Congress should make health programs its clear choice

By Becky Leaven

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During the early morning rush hour on Thursday, Iowa City motorists may have wondered who were those men and women standing on the Park Road Bridge holding signs that read “no cuts” and “create jobs?”

And you may wonder what I, as a registered nurse, have in common with the men and women on that bridge?

I work at the largest academic medical center in Iowa, and the state's busiest safety-net hospital. That fact has a lot to do with why I support my fellow union members and concerned citizens on the bridge. Daily I see the effects of our troubled economy and who bears the brunt of it: children who are undernourished, mothers without access to prenatal care, mothers and fathers who are skipping or cutting their medications in half to dangerous effect. In my mind, these are the 99 percent.

One month ago, front-line nurses, from around the country who work in emergency rooms, intensive care units, and community health centers walked the halls of our nation's Capital and delivered a message to members of Congress: getting more Americans back to work without sacrificing health care for seniors, people with disabilities and children should be our top priority as a nation.

But, as the so called “Super-Committee” nears its Wednesday deadline, it appears that Congress may once again cut the very health-care programs that many Americans depend upon - Medicare and Medicaid - and in the process increase the number of unemployed Iowans. You see, Medicare and Medicaid don't just provide lifesaving care to seniors, people with disabilities and children, they also generate good jobs. Every $1 million in Medicaid reductions results in a loss of at least 17.1 jobs, according to the health care non-profit Families USA.

I have been a nurse 34 years. I know an emergency when I see one. More than an immediate budget emergency, America has a burning jobs emergency.

All the budget cuts in the world will not put Iowans back to work and create the kind of good jobs that can help support small businesses and provide strong tax revenues for our cities and towns. Congress should look to create, not cut, health-care jobs to help strengthen our economy. That's what we wanted to convey on the bridge: Congress needs to get its priorities straight.

As I write, there are thousands of Iowans struggling to find work, trying to keep their homes, worrying about paying off college loans while working three low-wage jobs. These are the Iowans who are part of the 99 percent.

I wonder if Congress had been serious about addressing our jobs crisis, not just cutting health care funding, if we would even be talking about the 99 percent. But they didn't. And we are.

It is decision time and Congress has a clear choice: They can protect Medicare and Medicaid or they can once again give special treatment to big corporations and the very wealthy while keeping the middle class on life support.

I know some Americans are tired of hearing about the 99 percent, but if Congress acts in the interest of the 1 percent yet again, you can bet the majority of Iowans will make sure they hear about it.

Becky Leaven of Iowa City is a registered nurse of 34 years delivering care to patients in the Mother - Baby unit at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Comments: info@seiuiowa.org