Adrienne Verrilli

Communications veteran and public policy expert with 12 years in nonprofits. Covers women's health, healthcare, affordable housing, and environment. Former banker turned progressive advocate. Democrat. Based in San Francisco.

Federal health insurance reform provisions begin to take shape in California

Lest you thought the debate over federal health insurance reform was over, in actuality it has really just begun. With the law on the books, insurance companies, States, and the

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 23, 2010

California charter schools draw bipartisan support, but fail to live up to the hype

Amazingly, three of California’s major gubernatorial candidates agree on one thing – we need more charter schools. Steve Poizner, who co-founded the California Charter Schools Association in 2003, wants

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 19, 2010

California hospitals paying big fines for failing to report errors

Failure to report leaving foreign objects in patients or operating on the wrong person or body part, among other preventable medical errors in hospitals, cost the lives of approximately 10,

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 16, 2010

California Senate Education Committee to consider capping college fees and tuition

As has been widely reported, the decision in November 2009 by the University of California to increase student tuition by more than 30 percent set off a wave of criticism

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 12, 2010

Decline to state voters still at the mercy of political parties during primary season

Despite the rising number and growing influence of California’s Decline to State voters, the major political parties can still shut out them out of the primaries if they choose.

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 9, 2010

Health insurance giant boosted CEO's pay by 51% in 2009

Receiving little press attention over the Easter weekend, filings with the Security and Exchange Commission on April 2 revealed that WellPoint Inc. CEO Angela Braly received a boost in total

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 5, 2010

Federal student loan overhaul may help to alleviate punishing tuition hikes in California

This past Tuesday, President Obama signed legislation that is expected to increase access to college for millions of Americans. The student loan overhaul was included as part of the health

By Adrienne Verrilli

April 2, 2010

California seniors are healthcare reform's big winners

After months of some lawmakers making questionable statements about what health insurance reform meant for our nation's seniors - death panels, killing Medicare, etc. - a report that received virtually

By Adrienne Verrilli

March 29, 2010

March delivers three blows to California public school system

This month there has been little good news for the California public school system. On March 4, California got word that the state’s bid for a piece of over

By Adrienne Verrilli

March 26, 2010

McNerney may face tough re-election battle after voting yes on healthcare bill

On Sunday evening, East Bay Representative Jerry McNerney (D-11-Pleasanton) cast one of the 219 votes in favor of the Senate health insurance reform bill. Until Saturday, McNerney was

By Adrienne Verrilli

March 22, 2010

Healthcare bill will help millions of uninsured Californians

A study released earlier this week by the University of California Los Angeles showed that almost 25% of Californians under the age of 65 lacked health insurance during all or

By Adrienne Verrilli

March 19, 2010

California's economic crisis could put Texas in the driver's seat of public education

California is the largest purchaser of textbooks in the United States. Unfortunately, with the state’s economy in shambles, California has decided to hold off on buying new textbooks until

By Adrienne Verrilli

March 15, 2010