Is California’s Healthcare System Broken?

In a series of seminars April 26 in Sacramento, politicos, industry lobbyists and state bureaucrats weighed in on two factors beleaguering the current healthcare system in California; cost and access.

The tone of the event ranged from apologia to outright hand-wringing, with insiders even confusing themselves about the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act federal health funding bill and cheat sheet workarounds for its subprograms.

The meeting was convened to call into question whether California’s healthcare system is broken; the convention logo was a stylized, fractured caduceus, composed of a staff with two entwined snakes — the sign of divine messenger of the Greek god Hermes. They are, ironically, the gods not of medicine, but of commerce: salesmen, travelers, gamblers and thieves (think: Robin Hood)

The caduceus is easily confused with the Rod of Asclepius (Greek god of healing), a single serpent on a staff, the symbol for medical practice used by the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and its affiliates. (read more)