, 31 percent of participants did not believe any candidate had an adequate reform plan.
Karen Donelan, Senior Scientist in Health Policy, surveyed public perception of the nursing field and found that the public views registered nurses in extremely high favor, second only to teachers. She said responses also showed that the public believes physicians are overpaid and nurses are underpaid, and that this contributes to the shortage of registered nurses.