Michael Lighty on “Not-for-Profit” Hospitals and Trent Lange on California Clean Money Victory | Sept. 1, 2012 | Show 459
Welcome to Nurse Talk where laughter is the best medicine. A salute to our Republican friends and relatives—and we do have them. This week’s show has a little Mitt Romney. We think he’s singing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL? Oh dear lord.
We promise when the Democratic Convention rolls around we’ll give equal time to President Obama’s singing! Just a little fun on this sunny summer day.
AND—hey—what about that West Nile Virus?! Well, a listener in Utah wants to know if she should get her family face and head nets to keep them safe. Well now lets stay calm. Casey and Shayne will share the low-down on the facts about this nasty virus—what it is, where it comes from—and simple steps to save yourself the money it would cost to buy those face and head nets.
Also—get ready for a little policy talk with California Nurses Association Director of Policy, Michael Lighty. Or—closer to the truth—get ready for some very disturbing facts and findings from a report that cites the huge profits hospitals are making by virtue of their non-profit status. Private not-for-profit hospitals, which dominate the California hospital landscape, rack up tax exemption benefits of close to $2 billion a year beyond what they return to communities in charity care, according to the report.
The study was just released by the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, the research arm of California Nurses Association and National Nurses United. You really won’t want to miss this conversation. You can read the report for yourself at www.calnurses.org.
AND while we’re on the subject of money we’ll share a great victory for all of us from The California Clean Money Campaign. Trent Lange, executive director for the organization will bring us up to speed on AB 1648, the groundbreaking California DISCLOSE Act, which just passed the full Assembly last week by a solid majority of 50 to 26. This is great news and a blow to SUPER PACS, which can now hide their financial contributions. AB 1648 requires public disclosure of the contributors. A step toward renewing our democracy!
