will universal healthcare ( in the usa) cut RN pay?

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I been hearing this debate off and on for a long time about how if Obama gets universal healthcare to go ( if he gets elected of course)though in the US that nursing pay will be cut dramatically. I would think this has to do with the fact that we would all be working for the government and that there will no longer be competition. There are many people in my nursing class that said they will leave nursing if thats the case. I also talked to several doctors that said the same thing about medicine in general. Im just curious if anyone has some good info about this. Thanks

I've had to make the same tough decisions. The decision I made was to stay with my parents instead of moving out on my own with 2 young children. I couldn't afford it. So I worked, paid for insurance, and went to school at night. I was lucky to have my parents around to help with childcare in the evenings. I ended up postponing school because I knew that I couldn't handle the stress of divorce, single mother of 2 kids, NS, and a fulltime job.

Again, a few years later, I simply wanted to get childcare assistance so I could go back to work. Childcare is just so expensive. I was living with my DH and we didn't qualify for childcare assistance. I eventually found a job that we would work with our schedules around, but it meant that my daughters spent half the week with my parents or their dad. We made it work.

Now 5 years later, we have another child. I work fulltime to provide insurance for them. I bring home about $100 a week after childcare and insurance is taken out. Then spend $50 to get to work. So I work for about $50 a week. Doesn't seem worth it but it is, it's worth it to have the peace of mind knowing that my kids have insurance. I'm still 100% against UHC because I do not want the gov't to invade my privacy like that. And that's how I feel about UHC and gov't provided healthcare, it is an invasion. I'm also back in school, applying NS Fall 09, I will be doing everything online (except clinicals) because I don't have any family nearby to help with childcare.

So we all make choices based on our options. My personal belief is that if people had to stop depending on the gov't to bail them out and relied on themselves, families, and charities for assistance they would become productive members of society.

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you all need to watch Michael Moore's movie about health care insurance-"Sicko" I have worked in the UK and found their system to work really well. It is expensive,so they have high taxes,but they have one of the finest health care systems in the world and their babies do not die at the rate that ours do! "Sicko" did have some inflammatory and misleading statements,but a lot of it is true. Cuba does not spend much on health care,but it is free and they have many doctors,so preventive care accounts for their doing so well. We already have some universal health care with medicare and VA,and many states provide insurance for children of low income families., so I think it is very possible that we could have a universal health care system that would work. It would probably be provided by private companies as Medicare does. More and more private companies are not offering health care insurance or it's cost is so prohibitive that there is no money left for rent or food. And do not ever get a "pre-existing condition!" or you won't be able to get insurance at all. May as well commit suicide right now. I don't think a universal system would cut nurse pay any more than it is already. Whenever there is a glitch in the system,RN's take a cut in pay and LPN's get laid off ,historically. I have been a nurse for 32 yrs and over the years have had pay reductions across the board and pay raises across the board. I am on Medicare so we are ok,but i worry about the next generation.:no:

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Tennessee has a new program called CoverTN. It is not free healthcare but it's low cost healthcare for those that are eligible. You have to earn less than $43,000 a year. The premiums are based on age, obesity, and tobacco use. But it is limiting, if you have any serious health conditions you might as well not have insurance, it will only pay for 5-6 dr visits a year. They also have CoverKids, all kids are eligible but higher incomes have to pay $225 a month per child.

I personally wouldn't choose this (if I qualified) but it's there for those that need it. I'd be more inclined to agree to something like this than I would UHC or socialized medicine.

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Has anyone ever suggested legeslation that just makes private insurance more accessible? Maybe an independent reviewer of denied claims. Allowing for insurance company changes with no penalty for pre exiting conditions. Making rates for getting insurance outside of employers cheaper?

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Has anyone ever suggested legeslation that just makes private insurance more accessible? Maybe an independent reviewer of denied claims. Allowing for insurance company changes with no penalty for pre exiting conditions. Making rates for getting insurance outside of employers cheaper?

I think that would be a good start, however, I am not sure if that would really make it lower for anyone other than those with preexisting conditions.

Something has to happen with healthcare regulations, but unfortunatly, I have no clue as to what. I am just not sure UHC is the way to go.

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Specializes in Emergency.
Has anyone ever suggested legeslation that just makes private insurance more accessible? Maybe an independent reviewer of denied claims. Allowing for insurance company changes with no penalty for pre exiting conditions. Making rates for getting insurance outside of employers cheaper?

I wonder what percentage of our monthly premiums are used to pay the salaries for private insurance employees hired to deny a patients health insurance claims. I bet it's a huge amount and cutting out the extra "fat"' would be a start at lowering monthly premiums.

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i am not against programs into which everyone pays, but i am against some people paying and some not. i'm not even saying that each person should have to pay equally, but every person should pay something.

your money would be better spent if you just went to your local hospital and made a donation to their accounts receivable.

the point that pnhp and other single payer advocates make is just that. that we need to have everyone paying into the health care system. we already pay for wall to wall care but we don't get there.

a universal public system would be financed in the following way: the public funds already funneled to medicare and medicaid would be retained. the difference, or the gap between current public funding and what we would need for a universal health care system, would be financed by a payroll tax on employers (about 7%) and an income tax on individuals (about 2%). the payroll tax would replace all other employer expenses for employees’ health care, which would be eliminated. the income tax would take the place of all current insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket payments. for the vast majority of people, a 2% income tax is less than what they now pay for insurance premiums and out-of-pocket payments such as co-pays and deductibles, particularly if a family member has a serious illness. it is also a fair and sustainable contribution.

at http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php#socialized
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Now 5 years later, we have another child. I work fulltime to provide insurance for them. I bring home about $100 a week after childcare and insurance is taken out. Then spend $50 to get to work. So I work for about $50 a week. Doesn't seem worth it but it is, it's worth it to have the peace of mind knowing that my kids have insurance. I'm still 100% against UHC because I do not want the gov't to invade my privacy like that. And that's how I feel about UHC and gov't provided healthcare, it is an invasion. I'm also back in school, applying NS Fall 09, I will be doing everything online (except clinicals) because I don't have any family nearby to help with childcare.

So we all make choices based on our options. My personal belief is that if people had to stop depending on the gov't to bail them out and relied on themselves, families, and charities for assistance they would become productive members of society.

I am gald that you gotten to go to school. Not everyone has a supportive family that will help them like yours helped you. Undoubtedly personal initiative should be a factor but how can people become productive members of society if they do not have the tools to do so? (IOW educational and vocational skills.)

Is national health insurance 'socialized medicine'?

No. Socialized medicine is a system in which doctors and hospitals work for and draw salaries from the government. Doctors in the Veterans Administration and the Armed Services are paid this way. The health systems in Great Britain and Spain are other examples. But in most European countries, Canada, Australia and Japan they have socialized health insurance, not socialized medicine. The government pays for care that is delivered in the private (mostly not-for-profit) sector. This is similar to how Medicare works in this country. Doctors are in private practice and are paid on a fee-for-service basis from government funds. The government does not own or manage medical practices or hospitals.

The term socialized medicine is often used to conjure up images of government bureaucratic interference in medical care. That does not describe what happens in countries with national health insurance where doctors and patients often have more clinical freedom than in the U.S., where bureaucrats attempt to direct care.

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why do people think that UHC would mean the gov't interfering in their health care / OR THINK THAT GOV'T DOES NOT DO THAT ALREADY? Medicare says what it will pay for and what it will not pay for and that limits what care you can get. Some states decide if certain care is cost-effective. For instance,my sister-in-law had PKD and was on dialysis. They were told that if they moved to Oregon,she would never be able to get a kidney transplant because of this. Also,the way insurance companies find out about pre-existing conditions. Like,if you have ever had high blood pressure,asthma or allergies you could be denied insurance. We need to do something-we are the richest,strongest nation on earth.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

I did watch it, and it did nothing to convince me to change my views. All it did was allow MM a chance for more Bush/Republican/Conservative bashing. More "Bush lied, children died!" sputum.

you all need to watch Michael Moore's movie about health care insurance-"Sicko" I have worked in the UK and found their system to work really well. It is expensive,so they have high taxes,but they have one of the finest health care systems in the world and their babies do not die at the rate that ours do! "Sicko" did have some inflammatory and misleading statements,but a lot of it is true. Cuba does not spend much on health care,but it is free and they have many doctors,so preventive care accounts for their doing so well. We already have some universal health care with medicare and VA,and many states provide insurance for children of low income families., so I think it is very possible that we could have a universal health care system that would work. It would probably be provided by private companies as Medicare does. More and more private companies are not offering health care insurance or it's cost is so prohibitive that there is no money left for rent or food. And do not ever get a "pre-existing condition!" or you won't be able to get insurance at all. May as well commit suicide right now. I don't think a universal system would cut nurse pay any more than it is already. Whenever there is a glitch in the system,RN's take a cut in pay and LPN's get laid off ,historically. I have been a nurse for 32 yrs and over the years have had pay reductions across the board and pay raises across the board. I am on Medicare so we are ok,but i worry about the next generation.:no:
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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

If you think your comments are in any way relevant to my call for grown women to control themselves and their lady partss enough to not get pregnant when they can't afford the child, then you misunderstood my point entirely.

I'm tired of people who make mistake after mistake, and expect everyone except themselves to come along and make everything right and rosy for them, allowing them to continue to make mistakes with no repercussions.

You are right..I made a mistake..I should have had a darn abortion and punish my child for making a mistake(I dont think of her as a mistake..I am truly blessed!).

But since I did have her...Let me quit nursing school...and get a second job, so I can pay even more in daycare because someone has to watch her for 16 hours a day while I work in a job that does not offer insurance..and good god if she gets sick, I'll just let her die...because then I will not only make too much in the eyes of government for her to get medical care and the day care. Hmm ok...let's say I work 2 jobs...paid 9/hr...Daycare charges 12$ an hour....YOU DO the math.

I'm tired of self righteous people who never make any wrong decisions in their life, slamming those who have made one wrong decision. :bow:Let me bow down to you for being perfect!

I am a smart individual. I have a degree already in CIS, and a business college degree in Accounting, but can not find a job to save my life. How foolish of me, asking for a little bit of help while I finish nursing school, so I CAN get out from under the system. Even the smartest of people make a wrong decision in their life...There is no reason to punish my child for my wrong decisions!

BTW..I dont know where you are at and the economy is...but jobs are just not being handed out on the streets...at least not ones that pay enough to support a family or offer health insurance.

(just a side...I was being VERY sarcastic about the abortion...I am so glad that to have my daughter...especially against the physicians belief I would never be able to have children.)

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I am simply amazed at how shallow a lot of we nurses have become. I graduated from nursing school in 1974 and was taught that nurses were the bravest working people on the face of the earth! We are not afraid to touch, care for, or assist anyone back to heahth; we do respect the diseases we come in contact with and use iniversal precautions to the best of our ability. I guess that is why I am apalled by the fear nurses my be experiencing if universal health care is enacted. I've heard nurses say that if Senator Obama is elected President this will cause nurses to loose their jobs or reduce their pay. My wife stated this is the very reason she made the decision last year to stop teaching nursing in the college of nursing, "that over the last 10 years nurses stopped thinking, cannot think for them selves, lack dedication and have no backbone." This is the same propaganda that WalMart is using to convince their employees not to vote for Obama. They say Obama will bring in unions which will reduce their pay and cause them to loose their jobs. (Say What? Get less pay than WalMart pays?; come on!) These politician are using the fear model to control less advid thinker and then confuse them with national security. They don't want you ask why all our jobs are being outsoursed out of the country. Why the government has borrowed over 12.5 trillion dollors from the SSA, the Federal Emp. Trust fund, the Railroad retirement fund and now the Military Retirement fund. Oh, I forgot, the only retirement fund that is untouchable is the Senators and Congressmens retirement fund. Nurses, you're worried about Universal Healthcare? I hope no one breaks a finger nail, that would surly cause an emotional break down. Universal Healthcare will make our jobs easier and reduce our guilt that we turned someone away who died just because they didn't have health coverage; and unions will help us nurses to be treated more humane. I hope this helps to put the bone back in our backs. Thank you for allowing me to share some of the area i've researched. Tommyw1016

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