PSA testing, image by angellodecoOPINION – In California, an estimated 26,970 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. AB 632, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gipson, will allow more men to receive prostate cancer screenings without the worry of excessive healthcare expenses.
A young boy taking a vision exam. (Photo: GWImages, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California’s optometrists have a prescription for our members of Congress this year: Don’t lose sight of our children’s vision. As discussions about the Affordable Care Act take center stage with a new President and new Congress in January, children’s vision is a prime example of the comprehensive and economically sound approach to health that is at risk if the ACA is repealed without a replacement.
A nurse with her young patient, and the patient's father. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is one of just 12 states that still excludes qualified nurse practitioners from taking a leading role in helping patients prevent and manage chronic disease like obesity, diabetes and hypertension. I believe this outdated model has deadly consequences for people in our community, where our specialized care for diabetes suffers for lack of qualified health care providers.
An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)OPINION: In all the justifications for the new measures going in under Beard’s watch, the Corrections Secretary never mentions the well-known, privately acknowledged fact that while visitors may bring in small amounts of drugs, the importation of trafficable amounts of drugs comes in not through visitors, but through staff at the prisons, including custody staff.