We are getting more and more events and meetings to highlight in our coverage of the Economic Edge. One that caught our eye, is this Laid Off Camp. It's on Tuesday March 3rd, and as any responsible event for the unemployed, the entrance fee is on a sliding scale.
Here is the description of the event from the ticket site:
LaidOffCamp is a day-long unconference for unemployed and nontraditionally employed people (including freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups) in the San Francisco Bay Area who want to share ideas and learn from each other. At LaidOffCamp, attendee-driven session sessions may include: Living on an Extreme Budget, Building Your Personal Brand, Freelance Consulting 101 and more.
We are already sending one of our reporters to go check it out, but if you end up going, please give us a call or drop us a note to let us know what you thought of it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Voices of America: Residents Meet to Talk about the Stimulus
Yesterday we aired voices from another economic recovery house meeting, this time in Noe Valley. Again, you should know that these are organized through Organizing for America - President Obama's former campaign organization now under a new name and mission - so most if not all of the people who were there are Obama supporters. But they touched on very important issues that are affecting all Americans right now. I invite you to listen and chime in with your own words for the administration: how is the economic downturn affecting you? What do you think the administration needs to make a priority? What do you like or dislike about the stimulus package?
Call/write and tell us.
Call/write and tell us.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Insurance Premiums Go Up for Over Half a Million Californians
Last week this story in the SF Chronicle got out attention - about 640,000 Californians insured through Anthem Blue Cross were just informed that their premiums would go up by an average of 30%, effective March 1st. In this economy, that's got to hurt the wallet, for sure. Not to mention that in the same week, Anthem settled to pay a $1 million fine for canceling coverage for over two thousand people because they had filed claims that were too expensive.
I wanted to talk to someone who had been affected by this, and so I called out to our Facebook group for help, and I got a hold of Bonnie Baron. She's 63 years old, a tutor in Oakland, and is insured with Anthem Blue Cross. She also happens to be an advocate for health care reform. I asked her to write to us, and tell us her story:
Hi Martina,
I work as a learning specialist, tutoring dyslexic students at a non-profit in Oakland. I'm an independent contractor, so my insurance with Anthem Blue Cross is through an HMO plan for individual members. The premium for this was raised 27% and is now more than 1/4 of my salary! I could not afford this if my husband and I did not live on our joint income.
In fact, I spoke to Anthem Blue Cross about changing plans. To change plans, customers usually need to go through a lengthy underwriting process. This is code for "examining people's medical histories to deny coverage if there are pre-exisiting conditions which could require costly treatment." Because the underwriting process is lengthy, there can be a break in coverage between one's old plan and the new one (if approved). I asked Anthem about this, and was offered another HMO that doesn't require underwriting. The representatives offered a plan with premiums similar to my existing ones, but none of my doctors accept this insurance (probably because the reimbursement rates are so low)!
So, I will keep the plan that I currently have and pay the exorbitant cost. I have filed grievances with the state of California and Anthem about the increase.
Strange to say, I am lucky. I have good coverage and will be able to pay the premiums. Millions of people will not be able to pay the increases. So many citizens in the United States can't afford any insurance, or pay for coverage that is inadequate for any treatment other than routine care. Medical costs are now the leading cause of personal bankruptcy. This crisis is now exacerbated because of the current economic situation.
These rate increases are particularly infuriating because it is well documented that 30% or more of every health care dollar is not spent on health care! Rather, that 30% goes to administrative costs--underwriting, processing and denial of claims--and to advertising, These are by products of a wasteful, for-profit health care industry that has thousands of different health care plans that divide, rather than pool risk, and therefore increase consumer costs and company profits.
I am a member of Single Payer Now, the local chapter of a statewide group supporting a state senate bill, SB 840, or a national legislation, HR 676. SB 840 twice passed the California legislature, most recently last August, but was vetoed by the governor. Mark Leno will be shepherding it through the legislature again this year. John Conyers of Michigan has recently reintroduced HR 676. You can read more about these at www.singlepayernow.net. There will be a meeting on March 7th at Centro de Pueblo in San Francisco about SB 840. Information about it is posted on the above web site.
Thanks.
If you have any comments or stories related to this topic, please write to us at news@kalw.org, or call it in at 415-264-7106.
I wanted to talk to someone who had been affected by this, and so I called out to our Facebook group for help, and I got a hold of Bonnie Baron. She's 63 years old, a tutor in Oakland, and is insured with Anthem Blue Cross. She also happens to be an advocate for health care reform. I asked her to write to us, and tell us her story:
Hi Martina,
I work as a learning specialist, tutoring dyslexic students at a non-profit in Oakland. I'm an independent contractor, so my insurance with Anthem Blue Cross is through an HMO plan for individual members. The premium for this was raised 27% and is now more than 1/4 of my salary! I could not afford this if my husband and I did not live on our joint income.
In fact, I spoke to Anthem Blue Cross about changing plans. To change plans, customers usually need to go through a lengthy underwriting process. This is code for "examining people's medical histories to deny coverage if there are pre-exisiting conditions which could require costly treatment." Because the underwriting process is lengthy, there can be a break in coverage between one's old plan and the new one (if approved). I asked Anthem about this, and was offered another HMO that doesn't require underwriting. The representatives offered a plan with premiums similar to my existing ones, but none of my doctors accept this insurance (probably because the reimbursement rates are so low)!
So, I will keep the plan that I currently have and pay the exorbitant cost. I have filed grievances with the state of California and Anthem about the increase.
Strange to say, I am lucky. I have good coverage and will be able to pay the premiums. Millions of people will not be able to pay the increases. So many citizens in the United States can't afford any insurance, or pay for coverage that is inadequate for any treatment other than routine care. Medical costs are now the leading cause of personal bankruptcy. This crisis is now exacerbated because of the current economic situation.
These rate increases are particularly infuriating because it is well documented that 30% or more of every health care dollar is not spent on health care! Rather, that 30% goes to administrative costs--underwriting, processing and denial of claims--and to advertising, These are by products of a wasteful, for-profit health care industry that has thousands of different health care plans that divide, rather than pool risk, and therefore increase consumer costs and company profits.
I am a member of Single Payer Now, the local chapter of a statewide group supporting a state senate bill, SB 840, or a national legislation, HR 676. SB 840 twice passed the California legislature, most recently last August, but was vetoed by the governor. Mark Leno will be shepherding it through the legislature again this year. John Conyers of Michigan has recently reintroduced HR 676. You can read more about these at www.singlepayernow.net. There will be a meeting on March 7th at Centro de Pueblo in San Francisco about SB 840. Information about it is posted on the above web site.
Thanks.
If you have any comments or stories related to this topic, please write to us at news@kalw.org, or call it in at 415-264-7106.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Job Hunting in a Down Economy
Hunting for a job, is not easy. At least that is what KALW's Maria Ginsbourg found out when she went to a meet-up for job hunters in San Francisco. You can hear the report she phoned in here, or read it below:I went to the Unemployed Job Hunters Meetup at the San Francicso Public Library to find out how the economy was affecting people who are unemployed.
Before the meeting, I spoke with a member named Seema. While smoking a cigarette outside the library, she told me about her job search.
In November of 2007 she quit her job as a spokesperson for the film festival because she wanted more stability. At first she wasn’t worried about finding a job. In the beginning of 2008, she was fielding phone calls from recruiters, going on interviews, and working temp jobs. But when the market crashed in October, the calls stopped. She told me she hadn’t had an interview since November.
Seema, who has a B.A in math and a masters degree in marketing, said she won’t take her next interview lightly. She planned on wearing her best suit, straightening her hair, and getting her nails done. Then rather glumly she said, “Doesn’t the brain matter anymore?”
As we walked into the library, Seema told me that the buzzword among the unemployed was networking. I asked her if being part of a meet-up ever landed her an interview. She said it hadn’t. but it gave her a chance to get out of the house and out of her own head. And thanks to the people there, she learned about resume workshops, networking parties and job fairs.
Inside the meeting room, people sat around a long oval table and shared impromptu job-hunting tips:
How do you get a resume to the top floor?
Throw it up the elevator chute.
How do you get someone from HR to talk to you?
Dress up like a messenger.
What’s the best way to network?
Throw it up the elevator chute.
How do you get someone from HR to talk to you?
Dress up like a messenger.
What’s the best way to network?
Buy a dog or a small child.
Then they took turns describing their week. They spoke about bad days. Days they couldn’t get out of bed, days when they had to let their parents pick up the tab, days they received rejection letters. There were of course good news. One woman met a friend of her dad’s at a car garage and he encouraged her to apply for a job at his company. A man who used to work in the stock exchange, said he was starting a video business. He wanted to record people’s life stories. His first customer was almost a 100 years old. One woman complained she’d gotten more dates than interviews. She did not get any sympathy. Many found hope in Obama's stimulus plan because it would extend unemployment benefits for 33 weeks.
A lot of the conversations went like this. “I want to get into so and so field.” And then someone would say, hey my aunt Patty does that, and then they would exchange business cards. It was really a communal atmosphere.
This group consisted mostly of skilled workers: programmers, a paralegal, a biology writer, a lawyer, and a project manager. And these professionals were saying that the market is so bad they couldn’t even land an interview. The project manager said that a year ago, in one month she’d received four job offers, but since November no one had called her. I asked the group when they thought the job search would get easier. They speculated that it wouldn’t until 2010 maybe Two thousand eleven.
Another thing that came up, was that temp jobs had dried up. For example, at one point, a woman named Wendy announced that the US Census was trying fill a few temporary positions. This turned out to be old news. Out of the fourteen people there, four or five had already applied.
At the end of the meeting, as everyone was putting on their jackets, Judy, the organizer, told me that some people were setting up job hunting groups make a buck off the unemployed. They would use the groups as an opportunity to promote their book or coaching program. She even got a call from a company that wanted to sponsor the group in exchange for everyone’s information. Judy said she refused because she thought that would radically change the tone of the meet-up.
We said our goodbyes, and I left the library humbled by the realization that being unemployed is really hard work.
(photo by flickr user Chailey, acquired under Creative Commons license)
Then they took turns describing their week. They spoke about bad days. Days they couldn’t get out of bed, days when they had to let their parents pick up the tab, days they received rejection letters. There were of course good news. One woman met a friend of her dad’s at a car garage and he encouraged her to apply for a job at his company. A man who used to work in the stock exchange, said he was starting a video business. He wanted to record people’s life stories. His first customer was almost a 100 years old. One woman complained she’d gotten more dates than interviews. She did not get any sympathy. Many found hope in Obama's stimulus plan because it would extend unemployment benefits for 33 weeks.
A lot of the conversations went like this. “I want to get into so and so field.” And then someone would say, hey my aunt Patty does that, and then they would exchange business cards. It was really a communal atmosphere.
This group consisted mostly of skilled workers: programmers, a paralegal, a biology writer, a lawyer, and a project manager. And these professionals were saying that the market is so bad they couldn’t even land an interview. The project manager said that a year ago, in one month she’d received four job offers, but since November no one had called her. I asked the group when they thought the job search would get easier. They speculated that it wouldn’t until 2010 maybe Two thousand eleven.
Another thing that came up, was that temp jobs had dried up. For example, at one point, a woman named Wendy announced that the US Census was trying fill a few temporary positions. This turned out to be old news. Out of the fourteen people there, four or five had already applied.
At the end of the meeting, as everyone was putting on their jackets, Judy, the organizer, told me that some people were setting up job hunting groups make a buck off the unemployed. They would use the groups as an opportunity to promote their book or coaching program. She even got a call from a company that wanted to sponsor the group in exchange for everyone’s information. Judy said she refused because she thought that would radically change the tone of the meet-up.
We said our goodbyes, and I left the library humbled by the realization that being unemployed is really hard work.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Grassroots Discussion of the Downturn and the Stimulus
Today on the show we heard a report from KALW's Kristi Coale about how parents are turning to school support groups for economic help. Check out the story here.
We also heard voices from a house meeting that took place in Pacific Heights last weekend where people were leading a different kind of support group. These economic recovery meetings are being organized all over the U.S. by Obama's former campaign machine, now called "Organizing for America." They are meant to gather people to discuss their stories of economic hardship and to react to the stimulus package that seems finally headed for passage in Congress. Here is the website where you can get more info about these meetings.
Note: Organizing for America is affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, so know that most people who are going to these meetings are Obama supporters.
We are going to another meeting this weekend, so we will bring you more on the discussions taking place.
We also heard voices from a house meeting that took place in Pacific Heights last weekend where people were leading a different kind of support group. These economic recovery meetings are being organized all over the U.S. by Obama's former campaign machine, now called "Organizing for America." They are meant to gather people to discuss their stories of economic hardship and to react to the stimulus package that seems finally headed for passage in Congress. Here is the website where you can get more info about these meetings.
Note: Organizing for America is affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, so know that most people who are going to these meetings are Obama supporters.
We are going to another meeting this weekend, so we will bring you more on the discussions taking place.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
ACORN Helps Tenants Fight Foreclosure
Today on Crosscurrents, KALW's Zoe Corneli talked with host Holly Kernan about possible solutions to the foreclosure crisis. You can hear that conversation here.Renters are common victims of foreclosures. Zoe Corneli interviewed a tenant in West Oakland who almost lost his home last week. You can hear that interview here.
Eddie Daniels has lived in West Oakland with his wife since 2006, had always paid his rent on time, but was served an eviction notice in November of last year when his landlord lost the house to foreclosure.
He has since been fighting to purchase the home, but the paperwork didn't go through fast enough, and last week he was supposed to vacate his home.
But he linked up with ACORN and they got dozens of people to go to his home on eviction day to show their support. The sheriff never came - turns out they granted the Daniels another few weeks to get their paperwork in order. Eddie Daniels hopes that's enough time.
ACORN Press Release about the Daniels
(photo acquired under Creative Commons license from Flickr user respres)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Impressions from the Frontlines
Here is a message from Holly Kernan, News Director at KALW:I went to a free breakfast in West Oakland last week. It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning and folks were already lined up at the gate when I arrived to help serve. The food was plentiful and lovely— quiche, pancakes, potatoes, grits, yogurt, donuts, orange juice and coffee. The tables were set with fresh yellow flowers.
The guy who runs the place is delightful—sports a full Moses beard and runs around in Dutch clogs. He knows all the customers by name and he’s created a warm and friendly environment.
Most of the customers seemed pretty down and out: many are clearly sleeping on the streets, some have obvious substance addictions. There were a few families and a couple of neighborhood kids who came to breakfast on their own. One girl rode in on a unicycle because she’s in the circus program at school.
There was something that troubled me: the people who brought the food were almost all white; the clients mostly black. There was this uncomfortable divide and it felt like most of the servers were afraid of the people who’d come to eat—they kept a their distance and were careful to stay on their own side of the serving table. It made me really aware of my own race (white) and the way wealth and color affect our life outcomes and outlooks.
(photo is used under Creative Commons License, courtesy of flickr user Jeffrey Beall)
(photo is used under Creative Commons License, courtesy of flickr user Jeffrey Beall)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Parents Look to Schools for Help
This week, KALW's Kristi Coale brings us a story from a school in Hayward. There, parents are turning to the schools and teachers for economic help. Teachers are referring them to shelters and food pantries, as they try to help them become more involved with their children's education. Listen for that story to air on Crosscurrents this Thursday.And we heard back from a listener who visited the Big Sip Cafe, which was profiled in one of our economic edge stories on Wed. Jan. 28th. Rashid Patch from Oakland had this to report:
Well, I got over to the Big Sip this morning.
Big space, high ceilings, homey, warm, cheerful colors, bright, spacious, inviting place. Cushioned arm-chairs at every table, and several big couches.
Good coffee - I had the French roast - also Columbian and de-caf. Selection of pastries. I liked it that my croissant was heated in a radiant oven, not a microwave (which always makes croissants soft and sticky, yech!), so it stayed nice and flaky. Reasonable prices.
Friendly owner, cheerful - I was there just about 9:00 a.m., and there were only 3 other people. Wi-Fi. Had a TV going tuned to a news chanel - some might be annoyed by TV, but at least it wasn't happy-face talk.
Open till 7:00, sometimes later. Music some nights.
Nice place! I'll go back!
Peace,
Rashid Patch
Oakland
If you have any thoughts or responses to our stories, please write to us at news@kalw.org or comment here on this blog.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tough Luck for Those Looking for Jobs
More and more people are looking for jobs in the bay area. Here is an email from Nick M. in San Francisco, who tells us about his recent experience at a "Career Link" office in San Francisco:
I went to a 'Career Link' office at 3120 Mission St. in San Francisco for a training workshop entitled 'Fast Forward your Job Search Workshop' to learn specifically what services the federal program WIA(Workforce Investment Act) can offer in their supposed mandate of providing funds to retrain/retool people for industries that need workers. We were immediately told upon entering that:
1. There is an income limitation for funds
2. …if they were available, and they are not,
3. …unless you are in a 'dislocated industry'
4. …which they did not have a listing or definition of
5. …but the workshop leader would be able to tell you if you are in a dislocated industry
6. …because there are exceptions to every rule
7. …but those lists of exception guidelines were not available to us.
We were then told that all of the above was probably beside the point as the offices we were in were weekly receiving layoffs and there probably wouldn't be anyone there to process anything for us ANYWAY.
These are offices apparently sponsored and 'funded' by the City of San Francisco.
Yippee! Welcome to the world of government sponsored funding for our citizens.
Write and tell us about what resources you have found useful or not useful out there in your job-hunting, or call us and leave us a message at 415-264-7106.
I went to a 'Career Link' office at 3120 Mission St. in San Francisco for a training workshop entitled 'Fast Forward your Job Search Workshop' to learn specifically what services the federal program WIA(Workforce Investment Act) can offer in their supposed mandate of providing funds to retrain/retool people for industries that need workers. We were immediately told upon entering that:
1. There is an income limitation for funds
2. …if they were available, and they are not,
3. …unless you are in a 'dislocated industry'
4. …which they did not have a listing or definition of
5. …but the workshop leader would be able to tell you if you are in a dislocated industry
6. …because there are exceptions to every rule
7. …but those lists of exception guidelines were not available to us.
We were then told that all of the above was probably beside the point as the offices we were in were weekly receiving layoffs and there probably wouldn't be anyone there to process anything for us ANYWAY.
These are offices apparently sponsored and 'funded' by the City of San Francisco.
Yippee! Welcome to the world of government sponsored funding for our citizens.
Write and tell us about what resources you have found useful or not useful out there in your job-hunting, or call us and leave us a message at 415-264-7106.
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