Viewpoints: All ‘Good’ Democrats Want Single-Payer … But What About The Ones Who Don’t?
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Sacramento Bee:
Why Won't California Progressives Question Single Payer?
I’m so disappointed in myself. I should be 100-percent supportive of establishing California’s own single-payer system, in which the government uses taxes to pay everyone’s healthcare costs. Because all the best Californians are for it. (Joe Mathews, 10/5)
Los Angeles Times:
A Single-Payer Litmus Test Won't Help The Progressive Agenda
Obamacare is still with us. ...Meanwhile, many Democrats are embracing a single-payer “Medicare for all” system as the next step in healthcare reform. But making single-payer the top priority now could jeopardize the gains made since passage of the Affordable Care Act, which is still being sabotaged by the Trump administration. (Tom Epstein, 10/5)
The Washington Post:
I’m Dying Of Brain Cancer. I Prepared To End My Life. Then I Kept Living.
In April 2015, at the age of 55, I was diagnosed with one of the most lethal and aggressive brain tumors, a brainstem glioblastoma multiforme in an advanced stage. The prognosis was both grim and precise: Without treatment, I might have a few months; with treatment, I could last six months. If I beat overwhelming odds, I’d toast the new year one last time. During the time my doctors were converging on my cancer diagnosis, interest was building here in California for a law, called “aid in dying,” that would allow physicians to help patients end their lives. (Jeffrey Davitz, 9/29)
Los Angeles Times:
Guns, Like Cigarettes, Are Legal Products That Kill People. That's Not OK
This week it’s guns, with at least 59 people dead and hundreds injured after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But the focus just as easily could be on cigarettes, or junk food, or sugary beverages. No reasonable person disputes that all these products can be dangerous, whether we’re talking about firearm casualties, lung cancer, diabetes or heart disease. The issue is how, or if, the makers of these products should be held accountable for the trouble they cause. (David Lazarus, 10/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Tom Price May Be Gone, But The Trump Administration's Sabotage Of Obamacare Is Moving Ahead At Full Speed
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is gone, ushered out of office last week after being caught causing $1 million in unnecessary taxpayer expense by chartering private planes and taking military aircraft around the country and the world instead of flying commercial, like normal people. This looks like a case in which the right thing has happened for the wrong reason — or at least for an incomplete reason. The grounds for Price’s ouster should have been his atrocious management of the most important program under his jurisdiction, the Affordable Care Act. Instead of acting to make Obamacare work better for all Americans, Price took every step within his power to undermine the law in ways that will cost American families millions of dollars. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Bill Would Limit Access To Critical Medications And Aid For Californians
California families are struggling to afford the cost of their healthcare and many are being forced to make tough decisions about whether to take their medications or pay for rent, food, or other day-to-day expenses. A bill currently on the governor’s desk would make things worse by limiting access to critical coupons — assistance that could mean the difference between life and death for vulnerable patients. (Dr. Gustavo Alvo, 10/4)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Seeks To Bring HIV Criminal Laws Into Line With Science
As director of the Office of National AIDS Policy under President Barack Obama, I witnessed great progress in the fight against HIV. Effective treatments have improved and prolonged the lives of people living with HIV. And HIV-negative individuals can take medication to reduce their risk of acquiring the virus. But some laws have not kept up with these advances, resulting in continued stigma and unfair prosecutions. (Grant Colfax, 9/30)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Why Immunization Exemptions Ban Should Be Repealed
Senate Bill 277 was passed by the California Legislature in 2015 even after thousands of parents and their children repeatedly demonstrated in Sacramento opposing the elimination of the personal belief vaccine exemption for school attendance. There was a good reason for public protests: The law violates the human right to informed consent to medical risk-taking, as well as other internationally recognized human rights, including the right to autonomy and freedom of thought, conscience and religious belief. (Terry Roak, 10/4)
Sacramento Bee:
California Should Regulate Athletic Trainers
Advocates of high school sports share a common concern for the safety of student athletes. Many states are re-examining ways to limit risk, as reports show an increase in concussions and catastrophic events in high schools. California, however, is the only state that does not regulate athletic trainers, the front-line professionals who are responsible for preventing and treating injuries. As it is, anyone – regardless of education or certification – can be hired to act as an athletic trainer and provide treatment. (Jeffrey Tanji, 10/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Warning: Too Many Warning Signs Are Bad For Your Health
Starbucks, Whole Foods and about 80 other places in California that sell coffee may soon be forced to put warning labels on grande lattes and coffee bean packages to alert consumers that the product within contains acrylamide, a chemical that may be carcinogenic. (9/30)