CPC Blog

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Why this year’s tax returns are more important than ever to your health

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March 26, 2013 Carmella GutierrezPresident, Californians for Patient Care

Another Tax Day is arriving. And while we dread it every year, the cliché is true – it is inevitable.

But this year, Tax Day has an added importance for us Californians. As part of the Affordable Care Act, your 2012 tax returns will determine if the government will help pay for your monthly healthcare premiums in 2014. That’s right – your tax returns could have a direct impact on lowering the cost of healthcare for you and your family.

This is another reminder that health reform is coming soon — January 2014, to be exact — and that we need to plan for this change.

Now is the time to find out if you qualify for government subsidies for 2014. Learn more about that here. If you do qualify, be sure to enroll in a health plan through Covered California™ beginning this October; the healthcare tax credits will be paid by Covered California directly to your health plan to keep your costs low. And the savings could be very significant. A family of four earning $88,800 may be eligible for a yearly government subsidy of $3,900 and pay about $700 a month in premiums for health coverage. You can use Covered California’s Cost-Estimate Calculator to estimate how much your insurance will cost and the amount of subsidy you could receive.

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It’s not too late to get your flu shot

January 23, 2013 Carmella GutierrezPresident, Californians for Patient Care

Dire warnings about the severity of this flu season have been hard to miss. Across the country, states are reporting epidemic rates of flu infection much earlier than the traditional height of the flu season. California is one of three states that have not yet declared its flu season a true epidemic, but…it is still early. And that is good news.

It is good news because it means there is still time for you to get a flu shot and there is still time for it to make a difference. Providers still have flu vaccine available and can be found using the FluFinder function on our website.

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Bringing health into your holidays

December 3, 2012 Carmella GutierrezPresident, Californians for Patient Care

Turkey and stuffing? Check.

Shopping list? Check.

List of New Year’s resolutions? Check.

Plan for healthier 2013?

…check?

This time of year life seems almost like a parade of “to do” lists, plans to be made and traditions to carry on.This year, I’d like to encourage you to focus on a new  tradition that could have a lasting and positive impact long after the holiday decorations are back on the shelf: planning for a healthier new year.

I’m not talking about a series of New Year’s resolutions, but rather about thinking through how valuable good health is and outlining new actions to take and behaviors to adopt to attain good health. Improved health should be a goal for all of us because good health makes so much possible.

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Don’t miss out on holiday celebrations: Get a flu vaccine

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November 29, 2012 Guest Blog by Janet Semple-Hess, M.D.Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, at Children’s Hospital Los AngelesAssistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

It’s that time of year again — family visits, turkey dinners and holiday music at the mall. But for healthcare providers, all of these seasonal hallmarks remind us not only of the start of the holiday season, but rather the start of the influenza season.

There are lots of fall and early winter coughs and colds. Children come into clinics with the sniffles or a barky cough, and your co-workers may have a variety of chest congestion, a bad cough or a bit of a fever. Here at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, we reassure families that most colds will get better on their own with time and a bit of symptomatic relief. Patients are anxious, wondering if they should be prescribed antibiotics; but because most of these illnesses are viral, the answer is no.

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How small businesses can prepare for healthcare reform

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October 25, 2012 Guest Blog by Roy PerezOwner of RMP StrategiesFormer Chair of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce

Q: How prepared are small businesses to comply with all of the upcoming changes to healthcare insurance as a result of healthcare reform? 

A: Most small businesses are not prepared for how their healthcare insurance will change. This is especially true with the businesses we work with, Latino small businesses, because of the language barriers and a very slow to nonexistent flow of information. According to state government figures, there are approximately 700,000 Latino small businesses in the California, yet few have the information they need about healthcare reform. By working with small business chambers of commerce and local and regional small business leadership, we are increasing that flow of information. In fact, through the auspices of The California Endowment, we hosted a Healthcare Law for Small Business luncheon in Sacramento at the end of October.

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The future of nursing
A Q&A with CPC Advisory Board Member Patricia McFarland of ACNL

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September 27, 2012 Guest Blog by Patricia McFarlandChief Executive Officer, Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL)

Q: What is the current state of nursing in California? Do we have too few nurses? Too many? The right type of nurses?

A: In California we have done an excellent job in partnering with our academic colleagues to increase the number of new graduates.

Over the past eight years we have increased our graduates by 67 percent. We have also done some great work around developing transition to practice programs to ensure our new graduates have the skills to succeed in their new roles.

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