NEW January 2012! A rich and diverse food resource environment gives residents a greater opportunity to make choices that support healthy living. Fast Food Restaurant Report: Promoting Healthy Dining in South Los Angeles provides a growing body of evidence on the correlation between the proximity and density of fast food restaurants and greater fast food consumption and presents a strategy to combat the obesity crisis in South LA. The report recommends policy and system changes the City and County of Los Angeles can adopt to limit the density of fast food restaurants while encouraging the development of new healthy restaurants of all types.

This brief is the second in a series of reports on transforming South LA's food desert. The first, Food Desert to Food Oasis: Promoting Grocery Store Development in South Los Angeles, focused on the development of new full-service grocery stores in under-served neighborhoods, documenting the area's market potential and providing recommendation to attract healthy food retail in South LA.

Hear a panel discussion about LA's food deserts with CHC's Lark Galloway-Gilliam and other experts on Southern California Public Radio's Patt Morrison show.

No Deal from the Joint Select Committee: What's Next?  The 12-member bipartisan panel failed to reach agreement on how to reduce the nation’s deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

California Budget  The Legislative Analyst’s Office has projected that the state will collect revenues far below the level assumed in the 2011-12 budget.

Medi-Cal Cuts Approved  The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services approved a battery of Medi-Cal cuts proposed by California’s Department of Health Care Services.

California Exchange Board  With new Executive Director Peter Lee officially on board, the California Health Insurance Exchange Board has made great strides over the last two months.

LA City Council Examines Grocery Stores in Food Deserts  The LA City Council's PLUM Committee conducted a hearing on "health and food access" just before Thanksgiving.

CHC's Community of Heroes Celebration  Over 300 guests celebrated CHC's community heroes on November 10th.

Join CHC for its webinar series, Closing the Gap: Making the Most of Health Reform. The webinars will explore issues related to health reform from a community perspective. 

Session 4: Public Education Campaigns & Health Reform. (October 11th, 2011) As policymakers and public departments continue the work of implementing the Affordable Care Act in California, consumers are struggling to make sense of what information they have heard about healthcare reform and how it affects them. Are consumers actually getting the information they need to be able to take advantage of the ACA’s benefits now and beyond 2014?  This webinar focused on: (1) The role of CA's Office of the Patient Advocate in developing, coordinating and providing consumer education across the state; (2) Examples of consumer education efforts already underway; (3) Opportunities for consumers and advocates to engage in discussions happening right now. Presenters: Sandra Perez, Office of the Patient Advocate, and Richard Figueroa, The California Endowment. Listen here. Download the presentations: OPA. California Endowment.

Opportunities to Comment. There are several opportunities to comment before the end of October 2011 on regulations  to implement Affordable Care Act provisions that address both private and public health insurance.

Listen to Session 3: Health Insurance Exchanges (July 2011) for an overview of what Health Benefit Exchanges are required to do, recent activity at the federal level, and an update on the California Health Benefit Exchange including priorities and next steps. Learn from presenters Edwin Park, Vice President for Health Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Patricia E. Powers, Acting Administrative Officer, California Health Benefit Exchange. 

Listen to Patient-Centered Medical Homes (February 2011) and learn from Kristine Thurston Toppe (Director for State Affairs, NCQA),  Dr. Brian Prestwich (Medical Director, USC Family Medicine Center at California Hospital) and Ellen Turner (Project Manager, LA Care) about the incentives in health reform legislation that will facilitate the creation and adoption of medical homes.  Listen to Getting Ready for Health Reform (December 2010), the first webinar in the series and learn where we are with health reform nationally and in California, what to expect in 2011, and how to get involved.  Presenters were Herb K. Shultz, Regional Director for the US Department of Health & Human Services, and Sandra Shewry, Advisor on Health Care Reform for California’s Health & Human Services Agency.

To learn more about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was signed into law on March 23, 2010, visit our webpage.

A heartfelt thank you to our many supporters who attended our Community of Heroes Celebration at Cathedral Plaza on November 10, 2011! The event was a sold-out success. Your support allows us to further our work to increase health equity and access to quality healthcare, to improve the health of communities and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.

If you were unable to attend, please watch the videos honoring our heroes and see pictures from the event.

The Community of Heroes Celebration honored these distinguished champions:

• Dr. Robert Tranquada, Emeritus Professor of Medicine & Public Policy, University of Southern California
  
• Dr. David Carlisle,  President, Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science
• Dr. Hector Flores, Medical Director, White Memorial Medical Center
• Sylvia Drew Ivie, Founder, South Los Angeles Community Kitchen
  
• Ken Kutcher, Principal, Harding Larmore Kutcher & Kozal.