Children of color who live in low-income neighborhoods are less likely to receive developmental services than white children with the same diagnosis living in a higher-income area, despite a law mandating state funding for comprehensive care for anyone who qualifies.
As a pediatrician in South L.A., I have cared for many children who were victims of gun violence. Most have recovered, some have lingering psychological trauma and a few have died. When I stop to reflect, it’s always incomprehensible—why are guns a part of children’s lives?
CHIP has historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support, but that’s no longer the case. Without an extension by Sept. 30, millions of children may lose their access to health care, including children in California. The state will be out of money by March 2018 if the program isn’t renewed at the federal level.
California’s new health insurance exchange appears to be gaining momentum with consumers. Officials announced Thursday that 109,000 people had completed the application process and picked a private insurance plan through CoveredCa.com in October and November. About twice as many people completed the process in November as had in October, and the numbers for the first week of December were even higher.
Nearly one in every four California kids lives in poverty – a familiar but still-stunning statistic in a land as plentiful as ours. You would think this would be the top focus of the state’s policymakers – on the left and the right. Either by increasing public assistance, or increasing economic opportunity, or both, California must do something to lift the next generation out of this condition or risk supporting a permanent underclass for decades to come. That’s why a recent report card on the wellbeing of children from kidscount.org, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is worth reviewing.
What will the Obama Administration’s decision to suspend enforcement of penalties against employer who don’t insure their workers mean for California’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act?
Jerry Brown was the kid the first time he was governor, nearly 40 years ago. Now he is definitely providing adult supervision in Sacramento. Since retaking the executive suite, Brown has lectured Californians – and the Legislature – about the need to get real on the state budget. His stance is pretty simple: the state should not spend more than it takes in.
California’s most valuable company – Apple Inc. – has been taking flak lately from the halls of Congress to the capitals of Europe over reports that the consumer electronics giant manages its business to minimize the corporate income taxes it pays to the U.S. and foreign governments. But you’re not likely to hear too many complaints from California politicians about the company’s contribution to the state and local tax base – or the economy. The taxes Apple pays represent a huge chunk of the state budget, and new numbers show just how big a role it plays in the economic life of the Silicon Valley and especially the company’s home town of Cupertino.
Denial runs deep among Californians when they think about growing old: nearly four in ten told pollsters in a recent survey that aging is something they “would rather not think about.” But for many, that better change, because most people are going to need some form of long-term care as they age, and few are prepared for it.
When the state decided to transition low-income kids from state-subsidized private insurance — known as Healthy Families –to the state-run Medi-Cal program, families of children with autism were promised that their kids’ treatment would not suffer. But those families soon learned that one especially promising (but expensive) form of treatment was not going to be covered by Medi-Cal.