Center Health Policy Seminar Archive
Learn about future seminars here or subscribe to the Center's free, monthly e-newsletter, Health Policy News.
Nov. 16, 2020: "Overcoming Invisibility: Better Health Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives"
Information on the American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) population is critical now more than ever as COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting AIAN populations across the country.
Join UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Senior Public Administration Analyst Tara Becker, PhD, and Senior Research Scientist Riti Shimkhada, PhD, as they share findings from their forthcoming policy brief (co-authored by Susan H. Babey, PhD; AJ Scheitler, EdD; and Ninez A. Ponce, MPP, PhD) which examines AIAN data availability and the variations in estimates due to differences in coding and tabulating from eight large population health surveys. Becker and Shimkhada will discuss implications of the limited accessibility of AIAN information in population datasets and provide recommendations that may help improve availability of health information and our understanding of disparities within the American Indian and Alaska Native population. View a recording of the seminar.
Oct. 29, 2020: "California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2019 Release"
UCLA CHPR unveil the findings of the 2019 California Health Interview Survey which are vital for stakeholders to consider in order to improve the health and well-being of adults and youth across California.
Ninez A. Ponce PhD, MPP, UCLA CHPR director and CHIS principal investigator, and Todd Hughes, CHIS director, discuss findings from the 2019 survey and share data from brand new questions on sex without consent, public program participation, caregiving, social media use and mental health, and suicide ideation among veterans, and share sampling and data collection redesign. Susan H. Babey, PhD, UCLA CHPR senior research scientist and co-director of the Chronic Disease Program, provide a special look at voter participation findings across the state in advance of the presidential election. View a recording of the seminar.
Sept. 30, 2020: "California Elder Index 2019 Release: Basic Economic Needs of Older Adults and Profile of Those Struggling to Make Ends Meet"
According to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) guidelines in 2019, a single elder is considered in poverty if their income is less than $12,490. According to the California Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (CA Elder Index), older adults in California, on average, need two times the FPL amount — single elders who rent have an economic need of $27,816 for a basic and decent standard of living. The CA Elder Index was developed to provide an evidence-based indicator of the actual basic costs faced by older adults ages 65 and over. |
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D. Imelda Padilla-Frausto, PhD, MPH, UCLA CHPR research scientist, and Steven P. Wallace, PhD, UCLA CHPR Associate Center Director, discuss the release the 2019 California Elder Index and trends in the basic cost of living for older adults from 2013 to 2019; uncover the hidden poor — older adults with income above the FPL but not enough income to meet their basic needs; and discuss the implications for older adults during COVID-19. View a recording of the seminar. |
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Aug. 27, 2020: "Hidden No More: Unmasking Data for Health Equity”
So how does a group which has often been masked by a lack of meaningful data become unhidden? The brand-new Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) COVID-19 Data Policy Lab at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is looking to change that — by revealing targeted data for NHPIs across the nation in order to better deploy resources and other actions to help the disproportionately affected population. UCLA Director Ninez Ponce and scholars from the NHPI COVID-19 Data Policy Lab — Richard Calvin Chang, Corina Penaia, Karla Thomas, Vananh Tran, John Greer, and Nicholas Pierson — discuss findings and data used in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, featured in news media, and a Health Affairs blog. This webinar is co-sponsored by the National Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team, the Southern California Pacific Islander COVID-19 Response Team, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Fund, a project of NEO Philanthropy, Inc.
Combining Traditional Modeling with Machine Learning for Predicting COVID-19
In her July 16 seminar, Christina Ramirez, a professor of Biostatistics at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, shared her groundbreaking, comprehensive model that combined traditional SEIR models with case velocity and machine learning to get precise, reliable estimates of COVID-19 case and death rates — shining a light on whether the pandemic is gaining speed and if deaths are accelerating or stabilizing. This project also uses the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to obtain an accurate snapshot of California data so that morbidity and mortality rates are based on the known prevalence of sociodemographic factors such as age, race, and co-morbidities or underlying health conditions.
June 29, 2020: "Vulnerabilities to Covid-19 in the LGBT Community"
Kathryn O'Neill, a policy analyst at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, shared findings from two reports she authored that describe the characteristics of the LGBT community in California with an emphasis on factors which increase vulnerability to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reports, which use data from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research's California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), showed that LGBT adults in the state are significantly at risk for health and economic harm from COVID-19. Among those risks, more than 200,00 LGBT people in California have one or more high-risk medical conditions including asthma, diabetes, heart disease, or HIV; 612,000 were living below 200% of the federal poverty level prior to the pandemic; and 134,000 lack health insurance. LGBT economic risks are related to factors such as poverty level, race/ethnicity, gender identity, housing, food security, and employment status.
May 20, 2020: “Health at Risk: Policies Are Needed to End Cigarette, Marijuana, and E-cigarette Secondhand Smoke in Multi-Unit Housing in Los Angeles”
Peggy Toy, director of the Health DATA Program, and Catherine Yount, public policy analyst, shared findings from their 2019 study, which highlights the high level of secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing in Los Angeles and gaps in existing voluntary smoke-free policies. Despite an increasing number of smoke-free local laws in the last 10 years, the proportion of Californians reporting exposure to secondhand smoke from tobacco, marijuana, and e-cigarette vapor continues to rise. Residents of market-rate, privately-owned multi-unit housing (e.g., apartments) are particularly at risk of drifting secondhand smoke. In their study conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) that included 4,800 tenants and 176 multi-unit housing owners in the City of Los Angeles, 49% of tenants reported exposure to drifting secondhand smoke, including tobacco (39%), marijuana (36%), and e-cigarette (9%). Presenters discussed the need for a consistent implementation and enforcement plan to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke for all Los Angeles residents.
Mar. 26, 2020: “Census Undercount of Latino Immigrants: Impact on Health and Socials Programs in Los Angeles”
Steven P. Wallace, Associate Center Director at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, discussed findings of a study he conducted with colleagues that looked at funding at risk in Los Angeles County (LAC) for health care and social services. They also did an analysis of services that could be lost if Latinos are undercounted in the census. Wallace talked about the projected funding loss for critical services in LA County, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), Head Start early childhood education program, and the Health Center Program, if there is a 2%, 5%, or 10% undercount of Latinos. The study found that a worst-case scenario (10% undercount) would result in missing about 466,000 people in the census count and losing $221 million in federal funding. He also discussed the overall implications of a census undercount on critical programs and services for the county's underserved and underrepresented groups.
Feb. 19, 2020: “Addressing the Aging Population and the Needs of Older Adults”
Ritu Sadana, senior health adviser at the World Health Organization (WHO), shared how the WHO negotiated its first global strategy and action plan on ageing and health (2016–2020). She also discussed its extension, a proposal for a Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020–2030) that will be considered by the upcoming World Health Assembly in May 2020, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030. Sadana will focus on how WHO has engaged Ministries of Health in eight countries to increase their commitment to evidence-informed policies and programs through a country-led effort that also reflects a collaboration between the World Health Organization’s three levels (headquarters, regional and country offices) and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Center Research Scientist Kathryn Kietzman briefly discussed efforts currently underway in California to develop a Master Plan for Aging and her work as part of the research subcommittee tasked with developing a data dashboard to measure progress made by the state over the next 10 years.
February 5, 2020: "Cost of Single-Payer Health Care in the U.S: A Systematic Review"
Dr. James G. Kahn, a professor in the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, and Dr. Michael A. Rodriguez, professor and vice chair in the Department of Family Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and faculty associate at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, discussed findings from a recent study by researchers at UCLA, UCSF, and UC Berkeley that shows that a single-payer health care system would save the U.S. money over time. They looked at 22 economic analyses by government, business, and academic centers across California, New York, and other states and found that 19 of them predicted savings in the first year after implementation, averaging 3.5% of total health care spending.
December 16, 2019: "Identifying Mental Health Needs in California: A Public Health Approach"
About 3.2 million adult Californians grappled with severe psychological distress in 2018, according to the California Health Interview Survey. But how do you identify and help those with moderate levels of distress who may be at-risk of developing a more serious mental illness?
Imelda Padilla-Frausto, Center research scientist, will present a study looking at mental health needs in the state. Findings may be used to guide efforts for preventive outreach and early intervention services. By taking a preventive and early intervention approach, she will present data comparing two groups: individuals identified as having moderate psychological distress (those who have a lower score on the Kessler 6 screening tool) and those who have serious psychological distress – looking at various factors such as life and work impairment, demographic characteristics, and use of mental health services. View seminar slides here.
Oct. 24, 2019: "CHIS 2018 Data Release"
The CHIS 2018 Data Release seminar is an overview of data from the 2017-2018 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Ninez Ponce, Center director, CHIS principal investigator and professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and Todd Hughes, CHIS director, will share highlights from the survey, including newly expanded questions on tobacco, marijuana and e-cigarette use, and important findings and trends in key health topics such as health insurance coverage and mental health.
The new data will be available for download through the Public Use Files (PUF) and included in the AskCHIS© data query tool following the webinar. CHIS, the nation’s largest state-based population health survey, interviews approximately 20,000 households each year to represent California’s geographic and ethnic diversity.
Please note that a portion of
the video was edited for clarity and data corrections. Please view the
presentation slides here
for updates to slides 25 and 26.
Oct. 7, 2019: “Whole Person Care Improves Care Coordination for Many Californians”
Associate Center Director Nadereh Pourat and Emmeline Chuang, associate professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, describe the progress of 25 WPC Pilots participating in the statewide Medi-Cal initiative on coordinating medical, behavioral health, and social services. Their evaluation provides a framework for organizations seeking to address the challenges of providing care to high-need patients who frequently use high-cost services such as those without stable housing or with multiple chronic conditions. Find the recorded video here.
May 14, 2019: "Medicare for All: Is it Finally Time for Single Payer in the U.S?"
As a continuation of the robust discussion at the recent E. Richard Brown Symposium focused on universal health care in California, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Senior Fellow Gerald F. Kominski will address the topic “Medicare for All: Is It Finally Time for Single Payer in the United States?
In this health policy seminar, Kominski will explore the latest developments in the high-stakes conversation about the possibility of making universal health care available to all Californians. Kominski is a sought-after expert at local, state, national, and global levels for his expertise in evaluating the costs and cost-effectiveness of health care programs, and is co-founder of the UCLA/UC Berkeley CalSIM microsimulation model used for estimating the impacts of health reform in California
This seminar is part of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research 25th anniversary celebration. The Center was founded in 1994 by its first director, acclaimed public health leader and advocate for health care reform E. Richard Brown, and several visionary colleagues, including Kominski.
March 26, 2019: "Economic Insecurity Among Older Adults of Color -- Housing and Health as Cause and Effect
In the Center’s March Health Policy Seminar, Associate Center Director Steven P. Wallace will discuss elder economic insecurity and the Elder Index™ and how the housing burden borne by elders, particularly those of color, affects health.
The Elder Index™ is a tool that is a more accurate gauge of poverty among older adults because it measures regional differences in the cost of basic necessities for older adults in each of California’s 58 counties.
February 19, 2019: "Reducing Access Disparities in California by Insuring Low-income Undocumented Immigrants”
Using the latest California Health Interview Survey data on the health insurance, demographics, health status, and access to care of undocumented low-income adults ages 19-64, new research led by Associate Center Director Nadereh Pourat reveals the demographics and characteristics of undocumented adults, how their access to health care compares to documented counterparts, and the implications of extending Medi-Cal eligibility to the last remaining uninsured population who have limited options for coverage.
Jan. 23, 2019: "Improving California’s Behavioral Health Workforce for Older Adults"
One in five Californians will be an older adult by 2030, yet gaps and deficits in the state’s geriatric mental health care workforce still exist.
In our January seminar, Faculty Associate Janet Frank and Research Scientist Kathryn Kietzman will share recommendations from their new study on how state policymakers, educational institutions, and county mental health/behavioral health departments and their contracted providers can help improve this workforce and ensure that mental health care training that addresses the unique needs of older adults is a priority instead of an afterthought.
Nov. 7, 2018: “How Proposed Changes to the ‘Public Charge’ Rule Will Affect Health, Hunger, and the Economy in California”
On Nov. 7, Ninez A. Ponce, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; Laurel Lucia; director of the health care program at the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education; and Tia Shimada, director of programs at California Food Policy Advocates, presented analysis from their report on the “public charge” rule change and shared estimates of the health and economic impact the immigration rule change will have on California's regions and its racial and ethnic groups. Research is supported by the California Health Care Foundation and The California Endowment.
October 31, 2018: "California Health Interview Survey 2017 Data Release"
Ninez Ponce, Center director and CHIS principal investigator, and Todd Hughes, CHIS director, will lead our Oct. 31 Health Policy Seminar and highlight the latest trends in insurance coverage, prediabetes, mental health need, and much more from the 2017 California Health Interview Survey. New topics covered in this upcoming release will include child prescription medicine use, teen technology use, e-cigarette and marijuana use among teens and adults, and -- just in time for mid-term elections -- the reasons why some Californians don't register to vote.
June 26, 2018: More LA Smiles and the UCLA Dental Transformation Initiative
According to the 2016 California Health Interview Survey, more than 160,000 Los Angeles County children ages 2 to 11 have never seen a dentist, and 72,000 more have not seen one for 1 to 5 years. Research reports that lack of regular oral health care can lead to dental problems and health problems that affect school attendance and daily life.
At our June 21 Health Policy Seminar Dr. Jim Crall, Center faculty associate and chair of Public Health and Community Dentistry at the UCLA School of Dentistry, will discuss new UCLA project he leads, More LA Smiles. The project aims to improve oral health for half-a-million low-income Los Angeles County children ages 0 to 20. Clinicians in dental, medical and community-based settings will be trained to deliver oral health care, develop new ways to ensure early intervention and care coordination, and increase awareness of the importance of children’s oral health. The project is part of the Dental Transformation Initiative in Los Angeles County and is supported by the Department of Health Care Services.
May 23, 2018: "Which Low-Income Group did the ACA Leave Behind?"
Nationally, Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increased the proportion of low-income adults who had health insurance by 7.1 percentage points between 2013 and 2015, according to a Health Services Research article by Center Graduate Student Researchers Dahai Yue and Petra Rasmussen. However, the study reports that not all populations benefited equally from the law, particularly Latinos. Join Yue and Rasmussen at our May health policy seminar for a look at how the ACA widened the gap in health care for Latinos.
Watch this video here.
April 26, 2018: "Liquid Sugar: Sugary Beverage Consumption Among Young California Children"
Susan Babey, co-director of the Center’s Chronic Disease Program, and her co-author Joelle Wolstein, a Center research scientist, discussed findings from their latest fact sheet that reports nearly one in three young California children ― including some as young as two years old ― drink one or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day. They discussed the marketing of sugary beverages to kids and the disparities in consumption based on income and race and ethnicity. The authors also provided a sneak peek at their upcoming CHIS-based study that includes teen consumption rates in California. Sugar-sweetened beverages―such as soda, fruit drinks with added sugar, and sports and energy drinks ― are the largest source of added sugar in the diets of children and adults in the U.S. and contribute to Type 2 diabetes, obesity and tooth decay.
Watch this video here.
March 19, 2018: ''Critical Policy Priorities for Breast Cancer Care in California''
In 2018, over 29,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in California and an estimated 4,500 will die of the disease. Yet patients and survivors continue to face serious economic, emotional and structural barriers to care, all while balancing family and work obligations. In this March 19 seminar, key findings were released from a two-year Center study of the obstacles breast cancer patients face accessing care in California. Study authors Ninez Ponce, associate Center director, and researcher AJ Scheitler discussed three of the most pressing obstacles: 1) A need for patient navigators to help breast cancer survivors understand and access services; 2) A lack of continuity of care within the complex system of providers, support services and insurance requirements, and; 3) The particular obstacles facing low-income women, including narrow provider networks and time limits on coverage. Please join us for this critical discussion of how California can better extend life-saving, life-extending treatments and services that enhance quality of life for survivors of this highly-prevalent disease.
Watch this video here.
Feb 21, 2018: "Paul Dourgnon: Addressing Undocumented Immigrants' Health Care Needs through Safety Net Systems in California"
A common myth about undocumented immigrants in the United States is that they place an undue burden on the nation’s health care system and particularly the safety net. In 2016, the Center was host to Paul Dourgnon, the research director at the Paris-based French Institute for Research and Information in Health Economics, and a 2016-17 French Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey, as well as county stakeholder interviews, Dourgnon assessed how well immigrants are served by California’s safety net and what the health outcomes are for immigrants who are able to access services. On Wednesday, Feb. 21, Paul returns from Paris to, among other things, talk to us about the results of this research, which could not be more timely in light of current political debates.
Watch this video here.
Jan. 25, 2018: ''Older Californians and the Mental Health Services Act: Is an Older Adult System of Care Supported?"
Mental health care for older Californians is a critical issue with opportunities for improvement. In this Jan. 25, 2018 seminar, Center Faculty Associate Janet Frank and Center Research Scientist Kathryn Kietzman discuss results from the first study to assess how California's public mental health delivery system has served adults age 60 and older since passage of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in 2004. Study findings show many unmet needs among older adults with mental illness in the public mental health delivery system, but they also reveal evidence of promising programs and strategies that counties have advanced to address these deficits. Based on their evaluation, authors recommend policy changes than can improve care to older adults with mental illness.
Watch this video here.
Nov. 30, 2017: "LA's Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program: Predicting the Effect Over the Long Term"
Farmers markets. Community gardens. Nutrition and exercise classes. Will they make people healthier over time in vulnerable areas like Metropolitan and South Los Angeles, where nearly 1 in 3 adults is obese and more than 1 in 3 is overweight?
In this Nov. 30 seminar, Center researchers Susan Babey and Xiao Chen will discuss their evaluation of various obesity prevention programs implemented by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Locally, the initiative brings together a broad range of community partners to implement comprehensive nutrition education and obesity prevention strategies where people live, learn, work, play, pray and shop. Using a predictive model, the team will discuss what the likely long-term effect of these programs may be on LA's residents.
October 31, 2017: "CHIS 2016"
September 27, 2017: "Hard CHOICE? Why aren't more Angelenos enrolling in Cal Mediconnect?"
In this Sept. 27 seminar, Center Research Scientist Kathryn Kietzman and Graduate Student Researcher Kate McBride will describe the factors that may contribute to Angeleno’s dual-eligible consumers’ low enrollment rate in Cal MediConnect. Kietzman has been conducting qualitative studies of dual eligibles, both through one-on-one interviews and through focus groups as part of the Center’s Consumer Healthcare Options Investigating Cal MediConnect Enrollment (CHOICE) project.
Watch this video here
August 22, 2017: "Parks After Dark: How Los Angeles Transformed Recreational Public Spaces"
Parks After Dark is a Los Angeles County program that began in 2010 as the prevention strategy for communities with higher rates of violence, economic hardship, and obesity prevalence. The Center was the evaluator of this innovative program, in which PAD parks stayed open late on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings in the summer months to offer a variety of safe, free recreational and cultural activities for people of all ages.
What started as a program in three parks has now been implemented at 21 throughout Los Angeles County. Please join us at this August 22 seminar to hear lead evaluator Nadereh Pourat, director of the Center’s Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program, and HEER Senior Research Associate Ana Martinez, talk about how the Parks After Dark Program evolved into a key County strategy to promote health, safety, equity, and community well-being.
July 31, 2017: "Partnership Strategies of CHCs: Building Capacity in Good Times and Bad"
Community Health Centers (CHCs) serve as critical safety net providers to those who are uninsured or who may become uninsured. In this livestreamed July 31 seminar, Center Associate Director Steven P. Wallace and Graduate Student Researcher Maria-Elena Young will discuss findings from a new study on these centers' efforts to serve the remaining uninsured. Specifically, the study looked at strategies undertaken by CHCs in four states that reinforce the local safety net through partnerships, improvements to the local health system, and advocacy. With the uncertainties ahead about whether Medicaid expansion will be continued or be handed over to the states with limited oversight, partnerships both among CHCs and with others in the health care system and beyond may become even more important.
Watch the video here.
June 28, 2017: "Reforming California's public hospitals: Key findings from the DSRIP evaluation"
California has 12 county hospital systems and five University of California public hospitals that deliver the majority of inpatient and a significant amount of outpatient care to Medicaid patients in the state. In this June 28 seminar, Nadereh Pourat, the Center’s director of research, discussed findings from a comprehensive evaluation of a major effort to promote innovation and improve care at these hospitals: the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. California was the first out of several states nationally to implement DSRIP, making these findings significant to the broader national experiment in health system reform. Pourat, who was the lead evaluator of the five-year California DSRIP program, describes newly assessed measures of progress, what interventions were the most successful, and whether a “pay for performance” incentive system worked.
May 31, 2017: "Stopping Sugar: Findings from the Kaiser Permanente/American Heart Association Roundtable on Added/Free Sugar Consumption"
Leading experts from the across the country convened in Los Angeles on May 3 for a roundtable discussion on how to remove added and excess sugar from foods. Researchers and experts from the Harvard School of Public Health, Dannon, Partnership for a Healthier America, multiple University of California campuses, Duke University School of Public Policy, ChangeLab Solutions and others discussed topics ranging from menu labeling and federal nutritional standards to the most vulnerable communities who are "extreme consumers" of sugar.
Apr. 25, 2017: "Environmentally Unhealthy? The Health and Environmental Implications of Proposed EPA Budget Cuts"
The Trump administration has proposed budget cuts of up to 31 percentto the Environmental Protection Agency. In this April 25 noon seminar, experts from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health will discuss implications of the proposed budget cuts at the national level and for California-based initiatives ranging from pollution mitigation around the Port of Los Angeles to preservation and protection efforts for the San Francisco Bay. Moderated by Yifang Zhu, professor of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, the panel will consist of Michael Jerrett, professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and director of Center for Occupational & Environmental Health; Ying-Ying Meng, co-director of the Chronic Disease Program and a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; and Timothy Malloy, professor in the UCLA School of Law and faculty director of the UCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program.This seminar will be livestreamed and is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Watch the video here.
Mar. 22, 2017: "ACA Repeal and Replace: What's the Latest?"
Since January, Republicans have sought to swiftly repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and put forth multiple approaches to replace it, including the American Health Care Act, which the Congressional Budget Office has estimated will cost up to 24 million Americans their health insurance over the next decade. In this Health Forum, co-sponsored by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, experts will explore the latest developments in this high-stakes process.The panel will consist of Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; Alexander Li, deputy director of systems integration, Los Angeles County Health Agency; and Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy, political science and law and chair of the Department of Public Policy, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The panel will be moderated by Thomas Rice, professor at the Department of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. This seminar, co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, is one of a series of special Public Health Grand Rounds seminars dedicated to the fate of the Affordable Care Act.
Watch the video here.
Feb. 15, 2017: "What Happens to the Safety Net if the ACA is Repealed?"
What might happen to the safety net of community clinics and hospitals serving the poorest and most vulnerable should the Medicaid expansion be reversed? Jody Heymann, dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, will moderate panel experts Gerald Kominski, director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; Jack Needleman, professor & chair of the Dept. of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health; Louise McCarthy, president & CEO of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County; and Lara Khouri, senior vice president & chief strategy officer of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Children's Hospital Los Angeles Medical Group, as they discuss what "repeal and replace" might mean for millions of Californians.This seminar, co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, is one of a series of special Public Health Grand Rounds seminars dedicated to the fate of the Affordable Care Act.
Watch the video here.
Jan. 24, 2017: "Trends in Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care Among Latinos: Implications of an ACA Repeal"
In this Jan. 24 seminar, Michelle McEvoy Doty, vice president of surveyresearch & evaluation for The Commonwealth Fund, will examine the likely effect of various proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Latinos, up to 29 percent of whom voted for President Trump. Using data from The Commonwealth Fund’s Biennial Health Insurance Surveys, Doty will look at gains made in coverage and access, and discuss options for those at risk of losing coverage. This seminar is co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health as one of four upcoming special Public Health Grand Rounds seminars on the fate of the Affordable Care Act.
Watch the video here.
Dec. 14, 2016: "CHIS 2015: What's New in the Nation's Largest State Health Survey?"
November 29, 2016: "Race and Ethncity 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.
Watch the video here.
October 26, 2016: "The ACA, FQHCs and the Remaining Uninsured"
Federally quailified 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?
Watch the video here.
September 2016: "Presidential Candidate: Their Healthcare Plans"
What will health coverage look like under a President Trump? A President Clinton? In this Sept. 27 seminar, Center Director Gerald Kominski will discuss the evolving visions of the presidential candidates' health plans. Specifically, Kominski will describe 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?
Watch the video here.
June 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?
Watch the video here.
May 2016: Cindy Cain "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.
Watch the video here.
April 2016: "Towards a Smokefree LA: What Landlords and Tenants Think About Smokefree Housing in the City of Los Angeles"
Earlier this year, Los Angeles received an "F" grade from the American Lung Association in the category of smokefree housing. In early April, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research – with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – launched a new campaign to reduce both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke in apartment buildings in some of the most densely populated and disadvantaged neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. This Smokefree Apartments Los Angeles initiative is part of a national CDC program to encourage voluntary smokefree policies in private, multi-unit rental buildings in the city of Los Angeles.
The Center presented findings from a first-ever survey of both landlords and tenants at an event in South LA, as well as launched an exciting new media and advertising campaign to encourage the adoption of smokefree policies citywide. Ying-Ying Meng, co-director of the Center's Chronic Disease Program, and Peggy Toy, director of the Center's Health DATA Program, expand upon the survey's findings and discuss how we can achieve a healthier and more equitable Los Angeles.
March 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’sChronic 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.
February 2016: "Health and Well-Being of the Hidden Poor: How the Federal Poverty Level Overlooks Economically Insecure Older Californians"
How can California policymakers accurately assess economic need, especially for vulnerable seniors? In this seminar, Associate Center DirectorSteven P. Wallace share the latest findings from the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), a cutting-edge poverty measure that takes into account the true cost of living in all 58 California counties. Wallace uses the Elder Index to examine the health status of economically insecure older Californians, especially for the so-called "hidden poor"― the estimated 750,000 California seniors who live in the income gap above the federal poverty level (FPL) and below what it actually takes to have a decent standard of living.
January 2016: "Putting the 'T' in LGBT Health: How to Measure Gender Identity in a Large Health Survey"
Almost no data exist on transgender Americans, a group that continues to face widespread discrimination and possible related adverse health consequences. Matt Jans, CHIS survey methodologist, discusses the cutting-edge work that CHIS has done in collaboration with UCLA's Williams Institute to establish feasible ways to accurately measure gender identity. Jans presents results of an experimental test of gender identity questions and discusses their implications for gender identity measurement in surveys more broadly.
Watch the video here.
November 2015: Nadereh Pourat "Why Don't More Community Clinics Provide On-Site Dental Care?"
Low-income adults and children who are able to see a dentist at the same location as their primary care doctor are more likely to get dental care, yet almost three out of five community health clinics in California either don’t offer oral health services or, if they do, the nearest facility is sometimes too far for many patients to reach, according to a recent Center study. In this November 19 seminar, part of the Center’s ongoing Health Policy Seminar Series, the study’s authors, Dr. James Crall andDr. Nadereh Pourat, review the data on the number of California community health centers that provide on-site dental care versus those that do not and takes a specific look at the county that “co-locates” oral and primary care the least: Los Angeles.The presentation also makes the case that providing both dental and primary care in the same location is good not just for patients but for clinics’ bottom line.
October 2015: Gerald Kominski "Narrow Networks: Do We Know When Networks Have Become Too Narrow?"
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has created a greater degree of standardization of health insurance plans than has ever existed in the individual (non-group) health insurance market. As a result, one of the most significant remaining features of health plans that can vary considerably is the number of doctors and hospitals contracting with each health plan. “Narrow networks” has led to some concern that those buying health insurance in the individual market, both inside and outside the Exchanges, now face more restricted access to doctors and hospitals in their immediate geographic area.Gerald Kominski, the Center’s director, summarizes what is known about narrow networks from the research literature; discusses challenges in defining and measuring network adequacy; and proposes further research to determine whether narrow networks are necessarily associated with lower quality care.
September 2015: Kathryn Kietzman "Promoting Preventive Health Care in the Community: The Healthy Aging Partnerships in Prevention Initiative"
In this Sept. 22 seminar, Kathryn Kietzman, Center research scientist, and O. Kenrik Duru, assistant professor from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, present early findings from a new project to increase the use of clinical preventive services, such as flu shots and mammograms, among older residents of South Los Angeles. This is an innovative, interdisciplinary project that combines teams of UCLA researchers, community groups and health centers, the L.A. Department of Public Health, local aging resources, women's groups, and more and is part of a larger trend to provide preventative care now, rather than costly emergency care later.
August 2015: Ninez Ponce and David Grant "CHIS 2013 and 2014: What's new in the nation's largest state health survey"
California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) released new comprehensive data on the health and well-being of Californians on August 18. The data, collected in 2013 and 2014, covers hundreds of health topics2014, covers hundreds of health topics ranging from
asthma and diabetes to health insurance status and coverage. In this seminar, Ninez Ponce, CHIS principal investigator, and David Grant, CHIS director, will describe the new and innovative features of the new surveys.
July 2015: Joelle Wolstein and Susan Babey "Environmental Factors Driving Rising Obesity in California"
More than seven million Californians are obese, and obesity rates have risen over the past decade to encompass one-quarter of the adult population. The cost to Californians -- in terms of health and medical care -- is rising as well. What can the state do to stem the epidemic? In tomorrow's seminar, part of the Center's 2015 Health Policy Seminar Series, Center Research Scientist Joelle Wolstein and Senior Center Research Scientist Susan Babey will discuss findings from their recent 10-year study, Obesity in California.
In particular, the authors will describe the structural challenges to fighting obesity in California, including the built environment, neighborhood safety, as well as economic access issues that prevent Californians from practicing healthy behaviors.
June 2015: Gary J. Gates "The Importance of CHIS in LGBT Research and Data Collection"
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) represents one of the largest ongoing population-based data collection efforts in the country that has included measurement of sexual orientation for more than a decade. In this June 17 seminar,Gary Gates, the Blachford-Cooper Distinguished Scholar and research director at theUCLA Williams Institute, demonstrates how CHIS has been used in research about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and (as of CHIS 2015) transgender community and the role it has played in helping to inform important policy debates about LGBT rights. He also highlights new ways that CHIS is expanding its efforts to identity the LGBT population and provide leadership in advancing efforts to improve LGBT data collection.
May 2015: David Grant “Ten-Year Trends in the Health of Young Children in California: 2003 to 2012”
David Grant, director of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), will be discussing an upcoming study that reviews ten years of data on the health of young children, including survey questions on health insurance coverage, preschool attendance, obesity, how often parents read to their child, and more.
The data covers the years 2003 to 2012, a period in which public health efforts for children focused on childhood obesity and improved nutrition, access to low-cost and free dental services, and the expansion of children's health insurance programs. How well did California do?
April 2015: Steven P. Wallace, Michael Rodriguez, and Maria-Elena Young "The Healthiest (and Most Unhealthy) Places to Be an Undocumented Immigrant: A Review of State Health Policies"
A new joint report will be released that examines state health policies towards undocumented immigrants and ranks states with the most (and the fewest) public policies and laws that foster the health and welfare of undocumented immigrants.
Watch the video here
March 2015: Nadereh Pourat "Undocumented Immigrants Eligible for DACA/DAPA: Who Are They?"
In this first of the Center's 2015 Health Policy Seminar Series, Nadereh Pourat, the Center's director of research, discusses the findings of a recently released study on the health insurance status and characteristics (including age, income level and work status) of eligible California immigrants.
Pourat also examines the potential effect on immigrants' income and access to health insurance as well as the impact on Medi-Cal.
May 2014: Lené Levy-Storms "The Dementia Initiative:Bringing Humanity to Long-term Care"
Dementia is a devastating condition, not only for aging individuals but for their families and for society itself. While the prevalence of persons living with dementia has been rapidly increasing, it was not until the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that the phrase, "dementia care training," was even added to federal regulations on long-term care workforce training requirements.
One of the unique challenges to caring for persons living with dementia is moving from a disease-centered approach (focused on treating clinical symptoms) to a "person-centered approach" focused on more humanistic and holistic treatments. This new approach emphasizes developing a relationship with the patient, understanding their needs and concerns, and taking into account their psychological, as well as physical, state.
In this May 21 seminar, Lené Levy-Storms, a Center faculty associate and associate director of the UCLA/Borun Center for Gerontological Research, describes The Dementia Initiative, a national coalition of researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers engaged in efforts to promote a person-centered approach into dementia care. Levy-Storms gives an overview of the trend towards person-centered care and describes in more detail a range of specific person-centered care practices, as well as the scientific and clinical evidence to date of the effectiveness of these practices.
April 2014: Elisa F. Long "Patients without patience: An empirical model of waiting in the ICU"
More than 5 million patients are admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) annually, accounting for 14 percent ($107 billion) of total hospital expenditures. As demand for ICU care increases, patients often endure excessive wait times for bed assignment due to capacity shortages, further straining emergency departments.
In this April 23 seminar, Elisa Long, assistant professor in Decisions, Operations & Technology Management at the Anderson School of Management, examines a way to more efficiently use ICU resources.
Specifically, Long developed a model that estimates whether the amount of time a patient waits for a bed has an impact on their health. Long also examined whether rapid discharge from the ICU (in order to free up beds) has an adverse effect on whether that patient is readmitted later.
March 2014: Kathryn Kietzman and Jacqueline Torres "Promise or peril? How low income older Californians are faring in the face of major health care delivery changes"
About 400,000 California seniors insured through both Medicare and Medi-Cal are currently being enrolled in a Medi-Cal managed care program called Cal MediConnect -- unless they actively opt out of the program. The new program, designed to improve care coordination, increase efficiency, and result in better health outcomes, has also created concern and confusion among seniors eligible for the program.
In this webinar, Center researchers Kathryn Kietzman and Jacqueline Torres will present recent data that show how this physically, socially and financially vulnerable group may be affected by the transition into Cal MediConnect,and how it will affect their ability to live at home.Their research is drawn from the Center's HOME Project, an ongoing qualitative study to document the experiences of older Californians with disabilities who depend on fragile arrangements of paid public programs and unpaid help to live safely and independently at home.
Watch the video here.
January 2014: John Øvretveit "Patient-Centered Care: Meaning, Evidence and Future"
If quality and safety improvement are all about the patient, why is there a growing and influential "patient-centered care movement"? Is it because 20 years of quality and safety improvements have been successful, or is there another reason? Is it only about health care or is there a public health and health policy aspect?
In the first Center seminar of 2014, Dr. John Øvretveit, director of research and professor of health care innovation implementation and evaluation at the Medical Management Centre at The Karolinska Institute, considers the meaning of "patient-centered care" and the international movement, and provides examples of some of the ideas and evidence of impact. His presentation also outlines the future implications for patients, researchers and health care workers.
Watch the video here.
November 2013: Dylan Roby "Redefining the Safety Net: The Changing Roles of Counties in Providing Health Care"
Dylan Roby, director of the Center’s Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program, discussed how policy change, county resources, the "Bridge to Reform" waiver, and new access to insurance coverage will alter county roles and expectations in California. Roby described the results of the Center's evaluation of county LIHP programs, provide an update on the transition of up to half a million LIHP enrollees to Covered California, the state's new health insurance exchange, or into an expanded Medi-Cal, as well as discussed new challenges for county health systems and residents.
October 2013: Gerald Kominski "Implementing Obamacare: Is Calfornia Still Leading the Nation?"
Center Director Gerald Kominski will discuss the rollout of Covered California, the health care exchange that opened for enrollment on Oct. 1. Covered California estimates that nearly 1.4 million residents in the state will sign up in 2014. Kominski will describe the plans offered by the exchange and present the latest estimates on likely take-up and enrollment.
September 2013: Michael Goldstein "Meeting the Nation's Primary Care Needs: Current and Prospective Roles of Doctors of Chiropractic and Naturopathic Medicine, Practitioners of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and Direct-Entry Midwives."
Michael Goldstein, a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research Faculty Associate and professor of public health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health examines the potential role of chiropractors, naturopaths, acupuncturists and midwives in health care reform as well as the implications that their expanded participation might have in shaping a new definition of primary care provision.
May 2013: Nadereh Pourat "The Role of Dental Practice in Disparities in Access to Dental Care"
Not all dental care providers are alike and variations in service delivery can contribute significantly to access in general, and racial/ethnic and income disparities to access in particular. Dentist characteristics such as age, gender, size of practice, and accepting publicly insured patients are likely to ameliorate or exacerbate access by race/ethnicity or income. In this seminar, Nadereh Pourat, director of research and an expert on oral health, examines these relationships using CHIS data.
April 2013: Mark A. Peterson "An Informed Electorate? Perceptions of Health, Positions on Policy, and Asking the Right Questions"
Mark A. Peterson, a Center faculty associate and UCLA professor of public policy, political science and law, discusses where the public stands on a range of health policies as well as underscore the importance of enhancing the public's knowledge about health and health care issues.
May 2012: Larry Schneiderman "The Unbearable Rightness of Rationing: Just Medical Care"
In this Center seminar, Larry Schneiderman, a noted biomedical ethicist at UCSD, discusses a rationing proposal that examines which health outcomes should receive priority in a just society.
February 2012: Symposium "Sustaining and Extending Health Care Reform?"
Health care reform faces legal challenges and critical tests in coming months. What is the future for this important new law? In this symposium, California's leading health experts discuss the future of health care reform. Watch the video, featuring the late Center Founder E. Richard Brown, here.
November 2011: Thomas Klitzner "The Pediatric Medical Home: Lessons for System Redesign"
How can organizations improve pediatric medical homes, especially for children with complex health needs? Thomas Klitzner, director of the UCLA Department of Pediatrics medical home program, lays out his plan.
October 2011: Shana Alex Lavarreda "Immigration Status Requirements and National Health Care Reform: Who's Left Out?"
Who's left out of health care reform? Shana Alex Lavarreda, the Center's director of health insurance studies, discusses why up to 220,000 immigrant children won't receive coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
May 2011: Dani Filc and Nadav "Dividovitch Privatization Processes in a Universal Health Care System -- the Case of Israel"
Two Ben Gurion University scholars discuss Israel's socialized system of health care with its unique mixture of private, semi-private and public entities. Dani Filc, a senior lecturer of Politics and Government, and Nadav Davidovitch, a senior lecturer of Health Systems Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, also describe lessons for the U.S.
April 2011: Sheila Kuehl "California Budget Health Care Message: Stay Healthy and Don't Be Old or Poor"
Cuts in California's budget over the last decade have fallen most heavily on those who depend on the state for their basic health care needs.Sheila Kuehl, former chair of the Senate Health Committee, discusses how this impacts Californians even beyond those who have lost services.
March 2011: Mark Litwin "Caring for the Uninsured in California with Prostate Cancer"
In California, 105,900 men are living with prostate cancer at any given time. If caught and treated early, the survival rate for prostate cancer approaches 100 percent.Mark Litwin, a UCLA professor of health services and urology and the director of IMPACT, an organization that aims to provide high-quality free prostate cancer treatment to Californian men with little or no health insurance, will discuss how health care reform will positively affect uninsured California men.
February 2011: Dylan Roby "Primary Care Demand and Supply: The Potential Impact of Health Reform?"
Is the nation's primary care system ready for health reform? Who will care for the estimated 32 million newly insured Americans under health reform? And what effect will the elimination of co-payments for preventive care have on demand for services? Dylan Roby, Center director of Health Economics and Evaluation Research, tackled all these issues.
January 2011: Paul C. Fu and Jean Balgrosky "The Evolving Impact of Health IT on Health Policy"
How will health technology evolve and complement health care reform and health policy? Jean Balgrosky, a UCLA lecturer on information technology; and, Paul C. Fu, Jr., an associate clinical professor in the UCLA Department of Pediatrics and Health Services and the former chief medical information officer at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Both discuss the growing emphasis on health information technology (HIT).
December 2010: Allison K. Hoffman "The Role of Health Insurance Under Health Reform: Mitigating Harms to Health? Wealth? Or Just Bad Luck?"
What is the intent of health care reform? Is it to mitigate against harms to health? Differences in wealth? Or just bad luck? Allison Hoffman, a faculty associate of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Fesearch and an acting professor at UCLA School of Law, who specializes in health care law and policy, examines these issues in this hourlong talk.
November 2010: Robert M. Kaplan "Priorities of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research"
Robert M. Kaplan, a distinguished professor in the UCLA School of Public Health, has left UCLA to become the new director of the National Institutes of Health's Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research. In this seminar, Dr. Kaplan discusses his plans to develop a strategic framework for research priorities at this branch of NIH, which focuses on how behavioral and social factors can influence illness.
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