Viewpoints: California’s Single-Payer Bill Isn’t Sound Policy, It’s A Political Press Release
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Orange County Register:
Protecting Health Care For Californians Takes More Than A Press Release — It Takes A Real Plan
I grew up in East Lost Angeles where many residents had no health insurance or were dramatically underinsured. When I was a teenager I was diagnosed with a tumor in my spinal canal. It sent me to the emergency room and for a moment I was so sick a priest was called to give me last rites just in case. There is a decent chance I am here today because my mother, a public employee, had good health care. I have never forgotten that — the difference between quality health care and no care. And that’s why I have never stopped fighting my entire adult life for quality, universal and affordable health care for all Californians. (Antonio Villaraigosa, 3/3)
Sacramento Bee:
It's Up To A New Guard Of California Democrats To Push Single-Payer Health Care
As gubernatorial candidates gear up for the 2018 race, the issue of health care stands to divide the Democratic Party in an exciting and necessary way. At the state party convention last month, four candidates, including Gavin Newson and Delaine Eastin, called out their peers for not supporting single-payer health care, especially considering Trump administration rollbacks could strip health insurance from millions of Californians. It's about time. (Harry Snyder and Courtney Hutchison, 3/8)
The Mercury News:
Make Abortion Pill Available At State Universities
When I was accepted to UC Berkeley, I was excited about what it meant for my future. Coming from Oklahoma to California, I was also looking forward to living in a state that embodied the progressive values close to my heart — including by making sure that abortion is safe, legal, affordable, and available to all who need it. (Adiba Khan, 3/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Locked-Down Schools With Metal Detectors May Harm Students More Than Help Them
After recent school shootings, especially the appalling attack at a Florida high school that killed and injured so many students and staff, it's only natural and right for local authorities throughout the nation to consider how they might best protect the children and teenagers in their charge. ...Do these terrifying events call for metal detectors at the entrances to every school, or for all campuses to be securely fenced so that only students and teachers can enter? Fortunately, Los Angeles city and educational leaders aren't jumping up to demand immediate, draconian measures, though they're also wisely acknowledging that new safety protocols may be needed. No one can pretend any longer that such tragedies only happen somewhere else. (3/8)
The Mercury News:
End The Ban On Federal Research Of Gun Violence
Bay Area Rep. Mark DeSaulnier should have been present for Wednesday’s televised meeting on gun violence at the White House.The Concord Democrat would have put ending Congress’ 22-year ban on gun violence research front and center in the discussion, where it belongs. (3/5)
Sacramento Bee:
Teachers Don't Need Guns, But Students Do Need Gun Control
As the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and California Teachers of the Year in 2018 and 2014, we would like to focus on education – our students, our challenges, and our inspirations in the classroom. The last thing we want to talk about is guns. But we must. We can no longer stand on the sidelines while students and teachers are murdered on school campuses with assault weapons designed for combat use. In the nearly 20 years after the first horrific incident at Columbine, we have witnessed tragedy after tragedy with virtually no changes in our national gun laws. (Tom Torlakson, Brian McDaniel and Michael Hayden, 3/8)
Sacramento Bee:
HPV Vaccine: Who Should Get It?
The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. The HPV vaccine, when administered to boys and girls, can prevent transmission of the virus and reduce the risk of related cancers. (Emily Zentner, 3/8)
New England Journal of Medicine:
Where There’s Wildfire, There’s Smoke
With the undeniable march of climate change, the danger of catastrophic wildfires is increasing around the globe, with such fires occurring in Australia, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the United States, over the past decade. Large forest fires in the western United States have been nearly five times as frequent on an annual basis as they were 50 years ago. ...When catastrophic wildfires either come near or hit populated urban areas, as has recently occurred in both northern and southern California, large numbers of people are exposed to relatively high levels of smoke (see images). Wildfire smoke contains carbon dioxide, water vapor, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, complex hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, trace minerals, and several thousand other compounds. (John Balmes, 3/8)
New England Journal of Medicine:
Physician-Assisted Suicide And Psychiatric Illness
In exceptional cases, suicide might be considered a rational choice of a competent person, even in the presence of psychiatric illness. But unless a truly rigorous prospective review system is in place for such cases, countries should not legalize the practice. (Joris Vandenberghe, 3/8)
Los Angeles Times:
Are Hollywood Movies Teaching Men And Boys That Predatory Behavior Is OK?
We've all sat in horror these last several months as some of the most influential and powerful men in the movie business have been accused of sexual abuse, harassment and assault. Yet, as a film buff, reading account after account of predatory men behind the scenes in Hollywood, it's been impossible to ignore how similar the predatory behavior we've been reading about is to what often see celebrated on the big screen. (Jonathan McIntosh, 3/1)