A photo illustration of the California flag presented as a medical mask. (Image: kovop58, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Health care is once again front and center in Congress. And once again Californians will play a critical role in the federal budget debate that could result in the biggest expansion of help to access, afford, and improve health coverage since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.
Jodi Hicks at her office in Sacramento in November 2017. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)Jodi Hicks is co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs’ Sacramento office. She is the first woman and the first Asian-America to serve in that role and is regarded as one of the Capitol community’s foremost advocates of quality health care. Capitol Weekly’s Chuck McFadden caught up with her recently for a chat.
An illustration of medical insurance covering a family. (Image: Andrey_Popov, via Shutterstock)Claire Haas and her husband are at a health insurance crossroads. If they were single, each would qualify for a federal tax credit to help reduce the cost of their health insurance premiums. As a married couple, they get zip. “We talk about getting divorced every time we get our health care bills,” said Haas, 34, of Oakland. She has been married to her husband, Andrew Snyder, 33, for two years.
An illustration of a couple considering in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. (Image: Prazis Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: For many families, the joys of parenthood are elusive. Infertility affects hundreds of thousands of women in California and millions more across the country.
A nurse in a hospital renal unit starts dialysis treatment on a patient. (Photo: Tyler Olson) OPINION: I first started having problems with my kidneys when I was 11-years-old. By the time I was 20, I was on dialysis. I was able to keep my kidneys for a while, but as often happens with kidney disease, the illness eventually took over. Almost 40 years and three kidney transplants later, I have beaten the odds by staying alive, but only because of the dialysis treatment I receive every day.