Laurie Rubiner

The Real State of the State

Communications — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
01/19/2005 - 12:00pm

California is struggling to cope with a wide array of serious policy challenges: Job creation, education, health care costs, a budgetary crisis, political leadership, immigration and regional inequities. An opportunity exists to tackle these issues head on, but partisanship and parochialism threaten to stifle real progress.

The New America Foundation's California Program delivered its analysis of the "State of the State" in Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2005. Panelists provided a wide range of innovative proposals to address the most vexing policy problems facing the state.

Under the Umbrella of Health Care

Articles — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0500

On Election Day, California voters narrowly rejected a ballot initiative -- Proposition 72 -- that would have required businesses with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance to their workers or contribute financially to a state health insurance pool.

That defeat was not terribly surprising, given that preelection polls revealed a steady erosion of support for the measure as some sectors of the business community invested millions of dollars in a drive against it. After years of searching for a solution to the state's uninsured problem, California legislators and the governor must now go back to the drawing board to search for another idea that will cover… more

Health Insurance for Working Parents: A Fairy Tale

Articles — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Once upon a time in America, there was a young dad who toiled each day assembling automobiles at a local factory. It was hard work, but it provided him with ample treasures: enough money to put food on the table, pay his mortgage, and make sure that his wife and three children had excellent medical coverage

Today, that man's daughter also works long hours as an office manager for a local auto-repair business. But the insurance provided by her employer does not cover her two young children or husband, a self-employed carpenter. What's more, the couple's combined annual income… more

America's Fragmented Health Care System

Health Policy — Sat, 31 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0400

The American health system is rapidly approaching crisis. For those fortunate enough to have health insurance, health care costs are escalating — health insurance premiums rose almost 14 percent in 2003, the biggest increase in over a decade. For the 43 million people who went without health insurance last year, the system has already collapsed. As more and more people feel the strain of spiraling costs and face the fear of losing coverage entirely, the public increasingly cites these dual predicaments — rising health care costs and the growing number of people without health coverage — as the biggest health… more

Insurance Required

Articles — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Believe it or not, there is a politically appealing way to achieve universal health-care coverage: simply require all U.S. residents to buy insurance, with government help if necessary.

To understand why and how this might work, consider that the majority of those who lack health insurance are not unemployed. Nearly 60 percent of uninsured Americans work full time; another 16 percent work part time. These tend to be workers whose employers don't offer them health insurance (because they are low-wage or newly hired), or who can't afford to pay a share of the premiums.

In addition, about a third… more

Universal Coverage, Universal Responsibility

Health Policy — Fri, 09 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Please see the attached PDF version of this working paper, or the related executive summary.

Health Insurance Required

Articles — Tue, 05 Aug 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Last week Sen. John Edwards became the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to propose solving the problem of the uninsured by making health insurance mandatory. Although his proposed health care mandate is limited to children and young people -- all those under the age of 21 -- it offers the most promising way forward for eventually covering all 41 million uninsured Americans, and it marks a major turning point in our nation's health care debate.

The United States spends more on health care per capita than any other nation, yet one in seven of our citizens, and 12 million… more

Medicare, Health Care, Prescription Drugs

Communications — Thu, 24 Jul 2003 18:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
07/24/2003 - 12:07pm

New America's Jacob Hacker and Laurie Rubiner discuss the political battle over public and private social benefits.