How will California reverse the course on health plan cancellations? We speak with the California Insurance Commissioner to find out. Then, China eases the one-child policy. What impact will this have on the country? Next, a new study gives mixed reviews to California's realignment law. Then, TGIF it's Filmweek with our critics! They are reviewing Sunlight Jr., Charlie Countryman, and more! Lastly, we talk about a new study that shows that the violence in PG-13 movies is rising.
How will California reverse course on health plan cancellations?
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said he's asked Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, to look into restoring health coverage to more than 1 million Californians who have had their health insurance plans cancelled under the Affordable Care Act.
The botched launch of the federal Obamacare website, coupled with mounting complaints from lawmakers and Americans angry about not being able to keep their existing health plans, have put pressure on President Obama to offer some sort of concession.
The President is leaving up to individual state's insurance commissioners to have the final say on whether cancelled policies would be reinstated. Oregon and Washington are among the states who have rejected the option.
How would the California Insurance Commission go about restoring these cancelled policies? Would it throw the delicate balance of Obamacare on the local level out of whack?
Guests:
Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner
Patrick Johnston, President & CEO, California Association of Health Plans
China further eases one-child policy
China has relaxed the country's one-child policy -- another step in the gradual loosening of the one of the world’s most famous family planning rule. The Chinese Communist Party introduced the population-control measure in 1979 and the latest change would allow couples to have a second child if either of the parents is an only child. Currently, the state lets couples to have a second child only if both of the parents are only children. Ethnic minorities and some couples living in some rural areas are also exempt.
This newest tweak could mean 10 million more babies being born in the most populous nation in the world. It would have significantly demographic implications for the country, but also ecological ones for the rest of the world.
Guest:
Mei Fong, former Wall Street Journal reporter based in China who is currently working on a book on the country’s one-child policy
State’s realignment law gets mixed reviews
After a federal court ordered California to reduce its prison population, the state enacted “realignment.” The law shifted responsibility for tens of thousands of felons to counties. Now, two years after implementation, a new study gives the massive policy change mixed reviews.
The report from the Stanford Criminal Justice Center includes interviews with 125 representatives from 21 counties, covering every aspect of the criminal justice system, including police, judges and offenders themselves. Surprisingly, most are cautiously optimistic about the changes to the criminal justice system, but concerns, especially among prosecutors, remain.
The consensus was “this happened too fast, the infrastructure was not ready, and we went too far. We need to pull back a little bit,” said Stanford Law School professor Joan Petersilia, who authored the report. According to the findings, over 100,000 felons have been switched over to counties for punishment and probation since October 2011.
Experts say it’s too soon to link realignment rises in crime rates, but police believe property crime rates are up because realignment puts more convicted offenders on the streets quicker.
While realignment may have helped the overcrowding of state prisons, it may create new problems for the county’s jails, which weren’t designed for long-term stays. What recommendations does the report make? Are they in conflict with the demands of federal judges to reduce overcrowding in prisons?
Guests:
Joan Petersilia, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School and author of the study “Voices from the Field: How California Stakeholders View Public Safety Realignment
Kim Raney, Chief of Police, City of Covina; President of the California Police Chiefs Association
Filmweek: Nebraska, Charlie Countryman, Go For Sisters and more
Larry is joined by KPCC critics Wade Major and Lael Loewenstein to review this week’s releases, including Nebraska, Charlie Countryman, Go For Sisters and more! TGI-FilmWeek!
Nebraska
Charlie Countryman
Go For Sisters
Guests:
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety
Study finds that gun violence in PG-13 films is rising
The level of gun violence in the top-grossing PG-13 images is on the rise and now rivals that of the most popular R-rated movies, according to the report “Gun Violence Trends in Movies,” published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that episodes of violence in films has doubled since 1950 and that gun violence in PG-13 films has more than tripled since 1985, when the PG-13 rating was instituted.
Researchers looked at the most popular and top selling films. Joan Graves, head of the MPAA, has defended the movie rating system in a statement to the Associated Press, saying “We try to get it right. The criticism of our system is no coming from the parents, who are the people we’re doing this for.” She also said that PG-13 is not a “namby-pamby rating,” and is meant to tell parents they are strongly cautioned about the film’s contents.
What do these findings say about the American film viewing audience? Why have films aimed at younger audiences become more violent? Should MPAA ratings be more stringent about violence in films?
Guests:
Dan Romer, Associate Director of Research at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-author of the study.
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and producer and host for IGN’s DigiGods.com
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety