Ken Jacobs
Chair

Ken Jacobs is the Chair of the Labor Center, where he has been a Labor Specialist since 2002. His areas of specialization include health care coverage, the California budget, low-wage work, the retail industry and public policy. Recent papers have examined the impact that the national health reform law will have on California small businesses, their employees, the self-employed, and the state overall; the economic effects of various options for closing California’s budget deficit; and declining job-based health coverage in California and the U.S. He provided consultation to the City and County of San Francisco on the development of the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance and was a member of the Mayor's Universal Health Care Council. Before joining the Labor Center, Ken was with the Bay Area Organizing Committee (BAOC), an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation, where he worked on improving wages and expanding health care coverage for low-wage workers.

Areas of Expertise
• Health Care and Labor Relations
• Low-Wage Work
• Public Policy and Unions
• Retail Industry
• Living Wage and Labor Standards Policies

Recent Publications

Medi-Cal Expansion under the Affordable Care Act: Significant Increase in Coverage with Minimal Cost to the State
January 2013, by Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Miranda Dietz, and Dylan H. Roby for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

After Millions of Californians Gain Health Coverage under the Affordable Care Act, who will Remain Uninsured?
September 2012, by Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs, Miranda Dietz, Dave Graham-Squire, Nadereh Pourat, and Dylan H. Roby for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Nine Out of Ten Non-Elderly Californians Will Be Insured When the Affordable Care Act is Fully Implemented
June 2012, by Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Dave Graham-Squire, Christina M. Kinane, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Predicted Exchange Enrollment with Subsidies under the Affordable Care Act: Regional and County Estimates
June 2012, Ken Jacobs, Dave Graham-Squire, Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Nadereh Pourat, Christina M. Kinane, Greg Watson, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Predicted Increase in Medi-Cal Enrollment under the Affordable Care Act: Regional and County Estimates
June 2012, Ken Jacobs, Dave Graham-Squire, Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Nadereh Pourat, Christina M. Kinane, Greg Watson, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Remaining Uninsured in California under the Affordable Care Act: Regional and County Estimates
June 2012, by Ken Jacobs, Dave Graham-Squire, Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Nadereh Pourat, Christina M. Kinane, Greg Watson, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman for the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

The State of Health Insurance in California: Findings from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, with SA Lavarreda, L Cabezas, DH Roby, N Pourat, GF Kominski. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 2012.

Achieving Equity by Building a Bridge from Eligible to Enrolled
With Daphna Gans, Christina Kinane, Greg Watson, Dylan H. Roby, Jack Needleman, Dave Graham-Squire, Gerald F. Kominski, David Dexter, and Ellen Wu, February 2012.

Newly Insured Californians Would Fall by More than 1 Million under the Affordable Care Act without the Requirement to Purchase Insurance,  with Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Greg Watson, Dave Graham-Squire, Christina M. Kinane, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman, January 2012.

Proposed Regulations Could Limit Access to Affordable Health Coverage for Workers’ Children and Family Members,  with Dave Graham-Squire, Dylan H. Roby, Gerald F. Kominski, Christina M. Kinane, Jack Needleman, Greg Watson, and Daphna Gans, December 2011.

The Promise of Affordable Care: Maintaining Coverage During Life Transitions, with Ann O'Leary, Elizabeth A. Capell, and Laurel Lucia, California Journal of Politics and Policy: Vol. 3: Iss 4, Article 9, 2011.
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/cjpp/vol3/iss4/9

The Wrong Target: Public Sector Unions and State Budget Deficits,  with Sylvia A. Allegretto and Laurel Lucia, October 2011.

Living Wage Policies and Big-Box Retail: How a Higher Wage Standard Would Impact Walmart Workers and Shoppers,  with Dave Graham-Squire and Stephanie Luce, April 2011.

Maximizing Health Care Enrollment through Seamless Coverage for Families in Transition: Current Trends and Policy Implications,  with Laurel Lucia, Ann O'Leary and Ann Marie Marciarille, March 2011.

Creating Good Jobs in Our Communities: How Higher Wage Standards Affect Economic Development and Employment,  with T. William Lester, November 2010.

Eligibility for Medi-Cal and the Health Insurance Exchange in California under the Affordable Care Act, with Laurel Lucia and Dave Graham-Squire, August 2010.

Regional Economic Impacts of Proposed Health and Human Services Cuts, with Laurel Lucia and T. William Lester, July 2010.

Benefits Could Go Beyond Small Businesses, with Laurel Tan, California HealthLine, July 1, 2010.

Federal Health Reform: Impact on California Small Businesses, Their Employees and the Self-Employed, with Laurel Lucia and Dave Graham-Squire, June 2010.

The Economic Consequences of Proposed California Budget Cuts, with Laurel Lucia and T. William Lester, May 2010.

Budget Solutions and Jobs, with T. William Lester and Laurel Tan, March 2010.

The President's Health Reform Proposal: Impact on Access and Affordability in California, with Laurel Tan, Dave Graham-Squire, Jon Gabel, and Roland McDevitt, February 2010

Who Benefits from the Proposed Amendment to the Senate Excise Tax on Employer Health Premiums?, with William H. Dow, Dave Graham-Squire and Laurel Tan, February 2010

Financial Protection of Employer-based Insurance in California, 2009, with Jon Gabel, Roland McDevitt, and Laurel Tan, January 2010.

National Health Reform Requirements and California Employers, with Jon Gabel, Laurel Tan, Roland McDevitt, Jeremy Pickreign, and Shova KC, December 2009

How Would Health Care Reforms Change the Spending of California Families Without an Employer Plan?, with Laurel Tan, Roland McDevitt, Jon Gabel and Ryan Lore, December 2009

Californians' Access to Coverage under the Health Reform Proposals, with Dave Graham-Squire, December 2009

Addressing California's Health Coverage Gaps: The Impact of National Health Care Reform, with Annette Gardner and Melissa Rodgers, November 2009

Effect of Health Care Reform on Gap Groups and the Safety Net in California and the Nation, with Annette Gardner, and Melissa Rodgers, November 2009

The High Cost of Furloughs, October 2009.

Health care reform: Shared risk, responsibility, with Jacob Hacker,
San Francisco Chronicle, September 3, 2009

How to Structure a "Play-or-Pay" Requirement on Employers: Lessons from California for National Health Reform, with Jacob Hacker, June 2009.

No Recovery in Sight: Health Coverage for Working-Age Adults in the United States and California, with David Graham-Squire, April 2009.

San Francisco Values: The New Social Compact, in Adrienne E. Eaton (ed.) Labor And Employment Relations Association Series, Proceedings of the 61st Annual Meeting. January 2009.

A Tale of Two Tiers: Dividing Workers in the Age of Neoliberalism, New Labor Forum, vol. 18, no. 1, Winter 2009.

Health care crisis makes our economic illness worse, Op-Ed, The Sacramento Bee, October 25, 2008.

Global Warming Solutions Should Produce Good Jobs, Op-Ed, San Francisco Chronicle, August 1, 2008.

Secure and Affordable Health Care Act of 2008: Impact on Payroll Costs in California, with Dave Graham-Squire, January 2008.

Living Wage Policies and Wal-Mart: How a Higher Wage Standard Would Impact Wal-Mart Workers and Shoppers, with Arindrajit Dube, Dave Graham-Squire and Stephanie Luce, December 2007.

Weighing the Cost of Health Care Reform, Op-Ed, Sacramento Bee, October 7, 2007.

Modeling Employer Participation in Adult Healthcare Coverage Expansion in San Mateo County, with Lucas Ronconi, for the San Mateo County Blue Ribbon Task Force on Adult Health Coverage Expansion, October 2007.
Powerpoint presentation

Health Coverage Expansion in California: What Can Consumers Afford to Spend?, with Korey Capozza, Dylan H. Roby, Gerald F. Kominski and E. Richard Brown, September 2007.

Impact of Health Benefit Reductions in the Unionized Grocery Sector in California, with Arindrajit Dube, California Program on Access to Care, August 2007.
Powerpoint presentation

A Small Raise: Jobs, Wages and Healthcare in 2007, with Arindrajit Dube and Dave Graham-Squire, August 2007.

Health Coverage Proposals in California: Impact on Businesses, with Lucas Ronconi and Dave Graham-Squire, July 2007.

Grocery Dispute is about Health Care, Op-Ed, San Diego Union Tribune, June 26, 2007.

Mounting Business Mandates? Op-Ed, Riverside Press Enterprise, June 2007.

Testimony for the Governor's Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission, May 2007.

California Healthcare: Firm Spending and Worker Coverage, with Dave Graham-Squire and Arindrajit Dube, March 2007.

Declining Health Coverage in the Southern California Grocery Industry, with Arindrajit Dube and Felix Su, January 2007.

The Hidden Cost of Jobs without Health Care Benefits, Perspectives on Work, vol. 10, no. 2, University of Illinois Press, 2006. (link to journal)

Establishing a San Francisco Taxi Driver Health Care Coverage Plan, with Rhonda Evans, Jabril Bensedrine and Carol Zabin, March 2006.

Declining Job-Based Health Coverage for Working Families in California and the United States, with Arindrajit Dube, Sarah Muller, Bob Brownstein and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, January 2006.

Review of Fighting for a Living Wage by Stephanie Luce, Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, Université Laval, vol. 60, no. 4, Fall 2005.

Internal Wal-Mart Memo Validates Findings of UC Berkeley Study, with Arindrajit Dube and Steve Wertheim, October 2005.

Kids at Risk: Declining Employer-Based Health Coverage in California and the United States: A Crisis for Working Families, with Arindrajit Dube, Sarah Muller, Bob Brownstein and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, August 2005.

Falling Apart: How Adults are Faring in the Crisis of Job-Based Health Insurance in California and the United States, with Arindrajit Dube, Sarah Muller, Bob Brownstein and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, June 2005.

Review of For All These Rights by Jennifer Klein, Labor Studies Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Summer 2005.

Living Wage Policies at the San Francisco Airport: Impacts on Workers and Businesses, with Michael Reich and Peter Hall, Industrial Relations, vol. 44, no. 1, January 2005.
NOTE: This article is available online from the vendor, and access may be limited. Please check with your local public library (or academic library) if you cannot access it from this link.

Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs, with Arindrajit Dube, August 2004.

The Hidden Public Costs of Low-Wage Jobs in California, with Carol Zabin and Arindrajit Dube, State of California Labor 2004, University of California Institute for Labor and Employment, November 2004.

Living Wages and Economic Performance, with Michael Reich and Peter Hall, 2002.

Living Wages and Airport Security, with Michael Reich and Peter Hall, 2001.

Curriculum Vitae