Farr – still hope for health overhaul

The Monterey Bay area’s representative to Congress says he thinks a good health bill will still make it into law, though he didn’t lay out a specific political path. And Sam Farr says that hope includes hope for his fix for the Medicare reimbursement designations for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. These three counties bear a rural designation for Medicare rates since the system was established in the 1960s. So despite costs for operating that are at parity, doctors get about 2/3 the reimbursement per patient visit that doctors get in neighboring Santa Clara County.

On the politics of the health care overhaul, Farr acknowledged the path would be difficult. But he noted that difficulty is the norm with significant legislation. Speaking after the President’s State of the Union Address, Farr alluded to Obama’s chastising of Congressional Republicans. Farr suggested that advocates for the health overhaul may find the traction they need by campaigning for the bill among the constituents of legislators that hold it up.

Health Dialogues Looks at Food Safety

Photo by Shuka Kalantari

Recent scares over tainted peanut butter and spinach exposed holes in our system of protecting the food supply. President Obama called for tougher food safety measures, and in May of this year launched a Food Safety Working Group to update the system of food safety in America.

Health Dialogues host Scott Shafer begins by interviewing two voices familiar with food safety at the federal level: Michael Taylor, the newly appointed Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. David Acheson, who, until the end of July, worked as Associate Commissioner for Foods at the Food and Drug Administration. The program also looks urban gardening safety and lead as well as the dangers of sport fishing.

Health Dialogues also visits two grocery stores in San Francisco’s Outer Mission with food inspector Sheldon Lew to see what the food inspection process looks like.  Lew talks about what red flags he looks for during food inspections.Visit www.HealthDialogues.org to watch an audio slideshow of the inspection.

Also, check out an audio slideshow of foods imported into the United States with FDA inspectors at the Los Angeles Port of San Pedro.