Viewpoints: California Is Failing Its Most Vulnerable Residents
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Sacramento Bee:
So Few Docs Take Medi-Cal That It Violates Civil Rights
Fully one-third of our population, including seniors, people with disabilities and children, depend on Medi-Cal, the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Californians. While there is wide coverage, Medi-Cal recipients have worse access to healthcare than Medicaid recipients in almost every other state, judged by the percentage of physicians who accept Medicaid patients. (Bill Lann Lee, 8/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Does State Funding For Medi-Cal Discriminate Against The Latinos It Serves?
Only about half of the non-emergency care doctors in California are willing to treat patients who are on Medi-Cal — the state’s version of Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled — because the state pays them too little for their services. ... In a recently filed lawsuit, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center claim that the state’s underfunding of Medi-Cal discriminates against Latinos in violation of California law. (8/9)
Los Angeles Times:
In A Rebuke To The GOP, A Federal Judge Orders The Government To Pay Molina Health $52 Million In Obamacare Funds
The main thread of the Republican effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act may have been snipped apart on the Senate floor late last month, but vestiges of its campaign of vandalism still remain. On Friday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., kicked away one of its legs in a $52-million ruling in favor of Molina Healthcare. The Long Beach health insurance company, which specializes in Obamacare coverage, sought the money in accordance with the ACA’s risk corridor provision. In his second ruling in a row on the issue, the federal judge in the case took direct aim at what may have been the most cynical attack on the ACA that Congressional Republicans cooked up. The judge, Thomas C. Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, had awarded Moda Health of Oregon $214 million just last February. His reasoning this time around was almost identical. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/7)
The Mercury News:
CalFresh Food Stamp Program Is Inefficient
Through the Great Recession and during the anemic recovery since, food stamps have been literal life savers for families that once thought they’d never need government help with something as basic as feeding the kids. It’s an important part of the safety net, and that makes it all the more important to operate the program efficiently and effectively. California is falling short. State officials need to figure out why. (8/3)
Modesto Bee:
Slashing Medicaid Will Destroy Lives Like This One In Stanislaus County
If Congress and President Trump succeed in passing a budget that slashes Medicaid, it would be devastating not just to Helena [Cardona] but to Paula [Stinyard], who tears up when she talks about the possibility of not being able to care for her friend. Paula is a proud member of United Domestic Workers of America, an affiliate of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), and she’s one of thousands of AFSCME members across the country whose livelihood depends directly on funding from Medicaid. (Elissa McBride, 8/3)
Orange County Register:
Hands Off D.C.’s, States’ Laws On Aid-In-Dying
The federal government should not intrude on Washington, D.C.’s Death with Dignity Act, as some members of Congress would like to do. Depriving terminally ill adults in D.C. the option of medical aid-in-dying would not only condemn many to unnecessary suffering, but provide an unwarranted precedent for further intrusions on states with similar laws. ... The D.C. law, modeled after Oregon’s 20-year-old law and similar to California’s own End of Life Option Act, imposes numerous safeguards meant to ensure that medical aid-in-dying is a voluntary, carefully considered decision. (8/8)
The Mercury News:
Allow California Students To Get Sleep They Need
As much as parents obsess over their children’s education, it’s stunning that so many object to a proposal before the Legislature with a proven track record of improving school performance. California should adopt Glendale Sen. Anthony Portantino’s SB 328, which requires middle and high schools to start their regular class schedules no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The average start time for California schools is 8:07 a.m., nearly a half hour earlier than the recommendation of both the American Academy of Pediatricians and the Centers for Disease Control. (8/8)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why Taking Supplements Can Be Risky
Health-conscious people may want to think twice before taking dietary supplements. Researchers have found a significant increase nationwide in calls to poison control centers related to vitamins, herbs and other supplements. These calls have increased along with the growth of supplement sales in the U.S. (8/10)
Sacramento Bee:
Can Big Tobacco Stop FDA Again?
The great majority of smokers tell the same story. They started smoking during adolescence, got hooked on nicotine and became lifelong smokers even though they would very much like to quit if they only could. Tobacco industry scientists have worked hard to enrich nicotine content and to manipulate its chemistry to enhance potency. The Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to reduce nicotine content of traditional tobacco products to nonaddictive levels would have a major positive health impact and would be its single most effective measure in lessening cigarette use among Americans. (Robert K. Jackler, 8/7)
Orange County Register:
More Evidence Shows Vaping Helps People Quit Smoking
The evidence is mounting that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking, so why do state and local governments keep banning them or regulating them like tobacco products? The latest research on the effects of e-cigarette use comes from a study, published in the British Medical Journal, of more than 160,000 Americans over a 14-year period. (8/3)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento: Don't Ignore Free Money For Homeless People
Eight years after the Board of Supervisors slashed spending on mental health and addiction treatment during the recession – and two years after a Sacramento County grand jury issued a scathing report on the county’s continued abdication of its duties – too little progress has been made toward rebuilding care for the mentally ill and addicted, key homeless cohorts. Police still have no urgent care center where they can take homeless people in the throes of a breakdown. The county’s mental health treatment facility near UC Davis Medical Center is at half-capacity and doesn’t take walk-ins. A new 15-bed crisis residential facility opened in Rio Linda in June, but the county has yet to settle on locations or start dates for three others that by now should have opened. (8/4)
Sacramento Bee:
The Next Step For Healthy School Food
Schools aim to protect students by fingerprinting adults and holding fire drills. So it makes sense that schools now are required by federal law to teach students about wellness. These policies need full engagement from school boards, administrators, teachers and parents to model the healthy behaviors we’re asking kids to follow. (Amber K. Stott and Debra Oto-Kent, 8/2)