California Focus: Daniel Weintraub

California would be biggest loser if ACA is repealed

By Daniel Weintraub Republicans in Congress will soon make good on their long-held promise to pass legislation repealing much if not all of the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform widely known as Obamacare. President Obama, of course, will promptly veto the bill, but Republicans see their action as a message to voters demonstrating what they will do if a Republican wins the White

New rainy day fund will cushion blow next time the economy slows

By Daniel Weintraub California’s economy may not be booming, but it is definitely on the mend. The Bay Area is churning out high-tech profits and high-wage jobs. In other parts of the state, unemployment is inching down toward full-employment levels. And as always when California’s economy improves, tax revenues are soaring. With an income tax system highly dependent on the wealthy and their investment income,

A revolution is coming in medicine

Sometimes the U.S. health care system can seem stuck in the last century: overly centralized, bureaucratic, and definitely not consumer-friendly. But behind the scenes a scientific revolution is taking shape that will likely transform medicine, even if the administrative side of the industry isn’t quite ready for it.

Virtual clinic hopes to make an impact in Watts

By Daniel Weintraub   Residents of poor, inner-city neighborhoods have a notoriously difficult time getting access to health care. Gloria McNeal has a simple solution to that problem: bring health care to them. McNeal, dean of National University’s school of Public Health and Human Services, is director of a new, nurse-managed health clinic the university is setting up in the Watts community of South-Central Los

To fight obesity, we need healthier communities

By Daniel Weintraub At first glance the conclusions from a recent study on obesity by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research seem obvious: people who are overweight or obese tend to have a less healthy diet and exercise less often than people whose weight is normal. But behind those findings is another, more compelling story: Minorities are more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic

Pressure builds to boost reimbursements to dentists in Medi-Cal

By Daniel Weintraub   Jim Wood tells a story about teeth that makes him smile. Wood — a dentist and a state assemblyman from Sonoma County — remembers the time a patient of his who was an elementary school teacher told him about a student suffering from serious dental problems. The little girl’s family was poor and they lived in a rural area. They couldn’t

Why reducing poverty — and stress — might be the key to better health

By Daniel Weintraub Look at the health data for just about any collection of neighborhoods in California and one thing will soon become clear: Poor people are sicker and, on average, die younger than people with higher incomes. The medical profession, social workers and health researchers have known this for a long time. But exactly why it is so remains, surprisingly, a mystery. Answering that

Diabetics account for nearly 1/3 of hospital stays

We’ve long known that diabetes and its related illnesses cause havoc in people’s lives and drive up health care costs, but a new study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has quantified the damage done with a sobering new statistic: nearly one-third of hospital stays by Californians age 35 and older involve a person who has been diagnosed with diabetes.

The ACA and women's health

The Affordable Care Act has several provisions aimed at improving women’s health. In this infographic, the Journal of the American Medical Association lays out some of the issues women face and how the ACA might help. Click on the thumbnail to see the full graphic.

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