Chattanooga Consumer Columnist Nails Nursing Home on Negligence

In her Saturday column, Ellen Phillips discusses some of the problems with the nursing home industry in Tennessee. In addition to our state's low rankings, she points out how the big nursing home lobbyists keep trying to further weaken protections for some of Tennessee's most vulnerable citizens.

We commend Ms. Phillips for her excellent work and urge all of our supporters to post comments on the Times Free Press website telling her how much we appreciate her work.

Don't let insurance companies dictate reform!

The industry knows the same thing we do, and they don't like it: the only way to make reform work for patients and payers is to allow the option of a public insurance plan. Obama has committed to that in the past, but insurance companies are trying to talk him out of his pledge with these promises to cut some unspecified costs, some years in the future. We need to have OUR say about that.

While we couldn't get into that room with the health industry lobbyists, we DO have access to the most widely-read public forum: the local newspaper.

Use this tool from our friend's at TrueMajority.org to write a letter to your local paper that reminds Congress and the President that health care reform needs to work for us, and demand a public option.

Public Health Insurance Option At Risk Right Now

There are now a few key dynamics jeopardizing the inclusion of a public health insurance plan in the Senate Finance Committee’s final bill. First, is that many of the champions of progressive health care reform are being pressured to work for a bipartisan, and less effective reform package. The pressure on the hill to push a plan with bipartisan support is gaining traction. And there is a real danger that passing a bill that everyone in the U.S. Senate can support could take precedence over enacting a law that everyone in America needs.

The second dynamic is a proposal that would establish a “trigger” for the creation of a public health insurance plan (a public health insurance plan would only be established if an arbitrary measure of market concentration were hit in a state). This would reduce the public health insurance option from a national plan with the capacity to make big improvements in how we deliver care to a series of fledgling state plans, developed in isolation and only when a state’s insurance market is in desperate shape.

Unfortunately, the “trigger” proposal is smart politics, and could provide an artificial “third-way,” allowing members to vote for a public option that will either never be created, or be created only under adverse conditions (on a state-by-state basis) that would increase the likelihood of its failure.

We simply cannot allow a public option with a trigger to make it out of committee. We need to talk with our state Senators (and ask Senators to talk to other Senators) and make it clear that a reform bill with a public option that’s held back by a trigger is not a reform bill it all. It’s simply a way to capitulate to the politics of the day and squander the historical opportunity to make a lasting difference.

The heart of the HCAN strategy is unity between the President, Congress and the progressive base. If the Senate Finance Committee were to pass the trigger it would fracture that unity, forcing us to focus resources on a fight in the Senate, raising people’s doubts about reform and diverting us from reform’s enemies.

Report Released

Here is the full text of the Press Release

For Immediate Release Contact:May 20, 2009
Rico X (615) 438-3185
Tom Peters (615) 719-7218

Health Insurance Company Mergers Cause

Higher Premiums for Tennesseans

Health Care for America Now Report Shows Tennessee Health Insurance Companies Use Near-Monopolies to Set Prices

Nashville, TN – The Tennessee coalition of the Health Care for America Now campaign, released a new report today showing that consolidation in the private health insurance industry is creating skyrocketing premiums for both patients and employers. In Tennessee, the state and most metropolitan areas are considered “highly concentrated” under U.S. Department of Justice guidelines. This kind of consolidation means that an insurer can, without fear of consequences, raise premiums and/or reduce the variety of plans or quality of services offered to customers.

Health insurance premiums for Tennessee working families have increased 62 percent from 2000 to 2007. At the same time, the median earnings of Tennessee workers increased 12 percent $22,863 to $25,639. That means health insurance premiums for Tennessee working families have risen 5.1 times faster than wages.

“When just a couple of companies hold a near-monopoly, they not only set the prices, but they also make the rules and call the shots,” said Tom Peters of Tennessee Citizen Action. “Private health insurance companies have proven year after year they’ll do whatever they want when left to their own devices. It’s time for real comprehensive reform that includes regulation and the choice of a public health insurance plan so we are no longer at the mercy of the private health insurers in Tennessee.”

The American Medical Association reports that the health insurance marketplace is dangerously concentrated with 94 percent of local markets in the United States currently considered highly concentrated. And contrary to what the health insurance industry claims, these mergers have undermined market efficiency. Premiums nationwide have gone up an average of more than 87 percent over the past six years.

“There is no real choice or competition in the private health insurance market, and only giving everyone the option of a public health insurance plan will guarantee we get quality, affordable health care we all can count on this year,” said Tony Garr from Tennessee Health Care Campaign. “A public health insurance option will force private health insurance companies to control cost, guarantee quality, stop hiding what they will and won’t cover, and put people’s health before corporate profit.”

Some facts about the insurance industry in Tennessee:

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN, Tennessee’s biggest health insurer, controls 45% percent of the state’s market. Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Group together hold 61% percent of the market. When a firm has more than a 42 percent share of a single market, the U.S. Justice Department considers that market to be “highly concentrated.”

• Nine out of Ten local markets have higher concentration levels that the state. For instance, in Johnson City the top two insurers (BlueCross BlueShield and Cariten Health Care) together control 70 percent of the market.

• For family health coverage in Tennessee during that time, the average annual combined premium for employers and workers rose from $6,550 to $10,606.

• For family health coverage in Tennessee, the average employer’s portion of annual premiums rose 58 percent, while the average worker’s share grew by 73 percent.

Health Care for America Now - the nation's largest health care campaign - is made up of more than 1000 organizations representing more than 30 million people nationwide. President Obama and more than 190 Members of Congress support HCAN’s principles for health care reform. All across the country, HCAN supporters are organized and mobilized to stress the urgent need for health care reform in 2009 -- reform that finally puts our health care needs before insurance company profits.

###

New Report Focuses on BlueCross BS(Blue Shield)

Tomarrow, the Health Care for America Now! campaign will be releasing a report pointing out some of the major problems posed by the lack of competition in the health insurance industry.

Here are some of the problems which the report focuses on:

• BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the dominant health insurer, holds 45 percent of the market. Together with United Health Group Inc., the state’s second largest health insurer, they control 61 percent of the market.

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee recorded profit of $149 million in 2004. United Health reported a 721 percent increase in profit from its Tennessee operations from 2004 to 2007. During that time net earnings in the state climbed from $5.6 million to $46 million,while membership grew 28 percent.

• Health insurance premiums for working families have skyrocketed, increasing62 percent from 2000 to 2007.


You can get a copy of the report by clicking on the Tennessee link on from this link

City Paper Highlights Predatory Lender

Yesterday, the lead in the Nashville City Paper was a story talking about local predatory lender Advance Financial. The paper spent several pages discussing how Advance Financial has become a one stop shop to prey on Tennesseans in need of financial assistance. In addition to their 250%+ APR title loans, you can see their fees for payday advances here. The company boasts about the jobs they've created locally but neglect to mention the thousands and thousands who have been trapped in a cycle of debt due to the usurious fees charged by Advance Financial.

We encourage our supporters to find out more through the Coalition for Responsible Lending in Tennessee by contacting Carol McCullough at cmccullough@tnrc.net.

We also urge you to comment on the City Paper article by clicking on the link above and scrolling to the bottom.

Victories on the Federal Level

Last week was a historic week all around but especially for our work on passing the FY10 Budget. Now that Congress has passed one of the most progressive budgets in our nation’s history the more challenging work begins with taking those broad priorities in the budget and drafting and passing legislation on health care reform, appropriations, tax equity, clean energy, and education.

Health care reform now becomes the center of attention of the 111th Congress as they plan to advance legislation this summer. The same day that Congress passed the FY10 budget conference report, Senator Brown issued a letter with 15 other Senators calling for the inclusion of a public health insurance plan option in health care reform. A number of the Senators who are supporters of the HCAN principles signed on to the letter, and a number of the Senate HCAN supporters did not. We have learned that the letter is still open for Senators to sign and most of you should have received instructions from HCAN on how to proceed with thanking those Senators who signed on and educating those Senators who did not about the letter; and encouraging their signature

We urge everyone to call their Congressmen and Senators and tell them to support the HCAN principles on health care reform.

Nursing Home Vote Split 3-3

Today the Civil Practice subcomittee of the House split its vote down the middle on the "Kill Old People Cheap" bill.  This has effectively killed the bill this year.

During the hearing we got to hear some great testimony from Patrick Willard of the AARP about the study they commissioned which showed that there was no positive correlation between caps on damages and quality of care in nursing homes.

We also heard from Floyd Stewart at the Center for Independent Living who shared some of his personal experiences of living in nursing homes. Daniel Clayton, president of the Tennessee Association for Justice also spoke. He pointed out how a similar bill in Texas had actually caused nursing home complaints to go up and staffing levels to go down, even though the corporations had witnessed a 80 percent savings in litigation costs.

Tennessee Citizen Action would like to thank all of those who testified against this bill as well as our supporters who called and wrote to their legislators telling them to oppose this bill. We ask that you continue to support our efforts to make sure we protect our most vulnerable citizens

Nurses For Negligence Back on the Hill

Tuesday, the members of the House Civil Practice subcommittee were treated to a tax payer funded audience made up of the Nurses for Negligence. The committee heard testimony from those who want to take away protections for nursing home residents, but according to Rep. Kelsey, there was not enough time to hear from people testifying about some of the horrors these companies have inflicted on the loved ones committed to their care.

Citizen Action in the Tennessean

Citizen Action is glad to once again have our executive director featured in the Tennessee Voices section of the Tennessean. In his article, Tom lays out the case against changing the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. As this blog discussed last week, these changes would allow for a host of shady business practices as well as effectively legalizing ponzi schemes in our state.

We once again urge you to contact your legislators and tell them to oppose changing the Consumer Protection Act.

Nurses for Negligence Day on the Hill

Yesterday the legislative plaza was filled with the Nurses for Negligence(aka ChooseCareTN) as well as their lobbyists. Nurses for Negligence is a front group for the nursing home industry, which has spent nearly 1.5 million dollars since 2000 working a bill to limit the amount of money that juries can award victims of nursing home negligence.

Called the "Kill Old People Cheap" bill by some, the bill also sets aside a fund so that part of any money victims do receive goes right back to the nursing homes that harmed them. While the Nurses for Negligence claim that such changes are needed for better care, we know that if residents were provided with better care in the first place, there wouldn't be a need for the law suits.

Instead the industry chose to spend $850,000 hiring over 30 lobbyists to work this bill. Fortunately for nursing home residents, TNCA isn't alone in this fight as AARP, one of nation's leading groups on the issue, has also come out against this bill.

Consumer (Non)Protection Act

Recently, a bill proposed by Representative McCord and Senator Black seeks to amend the Consumer Protection Act so that businesses are not liable for any problems that occur after the transaction.

Clearly both lawmakers are being lobbied by the Bernie Madoff and Rudy Russo group of businessmen. This law would let ponzi scheme operators get off with only have to pay damages on the initial transaction fees, not the life savings that are transfered after the contract is signed. It also lets car dealers to get away with not paying off your trade-in after they sign a contract saying they will.

There are plenty of other examples of ways this bill would hurt consumers, such as if an insurance company wanted to illegally deny a claim, you would have no recourse as this transgression occurred after the purchasing transaction.

We encourage everyone to contact their senator and representative and tell them that Tennesseans deserve better than this.

New Hampshire declares 365% loans oppressive, unfair trade practice

We recently received some good news from our friends at the Center for Responsible Lending that a New Hampshire court has ruled that loans which charge 365% interest rates are illegal under state law. Hopefully, Tennessee will soon follow suit.

Right now consumers in Tennessee are faced with paying well over 200% interest rates for loans from pay day and car title lenders, but TNCA is working with the Tennessee Coalition for Responsible Lending to pass legislation which would cap such loans at reasonable rates.

The importance of stamping out these usurious loans is hard to overstate. Even though the short term loan industry claims people need these loans, a recent study found that people approved for these loans go into bankruptcy far more often then those rejected.

Launching the New Blog with a Strong Agenda

Today we're launching our new blog "The Watchdog" by laying out our legislative agenda for the 2009 session. Our major focus will be on two main issues, predatory lending and nursing home protection, while still watching and working on other items as they come up . We plan to work closely with legislators on both sides of the aisle to make sure our agenda is passed. With some issues, such as predatory lending, we will be pushing to pass bills which help end some of the worst business practices in the state. On other issues, like nursing home protection, we will be fighting against bills which try to keep people who have been hurt by careless service providers from receiving fair compensation.


In the area of predatory lending, we will be working with the Coalition for Responsible Lending in Tennessee in supporting a bill regulating the rates which title lending companies can charge their customers. Currently such businesses charge the outrageous rate of 264% annual interest on their loans. We seek to cap such rates at 44%, which we believe is a number that will still allow lenders to profit but without trapping consumers in an endless cycle of debt.


We are also looking to support legislation requiring counseling for consumers looking into high priced home loans. With all the damage caused by the sub prime mortgage disaster, it is imperative that the legislature makes sure lenders fully disclose the terms of the loans and how they will affect the long term financial health of the borrowers.


Another area TNCA is focused on is nursing home protections. We know that it often when people need protection the most, that unscrupulous businesses will pounce. In the case of the elderly it is far to often the case that families trying to do the right thing end up placing their loved ones in the hands of people more interested in the bottom line, then providing quality care. Citizen Action will be working against bills which are designed to let nursing homes go unpunished for their negligent behavior and which seek to tip the scales of Justice in favor of the big nursing corporation against the families whose loved ones have been hurt.



We will be updating this blog regularly with new information about what's happening on Capitol Hill and ways you can get involved in making a difference. Please subscribe and check back often to see the latest on what's happening with Tennessee Citizen Action.