Insights

In Ventura County, which lies just north of Los Angeles in the sprawl of Southern California, great wealth -- in towns such as Thousand Oaks or Ojai -- can be found not far from great desperation, in towns such as Oxnard or Santa Paula.  

Insurance agents believe they were an afterthought for Covered California, which from the get-go, placed the emphasis on training county health care workers and counselors at nonprofits to help people find the right coverage for them.

This week check out the Managing Editor position at Public Citizen in Washington, D.C. or a Health Copywriter opening at Agora, Inc.

The fellowship project is looking at outreach to, and enrollment of, limited English speakers in Covered California, our state's version of the Affordable Care Act.

A pilot project in California gives specially trained dental hygienists and assistants expanded powers to use portable dental chair, laptops, digital cameras and handheld x-ray machines to see patients at a school or community center.

Last year, I started looking for a compelling story about children’s mental health in California that was grounded in solid numbers. I made lots of phone calls and had lots of meetings. Sources were sympathetic. They, too, would love to quantify problems with mental health services.

Heroin addiction grabbed the national spotlight recently after famed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died on Super Bowl Sunday. He was almost certainly not alone that day — about 100 Americans die every day from drug overdoses. Can anything be done to stop this?

The most recent employment report from the U.S. Labor Department showed the job market remained tough in January. If it’s difficult for healthy individuals to get a job, what is it like for cancer survivors?

Imagine if Caltrans became the California Department of Healthy and Equitable Transportation – if its mission were transformed to responsibility not only for getting people from place to place, but doing so in a way that promoted their health and well-being.

A recent report by a federal agency found that prison workers who live in the community are suffering from valley fever in large numbers. In their case, the prisons themselves cannot easily be blamed.