The Assembly Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage this week released its final report after holding a series of hearings on the topic between October 2017 and February 2018. Recall last year, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon shelved SB 562 (Lara) which would have created a universal health care system in California…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released the 2018 County Health Rankings which help counties understand what influences the health of residents and their life expectancy. The Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the current overall health of each county in all 50…
Read More »In a first-of-its-kind study, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that U.S. adults consumed more than 17 billion binge drinks in 2015. CDC researchers found that 1 in 6, or 37 million, U.S. adults drink about once a week, consuming an average of seven drinks per binge. Binge drinking is defined…
Read More »The Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a nonprofit organization based in Virginia, and dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy, released a study this week entitled “Lessons Learned from Marijuana Legalization in Four U.S. States and D.C.” The study found that legalized states are leading the nation in past-year use of cannabis in every…
Read More »This week, the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released an analysis detailing public health funding throughout the country, finding that spending on public health is insufficient and constitutes a crisis. The report examines funding levels at the federal, state, and local levels and provides recommendations to increase funds and improve the public’s health. At the…
Read More »The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently published a report that highlights the importance of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion in increasing insurance coverage among individuals with opioid-use disorders (OUDs). The latest data available from the federal government rebut claims that Medicaid expansion contributed to or exacerbated the nationwide opioid crisis. CBPP…
Read More »This week, the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the League of California Cities (League) Joint Homelessness Task Force released a report detailing the status of homelessness in California and tools and resources available to cities and counties to address the growing issue throughout the state. Last year, CSAC and the League formed a…
Read More »The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently released a report analyzing Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket health care spending as a share of income, both currently and projections moving into the future. The report presents estimates for out-of-pocket spending burden for Medicare beneficiaries overall, as well as by demographic, socioeconomic, and health status measures. The report found: In…
Read More »In a study recently published by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is linked to improved health outcomes and lower health care costs. In a typical month in 2017, SNAP provided food assistance to nearly 42 million low-income Americans. Emerging research has shown: Food insecurity increases the…
Read More »The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released this week Racial Healing and Achieving Health Equity in the United States, a report that highlights health inequities, the factors that influence them, and policy recommendations to achieve health equity. The report was produced in conjunction with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) initiative….
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