A hot topic of debate these days, most everyone agrees that some model of California health care reform should be adopted in a timely manner. Independents favor California health care reform, but remain skeptical of curtailing private sector competition, higher taxes, the inability to curb rising costs, and the potential, deleterious effect on state and federal budget deficits. While much of the debate appears to perpetuate a deep, partisan divide, fair-minded individuals across the political spectrum are eager to develop a model of California health care reform that increases coverage, contains costs, preserves the private sector, and decreases the debt load.
Okay, so the recent Tim Burton blockbuster featuring Johnny Depp may not have had much at all to do with health care reform, and certainly Lewis Carroll didn't have health care reform on his mind when he wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the original novel upon which the Burton film was based.
There is no group of people that is used more for political purposes than our country’s troops and veterans. This politicized behavior began shortly after the Bush Administration launched the Iraq War (taking its eye off Afghanistan) seven years ago this month and continued for the better part of the 2000s. The Bush Administration sent hundreds of thousands of our nation’s men and w
Reforming the health insurance industry has occupied Washington lawmakers and dominated the news for a better part of a year. Why we need reform has become all too obvious. Forty-five thousand Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance. Each day, 14,000 people lose their health insurance coverage. Insurance premiums have risen 131 percent over the p
Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2010-2011 budget proposes the virtual elimination of critical in-home services to California’s poor and disabled seniors. The targeted program is known as the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), a program that has provided in-home domestic and personal care services to elderly, disabled, and poor Americans who cannot safely live and take care of themselves withou
Our current healthcare system costs about twice per capita compared to other industrialized countries, with drug prices two to three times as high. Prices have risen exponentially, much faster than the rate of inflation. Not to mention that 40 – 50 million Americans have no healthcare insurance coverage whatsoever, many of whom are children. For decades, this issue has been a
My recent article promoting Medicare as a solution to the crisis in health insurance costs and availability started a lively discussion about the pros and cons of the 44-year-old program signed into law by Lyndon Baines Johnson. My personal story about Medicare was anecdotal in nature, and many of the responses were also based on personal experiences. So I thought it would be a good
A couple of years ago, before my wife and I had turned 65 and become eligible for Medicare, we looked upon mail from our health insurance provider with dread wondering if our premiums had gone up again. We were on a group policy under my small company (2-3 employees max), and our rates were practically the same as individual coverage. Health insurance was a major budget item for us.
About one-sixth of California's general fund is spent on Medi-Cal coverage. A federal report issued last Thursday projected that public spending on healthcare would outstrip individual spending in just two years.
In this humorous assessment, Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts to various healthcare services are statistically scrutinized. The golden state is home to 800 community clinics that treat 3.6 million uninsured and low income patients a year. It also provides vital health and family planning services through the Healthy Families Program and FPACT programs, both of which ar
For all the rancor in Washington over health insurance reform, our elected officials are still not taking the necessary steps to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance coverage so they receive the care they need to live healthy and productive lives. On one side, the solutions being offered are a continuation of the status quo, where for-profit health insuranc
