Peter Harbage

(WASHINGTON, DC) At an event today with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the New America Foundation released a report highlighting the hidden costs that all Californians pay due to the large number of those with little or no health care insurance coverage. Governor Schwarzenegger toured the emergency room at the California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles to highlight the hidden costs of the 6.5 million Californians without health care insurance.

“Tackling the problem of the uninsured is not only about expanding… more

Health insurance is the primary method Californians use to access and pay for health care. However, millions of Californians have inadequate health insurance or lack coverage entirely. When care is needed, the first inclination for these families is to delay treatment that is too costly and then hope for the best. And when hope is not enough, these families are forced to seek treatment that they often cannot afford. When medical bills go unpaid, many health care providers shift the… more

Governor Schwarzenegger has said that the top goal he will announce next year is to expand health insurance coverage to all Californians. This half-day conference was designed to provide him and others with fresh answers to the hard questions of how coverage expansion can be financed and how responsibility could be shared among families, employers, and government.

Presenters ranged from state officials, private employers, health policy advocates, as well as experts from academia, think tanks, and international consulting firms. California's… more

The defeat last week of Proposition 86, which would have raised the state's cigarette tax by $2.60 per pack, raises a new hurdle for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he heads into his second term with health care at the top of his agenda.

The measure would have paid for insurance coverage for all of California's children -- a fact largely obscured during a campaign that focused on the other things the tax would have funded, such as emergency rooms and anti-smoking… more

Among the high-stakes measures on the November ballot is Proposition 86 -- the tobacco tax. Prop 86 would raise the tax on cigarettes from 87 cents a pack to $3.47, making California cigarettes the most expensive in the nation. The money would pay for emergency health services, anti-smoking campaigns and other health programs. Tobacco companies are fighting anti-smoking measures in five states, and has poured $70 million so far into the California campaign. Recent poll numbers show that their… more

Visits to the doctor often leave Katherine Beatty feeling sicker than when she left home...

Beatty is part of a Medicare experiment to see if old-fashioned house calls can improve the health of some of the agency's sickest beneficiaries while saving taxpayers money.

If the three-year pilot project in California and two other states is successful, Medicare officials likely would try the service on a larger scale before asking Congress to make it a permanent part of the federal government's health… more

Fear is a powerful force. Families fear the disappearance of affordable health insurance, employers fear international competition while financing high and rising health care costs at home, and providers fear that they will not be able to deliver needed care for lack of funding. In short, just about everyone fears that our system will fall apart. Instead of taking action, many politicians remain fearful of tackling health care reform, since it crushed the Clintons and others before them.

But hope… more

Healthcare reform in California is at a potential turning point: Business has taken a seat at the bargaining table.

Some members of the state’s new business vanguard participated at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s healthcare summit last week. Steven Burd, chief executive of Safeway Inc., talked about his company’s rising health insurance spending and said it usually takes a crisis to bring about change. Calling healthcare costs a crisis, he urged business to get involved.

Business cooperated early in President Clinton’s campaign to reform… more

The United States Senate is embroiled in a debate over SB 1955, a bill that purports to help small businesses purchase health insurance. Offered by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the dialogue on finding solutions for small businesses is critical.

While most Americans (61 percent) obtain health insurance from employers, this is true for just over half of Californians. Small businesses are California's economic engine, and yet, higher premiums and administrative barriers make it much more difficult for small… more

As Senior Program Associate in the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, Peter T. Harbage until early 2008 contributed to the program’s efforts to extend fully portable health insurance to all Americans through policy research, writing, and outreach.

Mr. Harbage is currently President of Harbage Consulting, a Sacramento-based health… more