GOP Votes To Repeal Obamacare Hit A Nerve For People Affected By Medical Problems
“I'm not going to equivocate on the idea that if you make quality health care harder, you should lose your job,” says Brandon Zavala, whose mother died of a heart ailment when he was 12.
Los Angeles Times:
The Pitched Election Battle Over Healthcare Is Personal For Many Southland Voters
A few short years ago, Kim Adams couldn’t have told you the name of her representative in Congress. That changed last year, when Republican Rep. Mimi Walters voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act as Adams watched live on C-Span from her home in Tustin. News cameras showed a smiling Walters taking a celebratory selfie in the White House rose garden after the vote on the Obama-era healthcare law. That, Adams said, made things personal. After she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, Adams lost her small business as her health deteriorated and she eventually got to a point where she could no longer afford her health insurance premiums. For three years, the single mother was uninsured and unable to get treated for her MS — until the Affordable Care Act kicked in. And her congresswoman had voted to take it away. (Kim, 11/4)
The Los Angeles Times profiles one wrestler's unusual efforts to focus attention on health care and other progressive ideals in Appalachia —
Los Angeles Times:
This Wrestling Villain Praises Hillary And Invokes Obamacare. Meet The Progressive Liberal, Who’s Body-Slamming His Way Through Trump Country
[Daniel] Harnsberger is the Progressive Liberal, a professional wrestler whose renewable energy politics and preening arrogance have riled supporters of President Trump across the Appalachian Mountains. He praises Hillary Clinton and invokes the Affordable Care Act. Worst of all he’s an outsider, a real estate agent from Richmond, Va., who drives south on weekends and slips on “blue wave” tights and a conceit that he’s better than out-of-work coal miners and Baptists with rifle racks in their pickups. (Fleishman, 11/4)
And some more coverage of California races —
KCRA:
Candidate For Insurance Commissioner Grew Up Without Coverage
One of the candidates running for California insurance commissioner lived without health insurance as a child. Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara said he is the son of immigrants and lived in East Los Angeles as a child. “As somebody who grew up without health insurance, I’m the only candidate in this position,” he said. He added that he believes health care is a human right. Nurses unions backed Lara’s bill to create health coverage for all Californians. It came with a price tag of $400 billion and stalled in the Legislature. (Luery, 11/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Gavin Newsom Pushes Big-Budget Early Childhood Education Agenda In Closing Days Of Campaign
After months of sparring with President Trump and offering honey-tongued campaign promises to combat poverty, unaffordable housing costs and the state’s other deep-rooted ills, Democrat Gavin Newsom is ending his campaign for governor with a heightened focus on the youngest Californians. The two-term lieutenant governor has vowed to expand and improve early childhood education programs along with prenatal and child care — proposed investments with broad support among California voters and little political risk. (Willon, 11/3)