Career Development : Calendar

State health law implementation: Race to the starting line

04/22/13     Los Angeles, CA

Less than a year from now, states must be ready to enroll millions of people in insurance exchanges, as outlined in the 2010 health care overhaul law. Or, the federal government will step in to do the job, or part of it. States also have the option of opening their Medicaid programs to millions of new participants. But that's not much time, considering their long to-do lists.

California is planning to operate a state insurance exchange, and also is moving ahead with a Medicaid expansion. Also, the state will soon partner with the federal government to coordinate care for nearly half a million people who quality for both Medicare and Medicaid. 

Will California be ready to begin enrolling people this fall? Will hospitals and insurers be ready in time? Will people with changing economic situations bounce between Medicaid and subsidized private insurance, and will they have gaps in coverage? Will people know what kind of insurance to sign up for, and how to do it? Will there be a shortage of physicians and other medical providers?

This briefing will help you answer these questions for your readers, viewers and listeners.

Los Angeles

Date: Monday, April 22

Time: 6:30 p.m. open bar and appetizers, 7-8:30 p.m. program

Location: The Davidson Continuing Education Conference Center, University of Southern California, The Vineyard Room (3415 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0871 – intersection of Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard)

Phone: 213-740-5956

Parking is $10 and the closest parking structure is available at Parking Structure D (PSD). Enter at the Jefferson Boulevard Entrance at Royal Street (Entrance 4). The parking structure is right next to Davidson Center and the Vineyard Room.

The Los Angeles program is sponsored by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform, the USC Annenberg California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and features:.

  • Stan Rosenstein, principal advisor, Health Management Associates, and former California Medicaid director, will talk about the state’s plan to expand Medicaid.
  • Jim Lott, executive vice president, Hospital Association of Southern California, will address workforce, health IT and other challenges that hospitals face.
  • Gerald Kominski, professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, will discuss insurance expansions and the exchange.
  • Anna Gorman, staff writer, Los Angeles Times, will suggest story ideas and tips on writing about health reform now, in 2014 and beyond.
  • Moderator: Marilyn Werber Serafini, communications director and health policy advisor at the Alliance for Health Reform, a nonpartisan, nonprofit health policy group in Washington, DC

RSVP to Anna Gorman at Anna.Gorman@latimes.com or Marilyn Serafini at mserafini@allhealth.org.