I have worked for progressive social and political change from the time I was a teenager.  I have worked for universal health insurance coverage and health care reform for 30 years--the issue on which I focus much of my energy and my policy and political work.  For the last three decades, I have been teaching health policy as a Professor of Public Health at UCLA School of Public Health and direct a nationally renowned health policy research center.

 

In the Obama campaign, I chaired a health policy committee on expanding health care coverage, served as a surrogate speaker on behalf of the campaign, and served on the "rapid response" team.  I have served as health policy adviser to numerous members of the California Legislature and to several U.S. Senators, including the late Senator Paul Wellstone.  I also have served as health policy adviser to several candidates for President.

 

I am committed to making the Democratic Party a vehicle for progressive change, engaging new and existing voters in the political process.  I share President Obama's vision of this country as a beacon of peace, justice, equity, and full democratic participation.  As a delegate, I will actively work for policy positions and party rules that help achieve that progressive vision.  Making health care a right is one important step in achieving that vision and one that I continue to work for.