Berkeley CHEFS' mission is to address the increasing insecurity faced by American workers and families through the development of integrated and interdisciplinary policy solutions.
Events
Bringing National Health Reform to CaliforniaFriday, November 6, 2009
Faculty Club, UC Berkeley
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
This conference will be a conversation about health reform and California that will address pressing questions for the state: What must California do to implement national health reform? What unique challenges does California face? What are the implications for California of the gaps in the national proposal? What lessons can national policy makers take back to Washington? To view the conference agenda click here.
News
Ann O'Leary gave testimony at the House of Representative's Education and Labor Committee, Subcommittee Workforce Protections Hearing.
"The Impact of Women’s Growing Participation in the Workforce: ‘the Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.’
Follow this link for O'Leary's testimony.
For all of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee testimony, including Rep. Lynn Woolsey's (CA) Opening Statement, please follow this link.
Women lead seismic shift; Effects on work force numerous, study finds.
The Washington Times
Ann O'Leary calls on government and business to step up and help workers through updated labor standards and laws that are comprehensive enough to meet the emerging needs of both men and women.
To read this article click here.
The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything
October 18, 2009
This groundbreaking report finds that America’s leading institutions – government, businesses, education, faith, and media – have not kept up with the changing nature of the American worker and the American family. The "Shriver Report" is a collaboration between Maria Shriver, the Center for American Progress, Berkeley CHEFS, and Time magazine to explore the current condition of U.S. women with a particular emphasis on the economic downturn's impact. The report outlines how all parts of our culture have responded to one of the greatest social transformations of our time. Ann O’Leary co-edited the volume, contributed to the Executive summary and co-authored a chapter entitled “Family Friendly for All Families.”
To view the entire document, download the Executive Summary, individual chapters, etc., please follow this link: www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/womans_nation.html
To read more about Berkeley CHEFS work on the topic of Family and Economic Security click here.
Melissa Rodgers weighs in on Healthcare Reform
September 21, 2009
To help shed light on where the debate stands today, and where it may be headed, the NewsCenter queried heathcare-policy experts at Berkeley for their insight.
Read more about it by clicking here.
CHEFS files U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in Healthy San Francisco case
August 24, 2009
Berkeley CHEFS filed an amicus brief on behalf of two San Francisco restaurants opposing a petition that asks the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether San Francisco's Health Care Security Ordinance should stand. The restaurants, Zazie and Medjool, support the law's requirement that employers contribute a minimum amount toward employee health care. The 9th Circuit has ruled that the San Francisco law does not violate ERISA.
Download the brief here.
Click here to read the press release.
A Public Option That Works
The New York Times
Using findings from their new study of the Healthy San Francisco program, CHEFS' Health Security partners from the Berkeley School of Public Health and the Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education argue that a public plan supported in part by employer contributions has "passed the market test" and has not led to crowd-out of private insurance or job loss.
Download the op-ed here.
Publications
Patching America's Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences. Mary Ann Mason and Karie Frasch report on the impact family leave policies have on women researchers in scientific fields. The report was a collaboration between Berkeley CHEFS and The Center for American Progress. The paper is available here.
The Costs and Benefits of a Public Option in Health Care Reform: An Economic Analysis. In the most recent brief in the Advancing National Health Reform series, economist Ethan Kaplan and Berkeley CHEFS Associate Director Melissa Rodgers argue that including a public option in health care reform is likely to generate greater benefits and cost savings to the American people than has been projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and other independent analysts. Download the brief here.
Berkeley CHEFS Faculty Co-Director Stephen M. Shortell published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Primary Care and Accountable Care — Two Essential Elements of Delivery-System Reform. The article, by Diane R. Rittenhouse, M.D., M.P.H., Stephen M. Shortell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., and Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., discusses the “patient-centered medical home” (PCMH) and the “accountable care organization” (ACO), two models for delivery-system reform that take complementary approaches to improving the quality and coordination of health care and slowing the growth of spending. The article is available online.
Reforming the Private Insurance Market: Lessons from California for National Health Reform. In this health care reform policy brief, Janet M. Coffman, MA, MPP, PhD, of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, reviews California’s experience regulating health insurance and points to five major lessons for national health reform that are critical to ensure Americans have access to comprehensive, affordable coverage. Download the brief here.
Beyond the Public Plan: A Pathway to Contain Costs and Transform the Delivery System. A health care reform policy brief by internationally renowned health economist Harold S. "Hal" Luft, PhD, Director of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute and former Director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, proposes a publicly chartered major risk pool that uses voluntary mechanisms to lower the costs of coverage expansions, and begins transforming the delivery system by encouraging providers to accept bundled payments. Download the brief here.
Making Government Work for Families: The federal government's role as employer and contractor in improving family-friendly policies. In a work-family policy brief by Berkeley CHEFS and the Center for American Progress, Ann O'Leary highlights the growing and changing nature of the federal contractor workforce from a manufacturing workforce to a service oriented workforce In this report, O'Leary explains that the federal government's current laws and policies requiring federal contractors to provide equity and a standard level of benefits for their employees need to be revised to include family-friendly policies. Download the brief here.
Professor Jacob Hacker testified before the House Education and Labor Committee at a June 23, 2009 hearing on the forthcoming draft proposal for health care reform. Professor Hacker's testimony focuses on why the “public-private hybrid” approach is vital to ensuring accountability in American health insurance. He also emphasizes the constructive role that employers can play in providing or helping to finance coverage so that affordable insurance is available to all Americans through the workplace connection. Download his testimony here.
Prescription for Success: Lessons from California for National Health Reform
Melissa A. Rodgers and Jacob S. Hacker analyze California's recent experience with comprehensive health reform and offer ten lessons from California that are essential to the success of national health reform. Download the brief here.
How to Structure a "Play-or-Pay" Requirement on Employers: Lessons from California for National Health Reform
In a health reform policy brief by Berkeley CHEFS and the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, Ken Jacobs and Jacob S. Hacker examine the policy design, economic effects, and political ramifications of employer requirements.
Download the brief here.
Healthy Competition: How to Structure Public Health Insurance Plan Choice to Ensure Risk-Sharing, Cost Control, and Quality Improvement
Download the brief here.
The Case for Public Plan Choice in National Health Reform: Key to Cost Control and Quality Coverage
Download the brief here.