Viewpoints: Trump Says He Wants To Keep Preexisting Conditions Protection, But His Actions Show Otherwise
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Los Angeles Times:
The Trump Administration Unveils A Stealth Attack On People With Preexisting Conditions
Trump administration officials apparently are prepared to go to their graves insisting that they did everything possible to protect Americans with preexisting medical conditions, even as they pull out the stops to undermine those protections. The latest example of this subterfuge came in late October, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new rules for states contemplating alterations in the Affordable Care Act. (Michael Hiltzik, 12/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Uprooting A Cause Of Homelessness — Racism
While black San Franciscans make up just 5.5 percent of the city’s general population, more than 40 percent of the city’s homeless population is black. Compare this to the proportion of white San Franciscans in the general population (48 percent) and in the homeless population (44 percent). We know that the black community is not alone in facing inequities in homelessness. (London Breed, 12/12)
San Jose Mercury News:
Kaiser Mental Health Workers Explain Current Strike
For us, the most difficult moments are often when we first see a person suffering from a debilitating depression or the parent of a child with severe anxiety. Finally, they have reason to think things might get better — until we tell them that their next appointment won’t be for at least a month. That’s the reality for thousands of Kaiser patients in the Bay Area and across California. (Clement Papazian, Marina Moliaris and Mickey Fitzpatrick, 12/13)
Los Angeles Times:
California College Students Who Want Abortions Were Slapped In The Face By Jerry Brown
How is it in the interest of public health to force pregnant college students to travel miles for two pills that they could easily pick up from their campus health center? More than half of UC and CSU students are considered low-income. Two thirds of UC students don’t have cars and one third of CSU students don’t. (Robin Abcarian, 12/11)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Gunshot Trauma Affects More Than The Victims. Caregivers Suffer Lasting Damage, Too.
Mass shootings may dominate the news, but two thirds of firearm deaths — 22,000 annually — are suicides. Nonfatal gun injuries deeply affect millions of caregivers, family members, friends, co-workers, teachers, schoolmates and others. While the NRA continues to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye, the rest of us need to open our eyes, ears, and hearts and grapple with our reality. (Laurie Barkin, 12/9)
San Diego Union-Times:
Why California Must Still Fight For Death With Dignity
So while we should rightfully celebrate the recent court decision protecting California’s EOLOA, we should also remember that Californians are still a long way from achieving the right to die with dignity now solidly embraced in countries like Switzerland, Denmark and our neighbor to the north, Canada.The easiest way to see the gap between these countries and California with regard to End of Life options is to think of a patient with advanced stage Huntington’s disease. (Barry L. Price, 12/12)
The Hill:
Preventing The Next Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak
After warning consumers to avoid eating romaine lettuce in late November, the FDA has sounded the all clear: As long as romaine doesn’t come from the summer growing regions in central or northern California, you can go back to eating it. Producers have voluntarily agreed to label bagged romaine now being harvested in winter growing regions — Arizona, southern California, Florida, and Mexico — to let you know where it is coming from. If the label says it was grown in one of these regions, you are not likely to encounter the virulent strain of E. coli that sickened 59 people across the United States and Canada. And if any of them are contaminated with anything else, it will be easier to track and avoid. But the new labels do not solve the bigger problems. (Jean Halloran, 12/14)