Health Insurance

Elia Powers Costa Mesa has the third-largest population of adults without health insurance in Orange County, a recent report shows. The city has an estimated 22,238 uninsured residents above the age of 18, according to data from the Orange County Health Needs Assessment, a nonprofit agency that studies health-related topics. Only Santa Ana and Anaheim have more uninsured adults, the report indicates. Newport Beach and Newport Coast are at the bottom of the list, with 1,365 and 1,166 uninsured adults, respectively.

Elise Gee COSTA MESA -- Health outreach workers hope to encourage the immigrant Latino community to sign up for federal- and state-subsidized health insurance at a Healthy Communities Fair on Sunday. Organizers at the Orange County Congregation Community Organization expect 1,000 families to attend the health fair, which will take place at St. Joaquim's Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. A number of services and screenings will be provided but the main objective is to get families to enroll in health insurance programs.

-- Jennifer Kho SANTA ANA -- Members of more than 14 Orange County churches are coming together today to discuss health-care needs for working families. The Orange County Congregation Community Organization, a faith-based nonprofit group, has organized the town hall meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 1100 Center St., Santa Ana. "It is very important that we have health-care insurance access for working families," said Paty Madueno, a member of St. Joachim Church and a Costa Mesa resident.

It is unfortunate the Daily Pilot has given a forum ("Harman enters health fray," July 26) to State Sen. Tom Harman, a politician who, through the 2006 election, has taken $250,000 from special interests with a stake in maintaining the current system. The article largely rehashes the standard health insurance industry talking points, most of which, on closer examination, are not true. OK, Sen. Harman, we get it. We can't fix the health insurance nightmare because of illegal immigration.

At 9 a.m. today, Progressive Christians Uniting is sponsoring a forum — “Being the Good Samaritan: Finding Your Voice in the Health Care Discussion” — at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2200 San Joaquin Hills Road, Newport Beach. Most religions believe that central to faith is the concept of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus’ ministry centered on healing like giving sight to the blind, curing the sick, freeing the possessed and helping the lame to walk with heads held high.

Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) recently introduced a bill requiring state regulators to sign off before insurance carriers drop a policyholder accused of failing to disclose a preexisting medical condition. The bill is an answer to complaints that some health insurance companies cancel policies after a customer gets sick. Should the state get more involved in regulating health company insurers?   The state should not place a government bureaucrat in charge of deciding what is best for patients or their policies, which appears to be an indirect way of instituting state-controlled health care.

Celebrating a 90th birthday Helen Trautwein celebrated her 90th birthday June 3 with more than 100 family members at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach. Trautwein came to Costa Mesa in 1933, the year she was married at Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach. In WWII she worked as a first aid instructor for the Red Cross. The mother of four spent her time working with her children as a Girl Scout leader, a Cub Scout den mother, a PTA president, a room mother and a camp nurse.

Regarding ?Keep government out of the marketplace,? It?s a Gray Area, Aug. 16: Dear Jim, You missed the boat with your conclusion that the government should be kept out of the marketplace. I will remind you that our nation is suffering from its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression because our government was so blindly inactive in the world of capitalism. Ever since Ronald Reagan took over the reins of executive power, he, with congressional approval, began deregulating the major financial institutions ?

In a letter to his colleagues from California in the House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) Wednesday warned against a Democrat-backed health-care reform bill in the Senate that could cost the state as much as $3 billion to $4 billion a year, according to the governor’s office. “Costs from this bill will begin to impact the state general fund starting in 2012 and will reach $3.2 billion per year upon full implementation of the bill in 2018,” Campbell wrote.

Those without health insurance can get low-cost medical care through the end of the year at Eastbluff Medical Walk-In & Urgent Care, a company spokesman said this week. The Newport Beach medical facility at 2507 Eastbluff Drive is offering $69 office visits beginning Wednesday, which coincides with Urgent Care Awareness Week. "We're just hoping that the people who have been putting things off because of costs will come in and give us a try and have those things taken care of," said spokesman Claudio Varga.

Health-care benefits for City Council members have become controversial, one of the few issues that has united both the right and the left (although for different reasons). There are multiple levels of the controversy. The most basic question is whether the council members should receive any health benefits at all. Many citizens believe that health care is a personal responsibility and don't believe the government should be involved in providing health care, whether it is the national "ObamaCare" or local city council health benefits.

We write as leaders of faith in Orange County who profoundly care about our community. As clergy, we have a unique perspective on the lives of women, men and families. In recent years especially, we've seen our congregants lose their jobs — and their health insurance — making it very difficult to access and afford basic healthcare. Planned Parenthood serves these families when they have nowhere else to turn and plays a vital role in the health care of our community. We know that if one of our congregants needs care, we can count on Planned Parenthood to provide them with quality services and compassion.

Editor?s note: The following is the first of two parts on Chuck Cassity?s predictions for 2010. Here are my New Year?s predictions: 1. Having started every speech, e-mail, and Op-Ed piece, and Facebook and Twitter posting with the phrase, ?My Friends,? John McCain, upon discovering that he has no friends, will make the solemn New Year?s resolution to never use that salutation again. 2. The new health-care-reform legislation finally passes both houses of Congress in late February.

In a letter to his colleagues from California in the House of Representatives, U.S. Rep. John Campbell (R-Newport Beach) Wednesday warned against a Democrat-backed health-care reform bill in the Senate that could cost the state as much as $3 billion to $4 billion a year, according to the governor’s office. “Costs from this bill will begin to impact the state general fund starting in 2012 and will reach $3.2 billion per year upon full implementation of the bill in 2018,” Campbell wrote.

Costa Mesa resident Peggy Parsons can’t wait to drive a car again, watch a movie, or see her 17-year-old son perform in a school play. Newport Beach eye surgeon Gregg Feinerman operated on Parsons free of charge Tuesday, removing a cataract from her right eye. The surgery will allow 62-year-old Parsons to see clearly for the first time in several years. Vision in Parsons’ left eye has been impaired since she was a child, but she has steadily relied more on her weaker left eye since being diagnosed with a cataract in the right one two years ago. “I can’t wait to see Christmas lights,” Parsons said Tuesday morning, clad in surgical scrubs as she sat on an operating table at a Newport Beach clinic before the operation.

Last Christmas, Dana Point resident Kerri Larson bought a pair of over-the-counter reading glasses after she noticed that she had to strain to see her computer monitor. A year later, she can’t drive, see friends waving to her on the street or read a book. Aggressive cataracts are rapidly cutting off Larson’s vision. Each day, colors are less vivid, faces less distinct. Larson, 39, lost her job as an executive assistant after the company she worked for went out of business in June, leaving her without health insurance.