January 28, 2002

Governor's Blue Ribbon Health Care Task Force Releases Final Report Today Task Force Proposes Moderate Changes With Continued Reliance on Status Quo MNA Releases Minority Report Calling for Bolder Steps to Address a Growing Crisis

The Governor's Blue Ribbon Health Care Task Force, which has been meeting for more than a year, will release its final rport today. While calling for increased medicare funding and stepped up oversight of the health care system, the report fails to call for more significant changes in the system that are needed to address a growing crisis in the Commonwealth.

Click here for a copy of the MNA's Position Statement and Recommendations, which was provided to the Task Force and released to the media. The MNA believes the current system is broken and in need of fundamental reform, with the threatened closure of Waltham Hospital serving as the latest manifestation of the system's breakdown. Speaking from the perspectie of nurses working on the front-lines of health care, the MNA believes the current "market-based" system of health care delivery is a failure, depriving access to care for thousands, and delivering substandard care to those who gain access. The MNA report calls for adoption of a publicly funded, single payor health care system as proposed under the Massachusetts Health Care Trust Bill, legislation supported by MASSCARE. a coalition of more than 70 health care, labor and citizen activists groups. To protect patients who gain access to the system, the MNA calls for the regulation of nurse staffing levels, including the imposition of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, as proposed in safe staffing legislation (HB 1186) sponsored by State Rep. Christine Canavan (D-Brockton) and State Sen. Robert Creedon (D-Brockton).

Should members of the media want comments on either this statement, or our impressions of the draft report, please contact Julie Pinkham, RN, MNA Executive Director and our represenative on the Task Force. She can be reached at 617-901-1948.