healthcare

More than 162,000 eligible children are at risk of falling through safety net and losing hope of needed health coverage.

I'm a self-proclaimed optimist and hopeful about the "yes, we can" message emanating from Washington. But I felt as if I'd been kicked in the gut last week when I read a New York Times article by Robert Pear about price gauging in health policies for women.

When I first read about momsrising.org and learned that they’d produced a film version of their book, The Motherhood Manifesto, I knew I wanted to write a column about the documentary. What better movie, after all, for a mama at the movies, than one expressly focused on the situation of mothers in this country today? I ordered the film via momsrising.org and drafted my column. But something was missing. This is a consciousness-raising movie, an organizing tool. Watching it by myself, I was missing a critical component of the film’s intent.

Last week San Francisco passed an ordinance that is a bold step towards providing health care for all city residents. The plan is innovative, since it's not technically insurance - people covered through the plan must receive care in San Francisco through the city's system of public and community clinics and hospitals.