Viewpoints: Strict Vaccination Rules Have Turned Things Around For California Post-Measles Disaster
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The New York Times:
After A Debacle, How California Became A Role Model On Measles
In December 2014 something unusual happened at Disneyland. People came to visit Mickey Mouse, and some of them left with measles. At least 159 people contracted the disease during an outbreak lasting several months. This is more than the typical number in a whole year in the United States. The leading theory is that measles was introduced in Disneyland by a foreign tourist. That could happen anywhere. Medical experts generally agree that the fact that it took off was probably a result of California’s low vaccination rates, which in turn was a result of an inability to persuade a significant share of Californians that vaccines were important. (Oster and Kocks, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
AIDS Services Foundation Rebrands, Expands, Leaving Longtime Supporters Unhappy
Laguna Beach residents Al Roberts and Ken Jillson founded AIDS Services Foundation (ASF) in 1985, eventually turning it into one of the county’s most respected HIV/AIDS nonprofit organizations. But the organization has changed its name to Radiant Health Centers — and some longtime board members are displeased. Mark Gonzales, vice president of Radiant’s board of directors, tells me the name change is part of “expanding services.” (Venezia, 1/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Don’t Leave Community Health Centers In Limbo
Last year was hard for the California Primary Care Association. We survived multiple attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, only for Congress to pass a tax bill that ends the individual mandate, leading to 13 million more uninsured in the next ten years. As if that wasn’t enough, Congress failed to reauthorize federal funding for the community health center program by the Sept. 30 deadline, despite traditional bipartisan support. Health centers, which could lose 70 percent of their federal funding, are in a state of limbo. (Castellano-Garcia, 1/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Republicans Figure Out Opioid Crisis — It's The Fault Of Medicaid Expansion! (Spoiler: They're Wrong)
Washington tourists with time on their hands Wednesday could have popped into the Capitol to witness an ancient phenomenon: Senators doing their darndest to prove a partisan fantasy. In this case, the fantasy was that Medicaid expansion is to blame for the opioid crisis in the United States. The ringmaster was Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Johnson has been flogging this notion for the better part of a year, or longer, despite the utter lack of evidence that it's true — and plenty of evidence that the opposite is true. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Why SF Should Open A Supervised Drug-Injection Facility
Now, San Francisco is debating an approach that, though not new, is still viewed by many as radical: the supervised injection facility, a place where people who inject drugs can drop in — with their own supply — and use. ...These facilities offer people who inject drugs safety, support and dignity, worthy goals in and of themselves. (Jacob Izenberg, 1/15)
San Jose Mercury News:
Too Many Young Children Drowning In Home Pools
Drowning is the second leading cause of death for California children 1 to 4 years old, behind birth defects, according to both the federal Centers for Disease Control and the state Department of Public Health. And most of those drownings occur in home swimming pools. (Nadina Riggsbee, 1/17)
Sacramento Bee:
Ban Secret Settlements On Product Liability Lawsuits
A bill introduced by Assemblyman Mark Stone, Assembly Bill 889, would prevent lawsuits from being settled on the condition that information be kept confidential when it is about a defective product or an environmental condition that poses a danger to public health and safety. Such secrecy leads to deaths and serious injuries as the public and regulators are kept in the dark about unsafe products and toxic conditions. (Erwin Chemerinsky, 1/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Kentucky's New Obstacles To Medicaid Coverage Are Crueler Than You Could Imagine
One can say this about the hoops Kentucky will require low-income residents to jump through to become eligible for Medicaid: If you were deliberately trying to come up with ways to throw people off the program, you couldn't do better. It's been widely reported that the "waiver" of Medicaid rules approved for the state by federal officials last week includes a first-in-the-nation work requirement. But there's much more to it, none of it good if you are a Medicaid enrollee or someone who believes that the purpose of government healthcare programs is to provide people with healthcare. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/16)