Francisco Suárez on Eternal Truths, Eternal Essences, and Extrinsic Being

It is necessarily true that water is H2O, but it is a contingent fact that there is any water at all. Water therefore seems ill suited to ground the necessary truth that water is H2O. One view traditionally attributed to Scotus and Henry of Ghent was that while water is contingent, the essence of water is necessary; hence, the essence of water can ground the so-called eternal truth that water is H2O. Francisco Suárez rejects this view on the grounds that it contradicts the Christian doctrine of creation, according to which everything other than God was contingently created in time. Suárez’s own view of the eternal truths has proven elusive to commentators, but I argue that Suárez ultimately endorses a version of the view he rejects: essences ground the eternal truths. But this raises several puzzles: how is Suárez’s view distinct from the views traditionally ascribed to Scotus and Henry? How does Suárez’s view escape the argument from creation, which Suárez raises against his opponents? I argue that Suárez distinguishes between his view and his opponents’ view by saying that essences have “extrinsic being,” whereas his opponents claim that essences have “intrinsic being.” The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic being has not received much attention, but I argue that it marks an important fault line in scholastic thinking about the ontological status of non-existents. I argue that the notion of extrinsic being can be explicated in terms of ontological pluralism and grounding. The notion of extrinsic being helps differentiate Suárez’s view from his Scotistic and Henrician opponents, and it allows Suárez to respond to the creation argument he raises against his opponents. On my reading, Suárez’s solution to the problem of eternal truths turns out to be both highly original and philosophically satisfying

The Impact of the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program on Access to Care, Use of Services, and Health Status

Presents survey results on the impact of the Healthy Kids program, which provides uninsured children with comprehensive coverage, on access to care, unmet needs, use of specialty and dental services, health status, and parental satisfaction

Improving the Efficiency of Primary Care in Safety Net Clinics: San Mateo County's System Redesign

Outlines the impact of a countywide redesign of six primary care clinics - including the implementation of electronic health records, team-based care, chronic disease management, and advanced access scheduling - on quality of care and costs

The Hospital Costs of Firearm Assaults

In the wake of recent high profile incidents of gun violence, there is renewed national attention on the prevalence and cost of firearm assaults in the United States. To make informed policy decisions, lawmakers are calling for current and accurate data on the costs of these assaults. This brief examines the costs of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions for firearm assault victims in the United States in 2010. These costs are further examined according to patient gender, age, median household income, and insurance status

State Variation in the Hospital Costs of Gun Violence, 2010 and 2014

This brief updates the armed assault hospital cost estimates with data from 2014, the first year of full implementation of the ACA's major coverage provisions. We provide data for Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; of these, Arizona, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Wisconsin were included in our previous brief. We selected these six states based on data availability, population size, geographic representation, and participation in the ACA Medicaid expansion (table 1). The states reflect a range of decisions on Medicaid coverage: Arizona, Kentucky, and New Jersey adopted the Medicaid expansion in 2014, but Florida, North Carolina, and Wisconsin did not. Arizona had a Section 1115 demonstration waiver in place in 2010 that provided coverage to childless adults with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). Wisconsin also had a Section 1115 demonstration waiver to extend eligibility to 200 percent of FPL, but enrollment for the program was capped as of October 2009. In 2014, Wisconsin used state funds to provide eligibility to childless adults with incomes up to 100 percent of FPL and removed the enrollment cap. Most importantly, all six states have complete data for the analysis from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, described later in this brief

Three Independent Evaluations of Healthy Kids Programs Find Dramatic Gains in Well-Being of Children and Families

Presents highlights from evaluations of a comprehensive health insurance coverage program for children, launched by Children's Health Initiatives and supported by the California Endowment, in Los Angeles, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties

How Not To Be a Truthmaker Maximalist: Francisco Peinado on Truthmakers for Negative Truths

A seventeenth-century scholastic attempt to restrict the truthmaker principle to positive truths

Counterfactuals without Possible Worlds? A Difficulty for Fine’s Exact Semantics for Counterfactuals

In this paper I argue that there is a difficulty for Fine's exact semantics for counterfactuals. The difficulty undermines Fine's reasons for preferring exact semantics to possible worlds semantics

Final Report of the Evaluation of the San Mateo County Children's Health Initiative

Summarizes key findings from a five-year evaluation of the county's Children's Health Initiative -- its outreach and enrollment efforts, the impact on children enrolled in the Healthy Kids program, areas for improvement, and financing challenges