A photo illustration of the California flag presented as a medical mask. (Image: kovop58, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Health care is once again front and center in Congress. And once again Californians will play a critical role in the federal budget debate that could result in the biggest expansion of help to access, afford, and improve health coverage since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.
An Illustration of prescription pain killers spilled on a table. (Image: Kimberly Boyles, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Amid an opioid and alcohol use disorder crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, California health advocates are calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to expand coverage of Medication Assisted Treatment and behavioral health care for Medi-Cal recipients.
An illustration of a young woman caught in the web of human trafficking. (Photo: Prachaya Roekdeethaweesab, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on all Californians. While Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently announced California Comeback Plan allocates billions of emergency aid funding to those hurt by the pandemic, one group hit harder than most has been left out of the budget proposal: human trafficking victims.
Laura Wilcox, whose shooting death in Nevada County inspired "Laura's Law." (Family photo)Legislation to strengthen California’s 2002 “Laura’s Law,” which gives family members a legal tool to get treatment for their severely mentally ill relatives, has been approved 77-0 by the state Assembly, despite opposition from some California counties, behavioral health directors and a labor union representing employees in local mental-health programs.
Illustration of a privacy law text in a courtroom. (Image: hafakot, via Shutterstock) OPINION: The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which takes effect next January, was intended to protect the privacy of personal consumer information by limiting the sale of information between organizations that use data to reach customers, and it provided consumers with certain rights. To achieve these consumer-focused goals, the CCPA imposes significant requirements and burdens on businesses.
A view of Barstow, a community in the Mojave Desert. (Photo: Nuria Kreuser, via Shutterstock)OPINION: While political disagreements rule the day, most people do agree that greater economic and social mobility is needed so that all Californians are able to contribute, and to afford the basics – a secure home, food, health care, child care and education. With a new Governor and Legislature eager to achieve this goal, we believe the time is right for action. But government alone cannot solve these problems.
An illustration of data privacy and the internet. <i(Image: Green Tech, via Shutterstock) With only hours to spare, Gov. Jerry Brown headed off what was sure to be a multimillion-dollar initiative battle and signed legislation boosting the rights of consumers over how internet companies use their personal data. Brown’s signing Thursday afternoon came after a scramble in the Legislature to get the measure passed in the face of a tight deadline.
A photo illustration of opioid addiction. (Photo: Kimberly Boyles, via Shutterstock)OPINION: A key focus of this year’s California legislative session is the nation’s opioid crisis, and rightly so. According to the California Healthcare Foundation, an estimated 2,000 Californians died of an opioid overdose in 2016. The opioid epidemic confronting California and the rest of America is a growing public health crisis from which no state is immune.
Illustration: Logo of Covered California California’s health exchange said Wednesday it has ordered insurers to add a surcharge to certain policies next year because the Trump administration has yet to commit to paying a key set of consumer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The decision to impose a 12.4 percent surcharge on silver-level health plans in 2018 means the total premium increase for them will average nearly 25 percent, according to Covered California.
Thousands attend a Jan. 17 rally in San Francisco to demonstrate for affordable health care. (Photo: Kim Wilson Photography, Shutterstock)With the Affordable Care Act facing an uncertain future, could California set up its own universal health care system as an alternative?