Pacific Progressive

Anderson/Butler Social and Fundraiser for Bill Hedrick

Bill Hedrick is challenging Ken Calvert for the 44th Congressional seat.  Support Bill by coming to the Anderson/Butler Social and Fundraiser on Thursday, October 22  from 5 - 7 PM.  

The event is at Canyon Villas Club House, 5510 Va Dos Cerros, Riverside, CA.  RSVP to Karen Hinks at 714-615-2741 or at khinks(at)verizon.net.

 

Downtown Riverside Bash for Bill Hedrick

Grey and Lindsay Frandsen invite you to join them at a Downtown Riverside Bash for Bill Hedrick at 4595 University Avenue, Riverside, CA on Friday September 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  Local wines from Temecula will be featured.  The event is being co-hosted by Andy Melendrez, Jose Medina, Jane Block, Rose Mayes, Katie Green, Dom Betro, Marisa Yaeger, Allison Dale, Mary Curtin, Norm and Susie Langhorn and Betty McMillion. The event is limited to 70 guests.  There is an opportunity to participate in a strategy session with Bill Hedrick before the event.

Bill Hedrick to Address Norco Chamber of Commerce

Bill Hedrick will address the Norco Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, September 23 from 12 - 1 PM.  Bill is challenging Ken Calvert for the House of Representatives seat in the 44th Congressional District of California.  Bill will be addressing the Chamber at their regular member meeting.

Back to School Open House with Bill Hedrick

Barbara Kerr will host Bill Hedrick and his supporters at her home on Sunday, September 20.  Bill is challenging Ken Calvert for the House of Representatives seat for the CA 44.  Support Bill at the party at 8710 Windmill Place, Riverside, CA.

 Join Bill at this back to school event - call Barbara at 951-780-7703 or email teachers4bill(at)aol.com.

 

Leone and Bradley Hyman Host Bill Hedrick

Leone and Bradley Hyman are welcoming Bill Hedrick and his supporters to their home on Sunday, September 13. Bill is challenging Ken Calvert for the House of Representaves seat in the 44th California Congressional district. 

Join the party at 1381 Rosehill Dr, Riverside, CA 92507 form 4-6 PM.  

To get on the guest list, contact Anja at the Bill Hedrick campaign. Use the link to RSVP or call 951-789-8686.

Bill Hedrick Meet and Greet on September 11

Alyssa Sutherland and her friends are having Bill Hedrick over and would like you to come meet him. Bill will be at 266 Mount Kilamanjaro Court, Corona, CA from 7 to 9 PM on Friday, September 11, 2009.

Bill is continuing his run to Washington for the 44th Congressional District in California.  Bill is a lifelong teacher and educator.  He has served on the Norco Board of Education since 1988, and served five terms as board president. Hedrick has also served as president of the Rialto Education Association for the past nine years.

Bill Hedrick also has children who are currently serving deployments overseas.  Two of his sons, Adam and Jesse, and their spouses, will have served a total of 10 deployments overseas in Iraq by the end of 2010.

Alyssa and her friends look forward to seeing you when Bill Hedrick comes to visit!

Emergency Room Visits Increase with Recession

Emergency departments at hospitals are operating at or over capacity and have been experiencing a sustained rise in volume, according to a new report, Emergency Departments Under Growing Pressures, from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.  

People are ending up in the emergency room because they have nowhere else to go.  Few private practices accept uninsured patients and community clinics have waiting lists.  Patients go to the ER for problems that would normally be treated by a primary care physician - insect bites, colds, sprains, sore throats, hives.  Uninsured adults come to the emergency room to get prescriptions refilled when they have run out and have no other access to care.  Patients with the need for long term prescriptions may come to the emergency room every month for a refill because they have no other way to get a refill.

As a result of increased workload, emergency departments are feeling pinched. Staff are being asked to work more hours.  If possible,  new staff are being hired to handle the increase workload.  The increased volume patients in emergency rooms for non-emergency reasons means there is less capacity to care for real emergencies - a H1N1 pandemic, a major disaster, or other large public health problems.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provides information and analysis on health care coverage and access for the low-income population, with a special focus on Medicaid's role and coverage of the uninsured.  The Commission's work is conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation staff under the guidance of a bi-partisan group of national leaders and experts in health care and public policy.

Gap Persists in Health Care and Employment for Hispanics and Blacks

A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Effects of the Economic Recession on Communities of Color, quantifies the impact of the current recession on segments of the population which can be ignored in the press.

• Unemployment is higher among Hispanics and Blacks than Whites, with Hispanics being overrepresented in occupations with the highest unemployment rates.  At a time when unemployment for Whites was 9%, Hispanic unemployment was 12% and Black unemployment was 15%.  Hispanics are 13% of the total workforce, but are 19% of construction on maintenance workers, an area with 14% unemployment.  17% of production and transportation workers are Hispanic. The unemployment rate in this area is 14%. 
• Daily economic life is significantly different among communities.  32% of Whites reported they have had difficulty getting a good paying job or losing their job as a result of the recession.  49% of Hispanics an 46% of Blacks reported difficulties.
• Health care is impacted.  53% of Hispanics report relying on home remedies instead of seeking care and 48% report skipping dental care due to cost.  32% of Whites report skipping care and 33% report skipping dental care.

The trends show a growing disparity in the economy for employment and health care.  As educational opportunities decrease due to state budget cuts, the gap is expected to grow.

 The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation based in Menlo Park, CA, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues.

Isle of Corona Luau with Bill Hedrick

Join Bill Hedrick on Saturday, August 22 for an Isle of Corona Summer Luau.  Bill is challenging Ken Calvert for the seat in the 44th Congressional District of California.  Bill and friends will be dancing the hulu and sipping umbrella'd drinks at Corona Heritage Park from 6 - 9 PM. 

 Contact Alice at alice(at)hedrickforcongress.com to reserve your hula skirt!

 

Insurance Agents Look Into the Future, See Uncertainty and "Opportunity"

By Jaclyn Schiff, Kaiser Health News

For the tens of thousands of individual insurance agents nationwide, the idea of a health system overhaul hits close to home – and work. The changes currently under consideration could radically alter how they do business. For example, there could be requirements that all individuals have coverage, that employers provide insurance for their workers and that insurers cover anyone - regardless of preexisting conditions. In addition, there could be a government-run public plan that might compete with insurance companies.

KHN reporter Jaclyn Schiff spoke to two agents to find out how they are bracing themselves for the post-reform environment. We edited their remarks.

Sheri Hokin, of Hokin Sternberg Insurance in Northbrook, Ill., has worked in the insurance industry for 27 years and is a former chapter president of the National Association of Health Underwriters. She remembers earlier reform attempts and she's worried her fellow agents are not engaged enough in the proceedings.

Q: Do you notice any similarities between what brokers were saying in 1994 and now?

A: I don't see as much nervousness now. I don't see my fellow brokers getting involved enough. Financially, the United States was in a different place in 1994, so when the government talked about doing this major universal healthcare, it was a possibility. Now, it's going to cost trillions of dollars. So I think (agents) are looking at it and thinking it's not going to happen. They think it will be watered down.

Q: Are you concerned that health reform will change the way you do business?

Health Reform Data for All 50 States Available

Finding the numbers you need to support your arguments in favor of health care reform in now a little easier with a tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).  Statehealthfacts.org from the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has state-level data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  The data can allow policymakers, citizens, activists, and reformers understand the potential impact of health care reform on different parts of the United States.

The data includes:

•  A general economic profile including data on poverty rates, major industries, unemployment rates, and fiscal conditions.
• Health care costs including overall health spending, average family premium costs and Medicare expenditures.
• Profile of the uninsured
• Snapshot of how health coverage is distributed
• Access to health care services, primary care workforce shortages, unmet health care needs and Medicaid provider fees
• Synopsis of private coverage, individual and small group market regulation, and enrollment in high risk pools.  

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible information and research and analysis on health issues.  The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

Stimulus Money Saving California Education from Worse Ruin

Stimulus money flows to states from the various federal agencies and offices.  Some of the money goes directly to state agencies, other parts of the money flows to other agencies.  This is a summary of money received by California from the Department of Education. Information is current as of July 17, 2009.

CSU, UC and the community colleges are counting on the additional Pell grant money to offset the fee hikes at their campuses.  These college financial aid offices are banking on the Stimulus money to be able to give more financial aid to students once the fee hikes hit.

Total Grants Made to State Agencies -- Obligated $5,621,777,130 -- Spent $4,450,872,954 -- Remaining $1,170,904,176

Special Education

IDEA Part B grants -- Obligated $613,472,026 --  Spent $245,388,811 -- Remaining $368,083,215

IDEA Part B preschool grants -- Obligated $20,514,110 -- Spent $8,205,642-- Remaining $12,308,468

IDEA Part C grants for infants and families -- Obligated $26,616,654 -- Spent $0 -- Remaining $26,616,654

Rehabilitative Services & Disability Research

Stimulus Money - How California Counties Stack Up

Each state has a site to track recovery spending. It's interesting to see which counties got money and which didn't. It's surprising and says a lot about the elected officials in those counties.  Figures are pulled from the state website on July 26, 2009.  These are funded projects and not all funded projects may be listed on the state's  website, according to the disclaimer.

Alameda    $244,910,043 - $7,043,455 for education, $7,064,466 for job programs, $8,085,000 for Camp Parks RFTA, $222,717,122 for transportation projects

Alpine    $7,574 all to Alpine County Office of Education

Amador    $2,322,692 - $1,219,031 for education, $1,103,661 for transportation

Butte $18,691,450 - $4,048,630 for education, $9,220,700 for transportation, $5,422,120 for water & environment

Calaveras    $1,135,444 all for education

$16 Billion in Stimulus Money Still Available for California

California received the largest piece of stimulus money - over $25 billion.  So far, only about $8 billion of that money has been spent, leaving a little over $16 billion to build the economy back up.  It is estimated that this money will create or save 396,000 jobs in California over the next two years.

What did California get and how much has been spent? 

Agency or Dept, Higher of Announced or Made Available ($ thousand) , Paid ($ thousand)

Education, $9,904,187, $4,727,929

Health & Human Services (HHS) $5,428,258, $3,048,028

Transportation (DOT), $3,716,967, $47,758

Social Security, $1,299,180, $0

Defense, $1,143,490, $0

Energy (DOE), $1,125,618, $184

Housing & Urban Development (HUD), $1,094,455, $126,918

 Labor, $693,289, $18,942

Health Care Reform Comparison Tool

Kaiser Family Foundation has a Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals  on the Health Reform section of the website.  The tool allows you to select the which of the Congressional and Presidential plans you want to compare and the topics you want to examine.  Printable comparison summaries are available.  The tool is updated frequently.

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible information, research, and analysis on health issues.  The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.