Conference takes on national health reform's impact in California
Contact: Sarah Yang, Media Relations
(510) 643-5651
kmaclay@berkeley.edu
04 November 2009
ATTENTION: Health policy reporters and editors
WHAT
"Bringing National Health Reform to California," a one-day conference at the University of California, Berkeley, to address the implications of national health reform and the unique challenges in this state. The event, organized by the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security (Berkeley CHEFS) at the UC Berkeley School of Law and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, will include national and regional health policy experts.
WHEN
Friday, Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. The full agenda is online.
WHERE
Faculty Club, on the east end of the UC Berkeley campus. Directions to the campus and parking information are available online. See campus map.
WHO
Speakers will include:
- Neera Tanden, senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Reform and the White House Office of Health Reform
- Herb Schultz, senior advisor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Stephen Shortell, professor of health policy and dean at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health
- Jacob Hacker, professor of political science at Yale University and Berkeley CHEFS co-founder
- Claire Brindis, professor and director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco
DETAILS
"A national health reform bill promises to have a dramatic impact in this state," said Melissa Rodgers, Berkeley CHEFS associate director. "We expect that the issues raised in this conference will help inform policy makers in Washington as well as Sacramento."
According to a recent report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 93 percent of Californians would have access to health coverage under the congressional proposals. Nearly 4 million of California's 6.4 million uninsured would be eligible for federally subsidized coverage.
"The health reform proposals have important implications for California's workers, businesses, health providers and state and county governments," said Ken Jacobs, chair of the Center for Labor Research and Education. "The conference will bring the university together with a broad group of stakeholders to address the challenges and opportunities for the state."
The U.S. House of Representatives' health reform bill could be voted on as early as Friday.