Are nurses the losers when hospitals drop out of Social Security?

Is it to your advantage to participate in So- cial Security? If you work for a nonprofit hospi- tal, you may want to think about the issue carefully, because your hospital might be con- sidering dropping out. About 300 of the na- tion’s nonprofit hospitals have filed notice with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that they intend to leave Social Security this year. They are permitted to do so under a 1950 amend- ment to the Social Security law. They need not consult their employees, and once the hospital has withdrawn, it may not rejoin.

With all of Social Security’s problems and its rising tax rate, you may decide that withdraw- ing is not a bad idea. You may determine you can do better on your own with a retirement plan. Or your hospital may set up a private plan that you would find acceptable.

Organizations that represent nurses en- courage you to weigh the pros and cons. An American Nurses’ Association (ANA) issue paper points out that the impact on RNs could be especially serious. First, nurses are a mobile work force. Unlike private employers’ retirement plans, Social Security follows a worker wherever he or she goes. Those who are fully qualified for Social Security are also qualified for Medicare. For the time being, So- cial Security payments are geared to in- creases in the cost of living, although there have been proposals to change this. As a member of a profession that is primarily wom- en, you may be interested to know that Social Security provides at least half of the retirement

income for two thirds of this country’s elderly women.

For these reasons, ANA has decided to con- tinue supporting the Social Security system. Permitting certain hospitals to withdraw “threatens the welfare of hundreds of thou- sands of employees and retirees,” the position paper states.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents nurses and other hospital workers, also opposes hospitals opting out of Social Security. The union believes recent de- cisions by a federal appeals court and the Na- tional Labor Relations Board will make it pos- sible for employees covered by union contract to challenge their hospital’s withdrawal.

Outside of this new and untested decision, you have no say on whether your hospital will drop out. In fact, it may be difficult for you even to find out if your hospital has filed to withdraw. They do not have to tell you, and neither does the IRS. Some legislators have proposed amending the law to require employees to be informed.

If you hear your hospital plans to withdraw, all may not be lost. You may still be entitled to benefits, including Medicare, if you have worked the prescribed amount of time. Whether you are eligible depends on the total number of quarters worked under Social Secu- rity and the year you were born. To join Medi- care, you must be fully qualified for Social Se- curity and age 65, or disabled for two years, or have kidney disease. Those not eligible for Social Security can join Medicare if they are willing to pay the fairly high premiums. To learn the current statusof your benefits, contact your local Social Security off ice.

By mid-summer, the Nurses Coalition for

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Action in Politics (N-CAP) was well on the way to doubling what it gave to national candidates two years ago. The political arm of the Ameri- can Nurses’ Association (ANA), based in Washington, DC, planned to complete its can- didate endorsements in early fall. All of the donations come from individual nurses, who are not necessarily ANA members. Mean- while, some 50 political action committees (PACs) affiliated with state nurses associ- ations were finishing plans to back state and local candidates.

Joanne Symons, director of N-CAP, re- ported that nurses had donated $130,000 as of mid-July, and she hoped the total for this year’s election would reach $1 80,000. (As encourag- ing as this is, nurses might be interested to know that the American Medical Association political arm donated more than seven times that amount to candidates in 1980.)

Under federal election laws, political action committees must be set up independently of the parent organization. The group does not have members but contributors. Endorse- ments are based on candidates’ voting rec- ords, positions on health issues, interviews by nurses in their districts, and recommendations from lobbyists and local nurses. State PACs operate in much the same way.

Any nurse may write to N-CAP for a list of its national endorsements, and any nurse may make a contribution. For more information, write N-CAP at 1101 14th St NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20005. To find out if your state has a political action committee, call your state nurses association.

Elections this fall will be for members of the U S House of Representatives and one third of the Senate. State and local governments are also holding elections. More nurses are decid- ing that making even a small contribution will help to boost nurses’ influence with lawmak- ers.

Nurses in North Carolina have stalled a bill that would have excused community colleges and technical institutes from complying with education standards set by any other agency-including the board of nursing. Had the bill passed, some 45% of nursing students in the state would not have been covered by uniform nursing education standards that now apply to all three types of generic nursing edu-

cation programs. The bill has been sent to a legislative com-

mission, which may decide to study the issue and make recommendations to the 1983 state assembly. Until then, no new nursing stan- dards can go into effect.

“We have bought some time,” remarked Frances Miller, executive director of the North Carolina Nurses Association.

“The ramifications would be disastrous to students if their education programs do not meet the standards set by our board or other states. They might not be eligible to take the licensure exam, and other states might not accept their educational qualifications.”

rn If you were asked how members of your state board of nursing were selected, how would you answer?

a. appointed by the governor b. selected by the legislature c. elected by nurses themselves

Two answers are correct-a and c. But c is correct only for one state, North Carolina. All others except one have members appointed by the governor. (New York board members are appointed by a board of regents.)

Under their new nursing practice act passed last year, North Carolina nurses nominate and elect the nurse members of the board of nurs- ing by mail ballot. Any nurse who meets the law’s qualifications may be nominated.

The idea for electing the board came from nurses themselves, Frances Miller, executive director of the North Carolina Nurses Associa- tion, explained. In drafting a revision for the nursing practice act, a state-wide task force of nurses proposed the election method. It was approved by the state’s federation of nursing organizations.

The nurses were seeking a way to exercise control over how their board members were chosen. Previously, the board had included physicians and hospital administrators. How will it work? Will enough nurses be willing to run? Miller believes they will.

“Nursing has wanted its own board for so long,” she said. “We believe they will be willing and eager to serve.”

Patricia Patterson Associate editor

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