Valley Public Radio: Health care reform, one year later

Multimedia reporter Lauren M. Whaley partnered with a team of reporters from the Center and the Modesto Bee to produce this radio story as part of Don't Get Sick: Crisis in Coverage project. 

Lauren Whaley Valley Public Radio Crisis in Care by LaurenWhaley

Last March, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. This sweeping and controversial law aims to expand health coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans, with the bulk of the new programs beginning in 2014. But many Valley residents, who currently lack coverage, or lost their insurance after losing a job in the recession, have yet to feel the impact of the legislation.

On this edition of Quality of Life, reporter Lauren Whaley looks at how several north valley residents are dealing with the health care crisis, in a special report from The Modesto Bee and the California HealthCare Foundation’s Center for Health Reporting at USC. Following the report, we talk about how the health care reform law is being implemented in California, and what reform measures are being implemented now, before 2014. Our guests include Dr. Shana Alex Lavarreda, Director of Health Insurance Studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; and Dr. Steven Choolijian, M.D., an internist and a consultant to the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State.

Listen to the full radio show here.