The UC Berkeley Emeriti Academy hosted a panel discussion Thursday on the future of California health care.
The panel featured campus School of Public Health professor Stephen Shortell, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and campus professor of health economics and public policy Richard Scheffler.
Moderated by campus School of Optometry professor emeritus Kenneth Polse and School of Public Health lecturer Robin Flagg, the panelists discussed improvements made in mental health legislation, California’s health care spending and the health of the state’s residents compared to the health of Americans across the country.
“(California does) pretty well in various measures … of clinical quality of care, such as mortality and morbidity,” Shortell said at the event. “But where you really fold down is in community and environmental factors. Just think of here in Northern California how many ‘Spare the Air’ days we have.”