How Obamacare Is Changing the ER

Our Hospital Emergency Room Sees 400 Uninsured Patients Each Month. My Job Is to Get Them Covered.

Every month, nearly 400 people without health insurance visit the emergency department of the San Jose hospital where I work. Some of them come in after an accident. Others have chronic health problems but have nowhere else to go—their primary care physician is basically the emergency room.

In the past, all we could do for many of these patients was offer them a quick fix: bandage them, take away their pain, and send them on their way. Most of these patients were low-income but didn’t qualify for Medi-Cal, the federal-state program …

by Araceli Martinez | December 31, 2014

It Took 40 Years for California to Build a New Public Medical School

Will UC Riverside Produce a Different Breed of Doctors?

By G. Richard Olds | December 17, 2014

The United States spends more money on healthcare than any other country in the world. So how does Costa Rica outperform the United States in every measure of health of …

Breathing on Borrowed Inhalers

Obamacare Got Me on Medi-Cal, But Getting Treatment for My Asthma Was a Struggle

by Eric Berumen | November 25, 2014

In the spring of 2013, I lost my job at a law firm. The job came with medical benefits I needed. And I wasn’t sure exactly what to do.

I …

I Loved My Wife, But I Wished She Would Die

Brittany Maynard’s Suicide Brought Me Back to the Last Week I Had With My Wife—a Week I’d Give Anything Not to Have Experienced

by John La Grange | November 17, 2014

I occasionally flip my car radio to the right-wing AM station to get my blood pumping and to keep up on what people with a different worldview are thinking. When …

Could Ebola Kill Global Trade?

Western Nations Need to Remain Open to Africa—and Break a Centuries-Old Pattern of Restricting Commerce in Response to Disease

by Mark Harrison | November 16, 2014

“Health consists of having the same diseases as one’s neighbors,” the English writer Quentin Crisp once quipped. He was right: When a disparity occurs, the sense of threat to our …

HIV-Positive and in the Waiting Room

Where You Don’t Want Anybody to Know Your Name

by Patrick Reynolds | August 11, 2014

The first time I came here was October 2011, after a fairly wild first month at the University of Leeds in England. I’d been laid up in bed for a …

medicine

How Obamacare Is Changing the ER

Our Hospital Emergency Room Sees 400 Uninsured Patients Each Month. My Job Is to Get Them Covered.

It Took 40 Years for California to Build a New Public Medical School

Will UC Riverside Produce a Different Breed of Doctors?

Breathing on Borrowed Inhalers

Obamacare Got Me on Medi-Cal, But Getting Treatment for My Asthma Was a Struggle

I Loved My Wife, But I Wished She Would Die

Brittany Maynard’s Suicide Brought Me Back to the Last Week I Had With My Wife—a Week I’d Give Anything Not to Have Experienced

Could Ebola Kill Global Trade?

Western Nations Need to Remain Open to Africa—and Break a Centuries-Old Pattern of Restricting Commerce in Response to Disease

HIV-Positive and in the Waiting Room

Where You Don’t Want Anybody to Know Your Name

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How a Health Care Safety Net for the Poor Became California’s Top Priority

Medi-Cal’s Rapid Expansion Is a Triumph—And an Opportunity

Will Obamacare Make My Nursing Job Impossible?

Sicker Patients Are Coming Into My Care—Even As the Hospital Cuts Staff

Obamacare Is Turning Us Into a Better Hospital

Thousands of Newly Insured Patients Are Making Our Medical Center More Efficient and Creative

The Dogged Determination Behind a Decade of Health Gains in South L.A.

Once in Competition, Community Health Centers United to Improve Access and Hold Community Leaders Accountable

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