The Center's 2016 Health Policy Seminar Series
The Center is pleased to host leading health policy experts at our lunchtime seminar series. All seminars from the Center’s Health Policy Seminar Series can be viewed here.
Dec. 14, 2016: "CHIS 2015: What's New from the Nation's Largest State Health Survey"
In conjunction with the release of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2015 data, the Center hosted its final seminar of the year on Dec. 14 featuring CHIS Principal Investigator Ninez Ponce and CHIS Director Todd Hughes. Join us to hear all about what's new in the nation's largest state health survey, including new and updated variables on health insurance status, discrimination in a health care setting, gender identity and gender expression, and more!
November 29, 2016: "Race and Ethnicity Trends in California: What is the 'Landscape of Opportunity'?"
In a majority-minority state, what health challenges and trends face California's communities of color? The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network's recently released report, The Landscape of Opportunity, draws upon comprehensive Center research using the California Health Interview Survey and other data. This seminar will show how access to affordable housing, jobs, doctors and quality health care, insurance, safe neighborhoods and parks and much more varies depending on the color or your skin or your cultural community. Presented by Center Associate Director Ninez Ponce, a noted authority on health disparities, this seminar is a must for all interested in overcoming health inequities in California.
October 26, 2016: "The ACA, FQHCs and the Remaining Uninsured"
Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are a key source of primary care for people without health insurance and are one of the only sources of low-cost care for undocumented immigrants. In this seminar, part of the Center's 2016 Health Policy Seminar Series, Center Associate Director Steven P. Wallace will discuss the findings from an upcoming joint study with The Commonwealth Fund on the national impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on FQHCs. How did state decisions for and against the expansion of Medicaid impact the proportion of uninsured patients served by the FQHC safety-net? How well have FQHCs coped with the influx of newly-insured patients in terms of staffing and funding? Have FQHCs been able to meet the needs of the remaining uninsured, particularly the undocumented?
September 27, 2016: "The Presidential Candidates and Their Health Plans"
What will health coverage look like under a President Trump? A President Clinton? In this Sept. 27 seminar, Center Director Gerald Kominski discusses the evolving visions of the presidential candidates' health plans. Specifically, Kominski describes Republican nominee Donald Trump's idea to replace the Affordable Care Act with block grants to states to provide health care to low-income people as well as to enable the sale of health insurance across state lines. Alternatively, Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton has vowed to expand Medicaid in every state as well as to undocumented workers and their families. She has also pledged to limit prescription drug costs. How feasible are these ideas in an age of extreme partisanship?
June 13, 2016: "A Public Health Perspective to Improve the Juvenile Justice System"
Processing juvenile offenders in the traditional justice system can lead to a range of negative health and social consequences. However, health and public health perspectives are often absent in conversations about the juvenile justice system. In this June 13 seminar, Lauren Gase, chief of health and policy assessment in the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, draws from her work with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to discuss results from a recently published study examining the impact of Teen Courts — a popular juvenile justice system diversion model in which youths are judged by their peers and given restorative sentences to complete during a period of supervision. Did this alternative justice solution prevent recidivism, which is linked to life-long negative health consequences?
May 19, 2016: "Implementing Physician Aid-in-Dying: What Can California Learn from Other States?"
California passed the End of Life Options Act (AB 15) in 2015, which allows residents to end their life through physician aid-in-dying (AID). In June of 2016, implementation of the law will begin. Yet there is little guidance as to how AID will be conducted. Drawing from lessons learned in other states that have already passed aid-in-dying laws, Cindy Cain, Center faculty associate and the author of an upcoming Center study on AID, will discuss the ethical and practical concerns of implementation and outline solutions that may help California policymakers, physicians and health workers sensitively and comprehensively respond to constituents and patients.
April 16, 2016: "Towards a Smokefree LA: What Landlords and Tenants Think About Smokefree Housing in the City of Los Angeles"
On April 6, the Center presented findings from a first-ever survey of both landlords and tenants at an event in South LA, as well as launch an exciting new media and advertising campaign to encourage the adoption of smokefree policies citywide. In this seminar, Ying-Ying Meng, co-director of the Center's Chronic Disease Program, and Peggy Toy, director of the Center's Health DATA Program, will expand upon the survey's findings and discuss how we can achieve a healthier and more equitable Los Angeles.
March 10, 2016: "On the Road to Diabetes? A Look at High Prediabetes Rates in California"
Nearly ten percent of the adult population in California has diabetes but how many more have conditions that presage the onset of diabetes? How can the path towards diabetes be reversed? And what is the likely effect of the population with prediabetes on the future of California’s health and budget? In this seminar, Susan H. Babey, co-director of the Center’s Chronic Disease Program, discusses findings from a study on the prevalence of prediabetes in California. She also talks about what policymakers and health advocates can do to try to help prevent the progression from prediabetes to diabetes.
About the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. UCLA CHPR is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
