California’s Single Payer Health Care Bill Is Dead on Arrival

The Senate Democrats' Proposal Is Illegal, Unworkable, and Ignores Other Nations' Useful Models

I am a lifelong Democrat who has been working hard for more than a decade to improve the policies and build the coalitions necessary for the success of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. I believe the ACA didn’t go far enough and that the United States must do more to guarantee universal and affordable health coverage. My preference would be for America to move toward a system similar to that of the Netherlands, perennially ranked at the top of the Euro Health Consumer Index. 

So why I am …

To End Infectious Disease, We Must Cure Our Societal Ills

Wars, Politics, and the Anti-Vaccine Movement Plague Global Efforts to Stop Epidemics

It once was stated that “man’s weakness is not achieving victories, but in taking advantage of them.” Indeed, this is the case for global infection control. Throughout history we have …

How Medicare Both Salved and Scarred American Health Care

The 52-Year-Old Federal Program's Successes Reflect a Complex Legacy

Before Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 millions of elderly Americans lacked health insurance. They could not afford to go to the hospital, nor could they cover the …

There’s More Healthy Food in South L.A. Than You Think

And There’d Be Even More, If Elected Officials Supported Local Initiatives Instead of Trying to Attract Big Supermarkets

I moved to South Central Los Angeles almost 20 years ago with a 9-year-old and a baby, and, as I went about raising my two children, I was immediately struck …

Biologist Leticia Márquez-Magaña

A Health Researcher with a Passion for General Hospital

Leticia Márquez-Magaña is a biologist at San Francisco State University’s Health Institute for Practice, Research, and Policy. Before participating in a panel on race and cancer, she confessed her longtime …

Journalist Daniel Weintraub

Hey Angelenos: Give Sacramento Some Respect!

Longtime California journalist Daniel Weintraub is editor of HealthyCal.org, a website on public and community health issues throughout the state. Before moderating a discussion about why African-Americans suffer disproportionately from …