AFT LEADER ON KY. PANEL ON HEALTH INSURANCE

Lee Jackson, president of AFT-Kentucky and vice chair of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council, is among 22 Kentuckians named to a special committee charged with revisiting the state’s health insurance program for public employees.

The panel will be examining all aspects of health insurance benefits available to public employees, says Jackson. Upon completion of its work, the committee, primarily made up of legislators and other elected officials, labor leaders and current and retired public employees, will provide recommendations to the Legislature.

In related news, a February telephone poll of 801 randomly selected state residents by Bluegrass Poll found that 85 percent oppose cuts or favor only a little decrease in public employee health insurance.

BILL WOULD LIMIT OVERTIME FOR NURSES

The AFT is lauding the introduction of the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act. The measure would prohibit hospitals and healthcare facilities that are Medicare providers from forcing nurses to work overtime, except in cases of an official state emergency.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced the bill in February. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio).

AFT locals have successfully lobbied for state laws limiting forced overtime for nurses. Successful campaigns include Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and Oregon.

HOUSE PASSES FLAWED JOB TRAINING BILL

Despite aggressive lobbying by the AFT and dozens of other organizations, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that overhauls the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to the detriment of the nation’s unemployed and disadvantaged workers.

Among the bill’s (H.R. 27) most onerous provisions is the consolidation into a single block grant of the adult and dislocated workers programs with the Wagner-Peyser employment service program.

The GOP-sponsored bill cleared the House in March. The vote was mostly along party lines, says AFT lobbyist Gabriella Gomez, noting that four Democrats voted in favor of the measure and eight Republicans, including Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner and Colorado Rep. Thomas Tancredo, voted against it.

At press time, comprehensive WIA legislation had not been introduced in the Senate.

CORPORATE DRAIN ON PUBLIC HEALTH

Large, profitable companies are placing “an added burden on programs that are already under stress because of fiscal constraints caused by medical inflation and federal cutbacks,” according to Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that tracks state and local job subsidies.

In March, the group issued a 10-state summary naming the top employers whose workers and their dependents are in taxpayer-funded healthcare programs.

One employer all 10 states had in common, including Wisconsin, is Wal-Mart. The summary is available online at www.goodjobsfirst.org.

“Despite the fact that Wal-Mart makes enormous corporate profits, the company is stingy when it comes to its employees’ healthcare benefits,” said AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney. “When its employees must join public health rolls instead of getting affordable healthcare on the job, Wal-Mart is shifting the cost to taxpayers. That’s simply wrong.”

Legislation has been introduced in 26 states that would require disclosure of employers that are shifting healthcare costs to taxpayers. The legislation, championed by members of the National Labor Caucus of State Legislators, is designed to help measure the costs to state healthcare programs—and taxpayers—when large, profitable employers shirk coverage.