Published in Capital & Main on September 14, 2016

How do you get the best quality health care in the University of California’s renowned public medical system? Approaches vary, according to the campus, but at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center it’s a gold-colored wallet card with a personalized number to call. When flashed from a gurney in the ER (or at a club to impress friends), the card means one thing: The patient in question is a VIP.

Welcome to the world of concierge medicine, UCLA-style. At a time when millions of uninsured Californians can’t afford Affordable Care Act coverage, even with subsidies, and the ACA’s added enrollments compound the pressures on our patchwork health-care system, California’s academic health centers are devoting a portion of their resources to wealthy benefactors and anyone willing and able to pay a premium for medical services.

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