With millions of new people getting health care insurance, one question arises: Will there be enough doctors to treat them?
From the Chronicle's Drew Joseph: "Roughly 4 million additional Californians are expected to obtain health insurance by 2014 through the federal health law, an expansion that will likely exacerbate the state's doctor shortage and could even squeeze primary care access in the Bay Area, experts say."
"Even without the Affordable Care Act, a worsening doctor shortage had been forecast as the state's and nation's population ages and grows, and as a generation of older doctors retires. But by mandating that individuals have insurance and expanding Medicaid, the law will extend coverage to an additional 30 million Americans and place a greater strain on the physician workforce, especially for primary care."
"Now with the Affordable Care Act, we're going to have an even greater need," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina (Los Angeles County), chairman of the Senate Health Committee. The need for more primary care doctors is addressed in the federal health law through various financial incentives, and California's medical schools and hospitals are putting a greater emphasis on primary care training and expanding residency programs. But the effects of such efforts may not be felt for years."
And that sound in the building of the LA Herald-Examiner, which stopped publishing 23 years ago, isn't a ghost -- it's the caretaker.
From the LAT's Steve Lopez: "They never told me not to come back to work, so I just kept coming back to work," said Lutz, who was exaggerating a little."
"When a colleague declined an offer to supervise the shutdown of the newspaper plant, Lutz — who joined the Her-Ex in 1973 as a truck driver — gladly stepped into the job. One task led to another, and the Hearst Corp., which published the newspaper and still owns the building, kept the reliable Lutz around to keep an eye on things and open the door for film crews that use the property."
"I didn't know how it was going to go," he said, thinking back to 1989. "The older I got, it looked like it was going to last forever." It might have, except that at 68, Lutz has decided to retire Jan. 9."
Nothing like a good snowfall to raise Californians' spirits -- and raise the reservoir levels.
From the Union-Tribune's Michael Gardner: "Going into the New Year, the statewide snowpack was reported at about 146 percent of normal, offering promise that reservoirs will refill and mandatory conservation could be taken off the table this year."
"“We have a great start to the season, but it’s still early,” said Lesley Dobalian, a water resources specialist for the San Diego County Water Authority. “We depend a lot on late winter and spring so it’s important that we continue to use water wisely. That’s our message...”
"The state Department of Water Resources will take its first official snowpack measurements of the season Wednesday."
The fiscal cliff may have been narrowly avoided, but was the whole thing a big con game?
From the LAT's Michael Hiltzik: "Whatever the ultimate shape of the "fiscal cliff" solution that has preoccupied all Washington, and a fair swath of the rest of country, in the final days of 2012 and into the new year, Americans of all walks of life should be asking themselves this question: How do we like being conned?"
"The deal, passed by the Senate on New Year's morning, was made final late Tuesday when the House of Representatives signed on. Its essential elements include expiration of the President George W. Bush-era income and capital gains tax cuts on couples' incomes over $450,000, and a modest increase in the estate tax."
"Unemployment benefits and tax credits for lower-income families will be extended. The payroll tax holiday that replaced a low- and middle-income tax credit in 2009 will end, but the tax credit won't return. Many other items, including the fate of automatic spending cuts mandated by the 2011 debt-ceiling deal, are being put off for weeks or months. Another debt-ceiling fight looms on the near horizon."
Gov. Brown hopes to change the school-funding landscape in California, giving more control to local districts and cutting back on requirements that money be spent on particular programs.
From the LAT's Anthony York: "Brown said he wants more of the state's dollars to benefit low-income and non-English-speaking students, who typically are more expensive to educate."