Michael Monasky

Michael Monasky is a California-licensed respiratory care practitioner and board-credentialed neonatal-pediatric specialist. He has worked at every hospital system in Sacramento, testified about atmospheric standards before the EPA and retired from a career in public assistance and child protection. Michael is the secretary of a not-for-profit school for political economy, and he looks forward to teaching piano and voice to his community and grandchildren.

Articles by Michael Monasky

• For Dr. Michael Fine, healthcare is necessary for a stronger democracy

  Monday, November 05, 2018

  If Dr. Michael Fine had his way, he would see and care for everyone free of charge: no cost for maternal care and newborn deliveries, vaccinations, all doctor visits; free or nearly free medications, treatments, and necessary special medical care. Rhode Island-based family medical specialist Fine writes in his new book, "Health Care Revolt," that $1 trillion is spent unnecessarily for healthcare that should be spent instead on education, parks, libraries, community centers, and other amenities needed by the public. This is the part of healthcare glut that Fine believes is our lost legacy to democracy. Dr. Fine believes that democracy depends upon a safe and peaceful society that shares its prosperity.

• Is California’s healthcare system broken?

  Monday, May 07, 2018

  In a series of seminars April 26 in Sacramento, politicos, industry lobbyists and state bureaucrats weighed in on two factors beleaguering the current healthcare system in California; cost and access. The tone of the event ranged from apologia to outright hand-wringing, with insiders even confusing themselves about the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act federal health funding bill and cheat sheet workarounds for its subprograms.

• Should the US look to the Dutch healthcare system as a model?

  Tuesday, November 14, 2017

  Because of its sheer size, California has been a harbinger of many trends in the United States. That now includes healthcare. For instance, 13 million Californians (about 1 in 3) receive Medicaid (called Medi-Cal) — that's more than the entire population of Pennsylvania.

• California legislator: American healthcare is ‘medical apartheid’

  Friday, November 03, 2017

  Despite a legislature in adjournment, a leading California Assembly Democrat passionately criticized the American healthcare system in a special informational hearing Oct. 23. A select committee was convened in response to the tabling of California's single-payer healthcare bill, SB 562, by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon last July. Joaquin Arambula, the co-chair of the committee, is an emergency room physician and spoke from his own experience.

• Big winners in California’s new healthcare plan: Households and small businesses

  Friday, June 02, 2017

  A study by a distinguished group of university economists, released Wednesday at a Capitol news conference, contradicted recent claims by the California State Department of Finance that unfunded healthcare costs would be greater than the entire state budget, or at least overwhelm it.