Greenlining Institute
By Hector J. Preciado

THE NATIONAL Health Care Reform just signed into law by President Barack Obama will be good for all Californians, particularly low-income Californians and communities of color, who disproportionately lack access to care. But, important as it is, this new federal law doesn’t go far enough.
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THE GREENLINING INSTITUTE
A Multi-Ethnic Public Policy, Research and Advocacy Institute
www.greenlining.org

Communities of Color, Disproportionately Uninsured, Will Benefit Greatly, But State Reforms Urgently Needed

Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Coordinator, 510-898-2053

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA — National healthcare reform just signed into law by President Obama will give a huge boost to low-income Californians and communities of color, who disproportionately lack access to care, but further state-level reforms are urgently needed, officials of The Greenlining Institute said today.

“The new law will help millions of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian and Pacific Islanders, who now disproportionately lack health coverage, but it doesn’t go far enough,” said Carla Saporta, Greenlining’s health program manager. “We urgently need to pass state-level legislation such as AB 2578 so that we have the same sort of strict regulation of health insurance rates that California has now for auto insurance. Surely our health is at least as important as our cars.”
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MEDIA CONTACT: Bailey Gilchrist
202-534-1720

78 percent of Americans see pharmaceutical industry deals as harmful

Berkley, CA– Monday September 14, 2009 – The Greenlining Institute today reacted to a survey conducted by the Lombardo Consulting Group which shows that Americans are losing confidence in the health care reform process.  The national poll found that an overwhelming number of poll respondents believe that “side deals” between Washington decision makers and the pharmaceutical industry have “seriously compromised efforts to enact real reform of the healthcare system.”

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The New York  Times
Cyrus Sanati

Pfizer’s $68 billion acquisition of rival pharmaceutical maker Wyeth is drawing criticism over the $22.5 billion in loans Pfizer received from major Wall Street banks to help close the deal.

The Greenlining Institute, a California-based public policy group, says it has filed an action with the antitrust division of the Department of Justice in which it questioned whether the bank consortium that provided the loans was misusing the billions of dollars they received under the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. (more…)

Seniors urged to check Part D prices and coverage during open enrollment to avoid surprises.

By Melissa Evans, Staff Writer
contracostatimes.com
Posted: 12/03/2008 11:04:27 PM PST
Updated: 12/04/2008 10:32:40 AM PST

Fifteen dollars a month doesn’t sound like a lot of money – except if you’re living on a fixed monthly income of about $1,650, and rent, food and energy costs are soaring, too. (more…)

Juan Jose Guerra is now an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif. But when he was going to medical school in the 1980s, he got little encouragement to do so. (more…)

Christian González-Rivera
Research Program Coordinator
510-898-0507 office
christiang@greenlining.org

Héctor Javier Preciado
Health Policy Director
510-926-4008 office
hectorp@greenlining.org

UC Medical School Diversity Failing to Keep up with California’s Diversity

Berkeley, California.  The Greenlining Institute, a multiethnic research and advocacy institute, has released a report on the diversity of the University of California’s medical student body.  Among the findings is the fact that although African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans make up more than 40% of the population of California, they comprise less than 20% of UC medical students. (more…)