Broadcast on public television across the state, California Connected is a television “news magazine” covering issues directly relevant to Californians and the places they live. First airing in 2002, California Connected has covered stories ranging from ballot propositions to commercial fishing off the west coast, organic farming, and the impact of independent voters.
The current episode of California Connected features an energetic interview with San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom about the San Francisco Health Access Program (HAP). The innovative plan -- the first of its kind nationwide -- will bring health care service to “the estimated 82,000 uninsured San Franciscans.” As Newsome notes in the interview, the key difference between the San Francisco program and other proposals is that the San Francisco program is about providing health access instead of health insurance. Newsom’s Universal Healthcare Council initiated HAP one year ago. Last June a report released by the council outlined a plan for developing and implementing HAP. Supervisor Tom Ammiano’s Worker Health Care Security Ordinance, passed last July, has set a target implementation date for HAP of July 1, 2007.
This January, Governor Schwarzenegger announced intentions to implement a somewhat-universal health care plan for the entire state of California. The plan would involve the establishment of a fund, paid for by employers, to pay for the health care of the uninsured working residents and all children. Unlike the San Francisco plan, Schwarzenegger’s plan does focus on heath insurance. The San Francisco plan is not available for already insured residents or those with government-subsidized coverage from Medi-Cal or Medicare; but the statewide program does extend its reach to the government-subsidized programs. It will be very interesting to see both San Francisco’s HAP and the statewide plan develop and become implemented. I wonder if the health care work of San Francisco, focusing on health care access, will eventually stand as a model for the entire state?
The California Connected website is a also great resource, with video archives on such topics as communities, education, environment, government, health, law and order, people of interest, economic challenges, and science and technology. One can also follow the show’s host, Lisa McRee, as she travels around California from the Bay to LA, via her blog. The newsroom blog also features a variety of California focused headlines.
California Connected can be watched locally on Bay Area KQED, Sundays at 4:30pm, and San Jose KTEH, Saturdays at 5:30pm.
