Viewpoints: Newsom’s Ambitious Health Plans Are A Big Step Forward To Fixing Broken System
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The Mercury News:
While Trump Tweets, Newsom Leads On Health Care
While President Trump and congressional Republicans roll back national progress toward universal health care, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes changes to improve health outcomes, reduce the number of uninsured Californians and lower prescription drug prices. Newsom’s strategy puts him on a path to fulfill his campaign promises for universal health care and lower drug costs in California. (1/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Newsom’s Healthcare Initiatives Will Test What A Single State Can Achieve On Its Own
Gov. Gavin Newsom set down a marker for his administration’s approach to healthcare policy on its very first day, when he unveiled a strikingly comprehensive package of reform proposals aimed at improving access to care and lowering its costs. ... Newsom’s proposals thrilled healthcare advocates inside and outside the state, as they should. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/18)
Los Angeles Times:
California Has Gone Crazy For Sketchy Stem Cell Treatments
In case you haven’t noticed, stem cell clinics are popping up everywhere. There are hundreds across the country, especially in California. The clinics peddle “vegan stem cell facials” or “stem cell vaginal rejuvenations” and claim the miracle cells can treat autism, baldness, dementia, diabetes, arthritis and paralysis all with a quick injection. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. There is no good scientific evidence the pricey treatments work, and there is growing evidence that some are dangerous, causing blindness, tumors and paralysis. Medical associations, the federal government and even Consumer Reports have all issued stern warnings to patients about the clinics. (Usha Lee McFarling, 1/23)
McClatchy:
New Home Building Is Once Again A California Value
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants 2019 to go down in history as the year the middle class started to return to California. How might that happen? By addressing the housing crisis. Newsom has come out of the gate with the audacious goal of constructing 3.5 million new housing units in the state by 2025. To do that, more than 378,000 homes would need to be built every year statewide — quadruple the current rate of construction. The last time that many homes were built in California in one year was 1954, according to the Los Angeles Times. (1/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Making Connections Helps Healing Process For Homeless
Housing is essential to solving homelessness. That’s obvious. But a lasting solution starts with creating connections. Perhaps this isn’t so surprising when we understand that most homeless situations start a downward spiral precisely because of disconnections. (David J. Silveira, 1/22)
The Mercury News:
Partnership Aims To Ease Bay Area Housing Crisis
Vibrant, innovative and diverse, the Bay Area attracts talented people from all over the world. The future is invented here. But the region’s remarkable successes have created undeniable — and unavoidable — problems. Gentrification makes housing less affordable and less accessible. Infrastructure improvements have not kept pace with need. Public policies and plans to deal with these challenges have failed to deliver. People across the region pay almost three times as much of their income on housing compared to the national average. That’s unacceptable. It puts our future at risk. (Elliot Schrage and Maurice Jones, 1/25)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s $185 Million Windfall Should Go To Housing And Homelessness
In the coming weeks, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will deliberate on how to spend $185 million of discretionary funding that’s a part of the $415 million windfall from newly available property tax revenue. These funds should be focused on the No. 1 priority for our city — homelessness, housing and clean and safe streets. (Juliana Bunim, 1/21)
The Mercury News:
Health Impact Of Tear Gas At The Border Staggering
Images of mothers running with their children — some of whom do not even have shoes on their feet — away from the militarized border lingered in our collective memory as agents fired tear gas at teenagers and toddlers earlier this month. ... A recent review of case studies and epidemiological studies confirmed that tear gas agents can cause lung, skin, eye, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal injuries and issues, including choking and vomiting of blood. (Amber Akemi Piatt, 1/24)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Newsom Needs To Make Water Supply, Protections A Priority
Water issues are notoriously difficult for California governors. Just look at former Gov. Jerry Brown’s floundering tunnels proposal for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Yet two factors suggest that Gov. Gavin Newsom must make water a priority. First, California needs more climate-resistant water supplies. Climate change is making California’s weather more extreme. For the past decade, most years have brought drought or the risk of catastrophic floods. (George Miller, 1/23)