Leif Wellington Haase: All Publications, Events and Press

New America Foundation Announces New Philanthropy Fellow

Elizabeth Wu — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:32:00 -0500

The New America Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of the first HAND Foundation Philanthropy Fellow, Dr. Lucy Bernholz. With the generous support of The HAND Foundation, based in Redwood City, Dr. Bernholz will analyze key trends in the philanthropy sector, with a focus on the reforms and regulations that will determine its future.

CA EVENT: Asia Resurgent?

Elizabeth Wu — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/16/2009 - 12:00pm

Please join us in a lunch discussion featuring two dynamic authors. Nicholas Schmidle, author of To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan will discuss the most recent and turbulent period of Pakistan’s history. His observations provide a contemporary history of this country at a time when President Pervez Musharraf’s power was waning and the Taliban’s was growing, and when Americans began to realize that Pakistan’s fate is inextricably linked with our own.

CA EVENT: On The Cutting Edge

Elizabeth Wu — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
05/08/2009 - 11:00am

Video: Part 1 of 2 | Part 2 of 2

CA EVENT: California, the Crisis and the Next Social Contract

Elizabeth Wu — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/09/2009 - 8:00am

Foundations Take Active Role on Health Policy | Los Angeles Times

Communications — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:01:00 -0500

"There's been a sea change in thinking," said Leif Wellington Haase, director of New America's California Program. "People will realize over time what a big ...

CA EVENT: Censorship and Politics

Communications — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/10/2008 - 12:00pm

Come hear more about the book that Studs Terkel calls "revelatory and stunning"; that Anthony Lewis praises for providing "a dramatic glimpse of a dark American past"; that Publishers Weekly says "artfully weaves the personal and the political" in a way that "readers will find engaging on more than one level." Rick Wartzman, Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, will lecture on his new book, "Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John… more

CA Event: The Next World - How Should the United States Respond to Rising Powers?

Communications — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/05/2008 - 8:00am

The rise of other global powers is a profound new reality of today’s world. As headlines remind us nearly everyday, China, India, Russia, as well as the European Union, Japan, and others are rapidly gaining strength and influence. How should the U.S. navigate this new world landscape? Does the rise of these powers represent an ideological challenge or an economic boom? Will global warming convince us we are all in the same boat? The Next World conference will explore… more

Leif Wellington Haase in Perfil.com | 'Real Estate Crisis and the End of the American Dream'

Communications — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:08:00 -0400

(Perfil.com, translated version)--...Finally, banks can seize the homes in 2007 were initiated 2.2 million procedures, according to RealtyTrac consultancy. The over-indebted families are expelled, the abandoned houses are degraded and this affects the level of the neighborhood, so the bank must liquidate the property, with lower market prices. "If there are many vacant houses, at some point this phenomenon occurs," says Leif Haase, a leader of the research centre New American Foundation, California... LINK to Article

CA Event: From Pluribus to Unum

Communications — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:45:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/25/2008 - 12:00pm

Though the southern border tends to be a focal point for debates about immigration, the anxiety that many Americans express is really about whether integration happens after people have crossed our country's borders. The question of immigrant integration is nowhere more relevant than in California, where more than one in four residents is foreign born. On Friday July 25th, Dr. Tomás Jiménez will discuss the state of immigrant integration amongst California's newcomers and their descendents. He will… more

CA Event: Climate Change Solutions

Communications — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:51:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/17/2008 - 12:00pm

The G-8 recently endorsed cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent by 2050 and called for nations around the world to set midterm reduction targets. What role do U.S. states play in this process and what steps should they take? New America Climate Policy Director Terry Tamminen and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger David Crane will give an overview of state and federal policies to date, while discussing the steps that California and other states can take… more

CA Event: The Subprime/Foreclosure Crisis

Communications — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
06/11/2008 - 12:00pm

The U.S. economy has been gripped by a relentless housing crisis for almost two years. A key driver in this crisis has been the many subprime mortgages that involved high rates and fees -- often requiring no down payments -- that were made in the past several years. California is ground zero in the subprime crisis and the resultant spillover effects -- foreclosures, bankruptcies, decreasing property values to name a few. Recognizing that relying on the market alone is unlikely… more

CA Pension Bill in Sacramento Bee | Plan to Open Up CalPERS Reflects Worry About Inadequate Saving for Retirement

Communications — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:58:00 -0400

Sacramento Bee | Plan to Open Up CalPERS Reflects Worry About Inadequate Saving for Retirement

Investing for retirement is the financial equivalent of eating your vegetables: It's good for you, but sometimes downright distasteful.

Now a proposal making its way through the California Legislature has people talking about whether the state can make putting aside retirement money more palatable.

The plan would let private businesses and workers funnel direct payroll deposits into a retirement investment account. The California Public Employees' Retirement System would administer the pooled money.

No one knows how many of California's 6 million workers without retirement plans would sign up. Many struggle in jobs that leave them with little money at the end of the month. The arcane language of finance can paralyze the uninitiated. And let's face it: We love buying stuff, even when we can't afford it.

"We want everything now," said Lynn Wigginton, a Sacramento certified financial planner. "All the bells and whistles, the newest car. It's a real obstacle to saving for retirement."

The savings plan could change that by making individual retirement investing as close to set-it-and-forget-it as possible.

*Assembly Bill 2940 would let private-sector workers without an employer-sponsored retirement plan sign up for IRAs watched… more

CA Retirement Saving Proposal in Sacramento Bee | California Assembly Panel Passes State-run IRA Proposal

Communications — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:15:00 -0400

Sacramento Bee | California Assembly Panel Passes State-run IRA Proposal

A proposal to open California's retirement system to private sector workers prompted questions Wednesday about government competing with investment firms and the pension system's ability to handle the unique program.

"We just don't know if it's going to work yet," Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, said of the proposal to have the California Public Employees' Retirement System offer IRA accounts to workers whose employers don't offer retirement savings plans.

But Sacramento carpenter Lou Delgado said he would be interested in a CalPERS retirement account.

"I'm 40 years old and don't have anything in a real retirement plan, just some savings of my own," Delgado said. "I've worked for a lot of (companies) and never had something like that, so, yeah, I'd be interested in anything that could put away a few dollars a week at this stage of my life."

*The proposal, Assembly Bill 2940 by Assemblyman Kevin De León, D-Los Angeles, passed its first test Wednesday when a committee that deals with retirement issues approved it on a 4-1 vote, with Jeffries abstaining and another Republican, Joel Anderson of Alpine, voting against it.

Supporters said the idea… more

Lessons From California's Health Reform Efforts For the National Debate

Health Policy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:10:00 -0500

In January 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a comprehensive health care plan that aimed to provide quality, affordable health insurance to all Californians. Based on individual responsibility, the plan focused on prevention and wellness and emphasized a shared responsibility approach to financing.

After almost a year of negotiations between Governor Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders, compromise legislation with a framework and goals similar to the governor’s original proposal passed the State Assembly with a large majority. This compromise legislation, however, was later rejected by the California Senate’s Health committee.

The effort to reform California’s health care system faced several obstacles unique to the state. Californians seeking reform had a very narrow margin of error within a complex set of legislative, political, and demographic challenges. Health reform proponents also encountered several systemic roadblocks regarding affordability and sustainability common to health care reform proposals generally.

Nonetheless, the bipartisan spirit displayed by Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Núñez showed that Republicans and Democrats can work together to solve our nation’s challenging health care crisis and proved that lawmakers can reach consensus without compromising core values. This bipartisan effort to cover all Californians united a broad coalition of advocates representing citizens, patients, workers, employers large and small, hospitals, insurers, and politicians.

While comprehensive health reform legislation was never signed into law, efforts to reform California’s health system produced a number of lessons for the national health care debate and other states seeking to institute reforms. Among the most important: leadership matters, broad coalitions can be built and maintained, and the issues of affordability for families and sustainability for taxpayers must be satisfactorily addressed.

For the full text of the policy paper, please see the PDF attached below.

California Health Reform: Lessons for the Nation

Communications — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
03/07/2008 - 12:00pm

Efforts to reform California's health system hold many lessons for the nation. The bipartisan spirit displayed by Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Núñez proves that Republicans and Democrats can work together to address the most challenging health care problems facing our nation. In addition, the campaign to cover all Californians united an unprecedented coalition of advocates: hospitals, insurers, large and small employers, labor, and patients. Rarely have such disparate interest groups united in favor of a health reform… more

CA Event: How Do/Should We Tax?

Communications — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:34:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/27/2008 - 8:30am

California has a tax system largely fixed in place during the Great Depression, in an industrial economy-setting unconcerned with environmental sustainability. Two questions about this tax system are posed here: First, can California find ways to raise the revenue it needs in the 21st century that are a better fit with our high-tech, service-based economy than is the current system? Second, can California's tax/fee structure be used to meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions under its AB 32 guidelines?

Why the Budget Gap Shouldn't Derail Health Care Reform

adminn — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:06:00 -0500

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released his budget threatened by $14 billion of red ink, many are asking whether California can afford the ambitious health care reforms that passed the state Assembly in December. Given the social and economic costs of leaving as many as 6.5 million Californians uninsured, the better question may be: Can we afford not to?

Those worried by the possible impact of the budget gap on health reform include Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, whose chamber must vote for the health reform bill for it to move forward. Perata's concerns must be taken seriously. It would be hard to justify cutting back some social services while enacting a seemingly expensive health care plan.

But these doubts miss the larger picture: Health care reform will strengthen the economy, improve productivity and reduce long-run deficits. Over time, it actually costs more to let California continue to have one of the highest rates of un-insurance in the country than it would cost to cover everyone. The harm to individuals, business -- and ultimately the state's bottom line in terms of total social cost -- is unacceptable.

The most compelling reason to cover the uninsured remains the personal toll paid by those without coverage, and their families. The burden of medical costs, for example, is a major contributor to personal bankruptcies. Being uninsured leads to poorer health. A recent study by researchers at the Harvard Medical School found that previously uninsured Americans slowed declines in their health when they became eligible for Medicare. The American Cancer Society has linked lack of insurance coverage to later screenings for cancer and lower survival rates. A recent update to a report by the prestigious Institute of Medicine estimates that about 22,000 Americans, or roughly 3,200 Californians, die each year as a direct result of lacking health insurance.

Another IOM study calculated that the lost human capital related to lack of health insurance -- including lost earning potential and the value of extra years of life -- is as much as $170 billion nationally, updated to 2006 numbers, or about $26 billion for California's share. To be sure, this foregone value doesn't immediately translate into rosier budget projections. But it needs to be pointed out that covering the uninsured isn't only about absorbing new public costs but also about investing in future productivity gains and economic growth.

The insured are paying a hidden tax for the care of the uninsured, as the New America Foundation has frequently pointed out. Patients without coverage often allow basic medical conditions to go untreated. When their hope of getting better fades, they go to the emergency room where they receive the most expensive care available to treat their now serious conditions. When their bills go unpaid, the costs are passed on to Californians with insurance, increasing the cost of private health insurance by almost 10 percent.

The cost-containment measures in the governor's plan -- including requirements that hospitals disclose cost and quality information - are a good first step toward getting health costs under control, making premiums more affordable and getting more bang for the health care buck. As a study released last year by the McKinsey Global Institute in San Francisco showed, even after adjusting for relative wealth, the United States spends hundreds of billions more on health care than other countries and delivers no better, and often worse, health outcomes.

Health-care reform promises to offer some relief for California's chronic structural deficit. State health spending is the fastest-growing area in the budget, rising almost 9 percent annually on average in recent years. Drawing on the tested example of other states, the reform proposal would bring in an estimated $4 billion in new revenues from the federal government for Medi-Cal, the state health program that covers almost 7 million Californians with low incomes. Shared responsibility for health funding will prevent individuals and employers from shifting their costs onto taxpayers.

Moreover, the California health reform bill identifies its own funding, including a tobacco tax, levies on businesses that fail to purchase health insurance for their employees, and individual premiums. This financing would have to be approved by voters and wouldn't go into effect until 2010, well after this year's budget debate.

From a fiscal standpoint, there will never be a perfect time to reform health care. The state's budget is chronically in crisis and lawmakers have perfected the habit of just getting by. But every day we delay in starting a new system actually damages our economy over the long-run and reduces our quality of life. If European countries, for example, could rebuild their health care systems to provide universal coverage out of the rubble of World War II, certainly California can strengthen our private health care system now.

Why the State's Budget Gap Shouldn't Derail Health Care Reform

Health Policy — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:47:00 -0500

On January 15, 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle featured an opinion piece authored by Leif Wellington Haase and Peter Harbage of the New America Foundation. The article, titled “Why the state’s the budget gap shouldn’t derail health reform,” presented several statistics on the importance of health reform. This background and analysis document offers the underlying support for the statistics used in their argument.

New America Welcomes Historic Vote on California Health Reform

Jerry Irvine — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:42:00 -0500

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, made the following statement today after the California Assembly voted to approve health care legislation that would cover all Californians. New America has provided policy and communications advice to Governor Schwarzenegger, his staff, and to Democratic leaders throughout the reform debate. Many of New America’s core health reform principles, including an individual mandate, are included in the proposal:

“Today is an exciting day for Californians, and for all Americans. This historic Assembly vote encourages us to believe that creating a system of coverage for all Americans is possible. The growing momentum for comprehensive health reform is real.

Amidst the most partisan political atmosphere in recent memory, a Republican governor and Democratic legislators reached common ground and linked together their respective visions. This bipartisan spirit is a model for our nation. It should inspire lawmakers in Washington to move beyond rhetoric and have a serious bipartisan conversation about health reform.

The Governor’s shared responsibility approach means that everyone must play a role in implementing and sustaining health reform. Likewise, this victory belongs to the many groups who united around the common goal of covering all Californians. It could not have been achieved without the commitment and mutual respect shown by the Governor, Assembly Speaker Nunez, and Senate President Perata. We hope the Senate will follow suit and build on this accomplishment.

There is much work left to be done in California. However, it is clear there is a growing consensus that our health system is in need of serious repair and that sustainable reform will take a bipartisan effort. As the country debates how to cover all Americans, California is leading the way toward comprehensive health reform.”

Video of this event, as provided by Gov. Schwarzenegger's office, is available below.

On California's Quest for Health Reform

Cecille Isidro — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:16:00 -0400

Twenty-five years ago, 49er quarterback Joe Montana connected with Dwight Clark on a last-minute miracle pass that changed the history of pro football forever. The metaphor for saving California health-care reform in 2007 resides in that memory.

Several national media reports of the death of reform are premature. But we are truly down to the final minute. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s original plan was good, but not perfect. Those for whom the perfect is the enemy of the good have effectively blocked it. Republican legislators refuse to consider whether investing in Californians’ health might be worth the cost. Some left-of-center advocates are opposed to sensible reform because it might challenge their dream of a government-run health system.

The good news is that neither Assembly Speaker Fabian Núnez nor Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, like Clark on that famous play, have quit running. Their own good but imperfect plan invites a grand compromise, which could bring this saga to a happy ending.

The Perata/Núñez plan aims to cover many of California’s uninsured, but it stumbles in two ways. First, it relies too heavily on employer financing. Second, it contorts itself oddly to avoid taking on the left and its misplaced critique of an individual mandate.

Most of us get health coverage at work, but the businesses that do not offer health insurance employ mostly low-wage workers. The proposed 7.5 percent tax on their small payrolls will not raise enough money to subsidize adequately their low-income workers. The requirement for all employers to spend this much on health care is really a way to protect and enhance the benefits of those who get them at work already, not to cover the uninsured. Requiring high-wage firms to spend 7.5 percent of payroll on health care will not help us compete with foreign firms. Moreover, the Perata/Núñez proposal probably violates the federal law that protects labor-management agreements from state interference.

More important, the governor’s plan of sharing responsibility for financing among providers, employers (4 percent of payroll) and taxpayers generally is much smarter and fairer and more effective in expanding health care coverage, according to MIT professor Jonathan Gruber.

But the biggest flaw in the Democratic leaders’ proposal is incomplete personal responsibility. The Democrats would require workers whose employers do not offer coverage to buy it, but neither the self-employed nor the workers in firms which do offer coverage would have any obligation to secure coverage for themselves and their families. This would leave insurance markets as inefficient as they are today and retain so many uninsured that hospitals will keep shifting costs to the insured.

Why not require workers who are offered coverage at work and the self-employed to buy, if proper subsidies are available? Perata’s original proposal included a mandate for high-income people. Núñez is open to this possibility. Both Perata and Núñez clearly understand that mandates could make markets work better, but they both profess reasonable fears about the affordability of insurance for middle-income Californians.

For this reason, the governor’s next offer must tackle affordability directly, both to solve his own proposal’s flaw and to provide cover for the Democratic leaders to push back against the ardent opponents of compromise and private-market solutions. This means he must offer to subsidize more families and to require insurers to offer more comprehensive products at fair rates than in his original proposal.

This fix will require a bit more new revenue than has been discussed. The major obstacle? Republican legislators who oppose any tax increase for any reason, ever, and the Legislature’s rule that any tax increase requires a two-thirds majority.

Thus, in order to finance covering all Californians, putting the entire health-reform package into a ballot initiative may be the only way. And what’s wrong with that? The governor says that he is open to the idea. One of Núñez’s main objections to the Schwarzenegger plan is that it would run afoul of the two-thirds rule. This strategy would make an end-run around this misguided rule. Imagine the three leaders campaigning together across the state for a historic health reform plan that would cover all Californians, spread the financing burden equitably, and lay the foundation for a more efficient health-care system.

Polls show that Californians and business leaders large and small want health-care reform. The problem continues to worsen: as the U.S. Census Bureau reported Aug. 28, the number of uninsured Americans rose sharply last year. It can be done, if our leaders are willing to work as teammates and share the credit as well as the responsibility. Now the governor has to find the legislative leaders with a high hard pass that only he can throw and only they can catch and turn into glory.