From Reform to Reality - Building Better Systems of Care in California

By Diane Vanette -Social Justice Chair Temple Emanuel

Last week I attended the Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) conference in Sacramento. From Reform to Reality – Building better systems of care in California

            There were over 500 participants from all over the State representing State Government, Policy groups, Health and Human Service agencies, Business, County Health Departments, and the Federal Government. I was there on behalf of Temple Emanuel and One LA representing the patient – the people. The event opened with a discussion of what providing health care for the citizens of California should look like in 10 to 20 years. There are many very bright people thinking about how to make California an example of success for the rest of the nation and, more importantly, thinking about how to provide a health system that works for the patient – the people. The exchange is being established and lots of work needs to be done to make this influential purchase community affordable and attractive to large numbers of people.

            Jon Kingsdale, Executive Director, Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority has the experience of setting up the Massachusetts version of the exchange. He spoke about what worked and what didn’t. One challenge is to get the most resistant participants to enroll. Those will be the young and the healthy. The exchange is also the face of Health Reform and must include the middle class and small business. The experience must be a positive one.  He stated the #1 reason Massachusetts has been successful is because they had a community based organizing group leading the way! One LA is that organization here in Los Angeles. In Massachusetts they had Greater Boston Interfaith Organization - a sister organization to One LA. It was exciting to have him recognize the importance of our work and call it a must have for Reform to succeed.

            I heard about two very different safety net systems - one from San Francisco and one from Alameda County. Each county official had different solutions to providing quality affordable care to the uninsured and county populations. The San Francisco plan has a common eligibility and enrollment system and identification card system. They have seen the quality of care increase and the numbers of participants increase. Safety Net Systems must be providers of choice within Medi-Cal. The ones with private and public partnerships seem to work. It was exciting to hear from a person in San Francisco who has worked with Dr. Mitchell Katz who is our new LA County Health Director.

            I also was present for a small breakout session on Small and Medium size business and the challenges facing them with health care reform. We will be meeting personally with Jon Arensmeyer, CEO, Small Busines Majority and David Chase of the Small Business Majority as we work toward our business summit to be held in the next six months.

            The good news is that many bright people have worked hard to see that Health Care Reform comes to California. There is much to be done and we are learning and talking about what is important to us as we work to make Health Care accessible to everyone. We need the continued support of our members here at Temple Emanuel, so keep the conversation going right here on our blog!