Health Care

The Chamber of Commerce Mountain View’s Business Interest and Public Policy Committee serve as the Chamber’s voice on policies on all levels of government. The committee analyzes issues from the business perspective and makes recommendations on policy positions to the Board of Directors on a wide array of issues such as cost, access, and quality of health care. 

News

Sep 5, 2010 Push to enroll uninsured kids in health coverage under way in California (The Sacramento Bee) ...a travesty when children who are eligible for health coverage programs fall through the cracks," said Suzie Shupe, executive director of the California Children's Health Initiatives, a coalition of 29 county-based children's health initiatives. "California can't afford to ignore the health of...    more...  
Sep 4, 2010 San Jose Mercury News, Calif., Scott Harris column (San Jose Mercury News) Better point-of-care IT systems could help a doctor pick a cheaper and just-as-effective treatment for a patient. The reality is that step one will cost more than we think it will. I think the real battle in health reform is going to occur at step two.    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 Mercury News interview (San Jose Mercury News) Well, everyone was somewhat unhappy with the final bill. I think the real battle in health reform is going to occur at step two. Because we have greater access to medical technology in the U.S., we have all come to expect that the technology will be used at the end of life.    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 Employers shifting health-care costs to workers, survey shows (Washington Post) ...employers have been shifting health care costs to workers, according to a study released Thursday.The premiums that employees pay for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 13.7 percent this year, while the amount that employers contribute fell by 0.9 percent, the survey...    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 Wonkbook: White House considers payroll tax holiday; House libs against Social Security cuts; 25% were unemployed during recession (Washington Post) Whatever else the fiscal commission does, it seems likely to come out with some package of reforms for the stories social insurance program. But Republicans aren't very interested in raising payroll taxes, and House liberals have now announced their unified opposition to anything that includes...    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 EDITORIAL (San Jose Mercury News) Elaine Alquist's SB 890 helps consumers navigate the complex world of shopping for an individual insurance policy. It forces insurance companies to provide apples-to-apples comparisons of policies based on their actuarial value. The bill conforms to federal reforms by ensuring that insurance...    more...  
Sep 3, 2010 Millions of young adults to regain parents' health coverage (The Sacramento Bee) ...-- Millions of 20-somethings who became uninsured after falling off their parents' health plans can regain coverage soon as a key provision of the federal health care overhaul law takes effect. As the open enrollment season begins, parents will be able to include grown children up to age 26...    more...  
Aug 31, 2010 Why health care is different (Washington Post) First, if you don't get good health care, you might die.    more...  
Aug 26, 2010 Health Care tops lobbyist spending in Richmond (Washington Post) But plenty of the usual suspects appear on this year's list.Utility Dominion Resources, which has an advocacy group that runs like a a well-oiled machine, paid $193,668. That included a Nov. 15 foray that took five legislators and chiefs of staff of Lt.    more...  
Aug 24, 2010 85,000 lost health insurance in Sacramento area, UCLA study finds (The Sacramento Bee) Without health insurance, she relied on Sacramento County's primary care clinic for medical care to ease the pain from an ailing back. Nonprofit community clinics are also carrying a heavier load, according to Marty Keale, executive director of the Capitol Community Health Network, a coalition...    more...  
Aug 24, 2010 Virginia can impose tougher abortion clinic oversight, AG Cuccinelli says (Washington Post) Ralph K. Smith (R-Roanoke), who asked whether the state has the authority to regulate facilities that provide first-trimester abortions and the medical personnel who perform them. The opinion applies only to first-trimester abortions. Second- and third-trimester abortions are performed in...    more...