Then & Now - Is California an Outlier? Health Care Policy in the Sunshine State: A Conversation with Historian Ben Zdencanovic

Is California an Outlier? Health Care Policy in the Sunshine State: A Conversation with Historian Ben Zdencanovic

01/24/24 • 49 min

One of the most vexing social problems in U.S. society is our country’s healthcare system, which is wracked by rising costs, inequitable access, and manifold inefficiencies. Unlike Canada or a number of European countries, the United States has never adopted a single-payer system in which the government provides health insurance to all. Instead, it has favored a range of private options alongside supplemental government programs. As a result of its size and significance, the state of California has been a laboratory for government healthcare policy, with public officials and advocates testing the virtues of various private and public healthcare programs.

In a forthcoming report for the Luskin Center, Dr. Ben Zdencanovic, along with Sara Ohannessian, Lauren Heiberg, Emiko Levings, and Emilila Fergadiotti, examine the history of healthcare policy in California, with a particular focus on Medi-Cal, the state-sponsored insurance plan introduced in 1965. In this episode of “Then & Now,” we sit down to talk to Dr. Ben Zdencanovic about the findings of this team.

Dr. Ben Zdencanovic is a Postdoctoral Associate at the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. He is an historian of the United States in the world, domestic and international politics, and economic and social policy. He has a particular interest in the relationship between U.S. global power and the politics of redistribution and welfare state. His forthcoming book from Princeton University Press is titled Island of Enterprise: The End of the New Deal and the Rise of U.S. Global Power in a World of Welfare, 1940 – 1955.

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Israel, Gaza, and the U.S.: A Conversation with Aaron David Miller

On this episode of then & now, Middle East expert Aaron David Miller offers his perspective on the current state of affairs in Israel and Gaza after October 7, 2023 — and on the broader historical context of the explosion of violence in recent months. Drawing on his decades of service in the U.S. State Department, he also traces the arc of American diplomacy on the Israel-Palestine question, noting the many failures and limited successes in this story. Miller reflects on the importance of balance and strong leadership, qualities that have often been in short supply in efforts to resolve or mitigate tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.

Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy. He received his PhD in Middle East and U.S. diplomatic history from the University of Michigan in 1977 and has authored five books including The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace (2008). Miller is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a frequent commentator in print and visual media.

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