Healthcare
Health care has become one of the most pressing public policy issues in the nation. Health care costs in just the state of California amount to $150 billion in and account for 15 percent of its total output. Annual health insurance costs for a family of four now exceed $8,000. Nationally, millions of people are uninsured. Health care is a critical issue for families, businesses, and policy makers at all levels of government. Obviously, it is a very emotional and complicated issue.
About the Project
The goal of TCI health care programs have been to help improve decision-making in the area of health care. The project includes educational programs, publications, and on-line resources. TCI partnering institutions have included:
- School of Public Health, UC Berkeley
- School of Medicine, Stanford University
- RAND Corporation
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of Southern California
The Project was developed under the leadership of two former California State Legislators, one Democrat and Republican. They included Assemblmany Joe Nation (D) from Marin County. Assemblyman nation hold's a Ph.D. in economics and now teaches at Stanford University. The other legislator was the late Assemblyman Keith Richman (R) from Los Angeles who was a physician with dedication to the improvement of health care quality in California. Dr. Richman passed away in 2010 from a lenghty illness from brain cancer.
The content for the project was developed by The RAND Corporation health care division.
The Solutions
Understanding such a complex issue and developing options to reform it require an analytical perspective beyond political rhetoric. The Communications Institute programs and research have focused on:
- What drives health care costs and health care premiums?
- Who has access to the health care system, and what are the consequences of lack of insurance?
- How can we improve the quality of health care?
- What are the realistic answers to these and other questions that will help Californians develop a better understanding of how the system operates, and what can be done to improve it (and at what cost).