American political dynamics around health care and other issues could be changed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday that significantly weakens public-sector labor unions. In a ruling with major ramifications for health care organizations, a bitterly split high court ruled that public-sector unions cannot collect mandatory service fees from members for representing them in contract negotiations.Unions are one of the strongest political forces advocating for protecting Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs. Overall, nearly 1.5 million workers in health care occupations are represented by unions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Harris Meyer, Modern Healthcare)
