Health

OP-ED: Lives Remain In the Balance: 2019

THE AFRO — If President Trump and his Republican allies would seriously consider both their sense of humanity and the lessons of history, they would halt their continuing attacks on the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA” or “ObamaCare”) and work with Democrats to solve the health care challenges that our nation faces.

Published

5 years ago

April 15, 2019

Congressman Elijah Cummings

By Congressman Elijah Cummings

If President Trump and his Republican allies would seriously consider both their sense of humanity and the lessons of history, they would halt their continuing attacks on the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA” or “ObamaCare”) and work with Democrats to solve the health care challenges that our nation faces.

As Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass of California recently observed, Americans – and, especially, African Americans – will be seriously harmed if the opponents succeed in destroying the ACA.

A humane nation can not allow that carnage – as the lessons of recent history illustrate.

During the current national debate about health care, it is important to recall that, before the ACA, nearly 50 million Americans lacked health insurance<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/health/obamacare-health-insurance-numbers-nchs.html>, and nearly 10 million of these uninsured were African American. Women were charged more than men for the same care, and insurers could drop coverage, deny coverage, or charge 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions more for their care.

Chairwoman Bass is also correct in concluding that, on balance, the ACA has been a success.

In the neighborhood of 20 million more Americans, including millions of African Americans, now have access to quality affordable healthcare. Children can remain on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26 – and, perhaps most important of all, health insurance companies can no longer drop or deny care due to a pre-existing condition.

This is not to say, however, that we have solved all the obstacles to assuring that Americans can afford the health care that we all need and deserve. We have yet to adequately control price-gouging in the cost of our prescription drugs – and insurance premiums continue to rise at an unacceptable rate.

My colleagues and I have advanced legislation that would reduce the price-gauging by BIG PHARMA – and reforms are possible that would moderate premium increases.

For example, in my State of Maryland, insurers who originally sought premium increases for 2019 have decreased their premiums because of a state “reinsurance” plan that helps the insurers cover unusually expensive health care claims.

The President and his Republican allies should take note. If they would consider these reforms in the context of the history of this national debate, they would recall that two major forces catalyzed the health care reform process more than a decade ago.

First, even before President Obama and congressional Democrats began the process that resulted in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the National Institute of Medicine concluded that more than 18,000 Americans were dying prematurely every year because they lacked health insurance, while research from Harvard estimated the number of premature deaths at 55,000.

That avoidable annual death toll was and remains an unacceptable human cost, challenging our basic humanity as a civilized people.

History also reminds us that a second motivation for reform was the accelerating increase in healthcare costs that threatened the budgets of governments, businesses and individual households alike.

The private, largely for-profit insurance system in this country was failing to fully address these challenges a decade ago – and it continues to fail these tests today.

These considerations are why the President and Congress alike must provide the American People with the answer to a fundamental question.

Why should we continue to provide massive public subsidies to a failed system of healthcare financing when it could be more cost-effective and rational to fund healthcare for everyone in the same manner that we already fund health care for our elderly, disabled, veterans, and poor?

The answer to this question is why some of us believed a decade ago (and continue to believe today) that a single-payer system based upon expanding Medicare to everyone would be the most effective strategy.

However, as has always been the case, politics remains the art of what is possible, even if the possible is less than ideal.

Establishing access to affordable healthcare as a civil right through the Affordable Care Act was the progress that we could achieve politically back in 2010 – and the ACA remains our first line of defense today.

That is why I have joined more than 120 of my Democratic House colleagues in co-sponsoring The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019 [H.R. 1884], proposed reform legislation introduced by Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr., along with Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott and Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal.

If enacted, our bill would strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions and reverse the Trump Administration’s efforts to sabotage the ACA.

We would make health care more affordable by lowering health insurance premiums for low- and moderate-income Americans by expanding eligibility for premium tax credits beyond 400 percent of the federal poverty line and increasing the size of tax credits for all income brackets.

Finally, following the course charted by Maryland’s Legislature and other states, our legislation would create a national reinsurance program to help cover the costs of consumers with expensive medical conditions, thereby lowering health insurance premiums for everyone.

Lives remain in the balance, and the choice for the President and Congress is clear.

We can do what is both practical and humane to assure affordable health care for everyone – or we will pay for our failure to do so in hemorrhaging budgets and lost American lives. Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO. Send letters to The Afro-American • 1531 S. Edgewood St. Baltimore, MD 21227 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

Congressman Elijah Cummings

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California Black Media

Gov. Newsom Announces He Backs a Ban on Cellphones in Schools

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to restrict the use of smartphones in K-12 schools statewide, he announced on Tuesday. The Governor stated his intentions amid warnings from President Joe Biden on the harmful impact of social media on children. The announcement followed a report released by the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy that calls on Congress to regulate social media platforms.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 13, 2024

Oakland Post

Shutterstock.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to restrict the use of smartphones in K-12 schools statewide, he announced on Tuesday.

The Governor stated his intentions amid warnings from President Joe Biden on the harmful impact of social media on children. The announcement followed a report released by the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy that calls on Congress to regulate social media platforms.

Proposed regulations include warning labels on harmful content that may hurt minors active on social media. The Governor stated that he plans to sign a law that authorizes school districts to limit or ban the use of smartphones by students or require the supervision of a school employee.

“As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth. Building on legislation I signed in 2019, I look forward to working with the Legislature to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day,” said Newsom.

“When children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies — not their screens,” he said.

In 2022, Newsom authored a letter urging companies in the tech industry to drop a lawsuit against the children’s online safety law he signed that same year. Newsom aims to take online safety laws a step further allowing school districts to ban or limit the use of smartphones to help protect children from the harmful effects of social media.

The California School Boards Association argues that any rules on the use of smartphones should be regulated by school districts as opposed to the state.

Troy Flint, the school board association’s spokesperson, said that school districts should make the final decision on regulations over smartphones.

“We support legislation which empowers school leaders to make policy decisions at a local level that reflect their community’s concerns and what’s necessary to support their students,” said Flint.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) supports Gov. Newsom’s plan to ban smartphones during school hours, stating that smartphones and devices distract students from learning and facilitate cyberbullying.

On June 18, LAUSD voted to ban the use of cellphones during the school day.

In a similar light, Sen. Henry Stern (D-Malibu) proposed SB 1283 earlier this year. If passed, the legislation will give school districts more authority to limit the use of social media at school. SB 1283 is currently under review in the Assembly Education Committee.

“It’s just too hard for every teacher, every school, or every parent to have to figure this out on their own,” said Stern. “There are sometimes when government just has to step in and make some bigger rules of the road.”

A similar bill, AB 3216, introduced by Assemblymembers Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates), is being considered by the Senate Education Committee.

The bills would take effect in January if passed by the Legislature and is approved by the Board of Education in school districts that support the cellphone ban.

Oakland Post

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Community

Gov. Newsom: California Is Making Progress in Fentanyl Fight

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that state law enforcement authorities seized 5.8 million pills containing fentanyl across the state since the beginning of the year. The California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force partnered with local and federal law enforcement to seize illegal fentanyl off the streets and at ports of entry along the Southern border, according to Newsom.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 13, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock

By California Black Media

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that state law enforcement authorities seized 5.8 million pills containing fentanyl across the state since the beginning of the year.

The California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force partnered with local and federal law enforcement to seize illegal fentanyl off the streets and at ports of entry along the Southern border, according to Newsom.

Two weeks ago, the State Senate passed the bipartisan Safer California Plan to address the fentanyl crisis and reduce crime in communities statewide.

Senate President pro-Tempore Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) has coauthored 15 bills focusing on crime prevention in local communities. Ten of the bills focus on evidence-based prevention and treatment solutions that address substance abuse and the fentanyl crisis.

Pro Tem McGuire said the bills, “will help curb the deadly fentanyl epidemic,” and reduce community-based crimes that impact people across the state.

CalGuard Major General Matthew Beevers worked alongside law enforcement partners to tackle the fentanyl crisis in the state.

“The volume of seizures we’re enabling and supporting demonstrates our commitment to denying operating capital to drug cartels and making California safer,” said Beevers.

Before the Senate’s package of bills passed, Gov. Newsom compiled a master plan designed to tackle the growing fentanyl and opioid crisis in California. The master plan provided a framework that addresses drug trafficking, supports overdose prevention efforts, and holds the pharmaceutical industry accountable.

“Illegal fentanyl has no place in our neighborhoods. California is tackling this problem head-on by holding drug traffickers accountable and increasing seizures, while at the same time expanding access to substance abuse treatment options and providing lifesaving, affordable reversal medicine to Californians statewide,” said Newsom.

The Newsom administration has also launched an online resource and tools for residents seeking help with prevention and treatment methods for fentanyl and opioid-related substance abuse at Opioids.Ca. Gov

Oakland Post

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Activism

Community Celebrates Historic Oakland Billboard Agreements

We, the Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition, which includes Oakland’s six leading community health clinics, all ethnic chambers of commerce, and top community-based economic development organizations – celebrate the historic billboard agreements approved last year by the Oakland City Council. We have fought for this opportunity against the billboard monopoly, against Clear Channel, for five years. The agreements approved by Council set the bar for community benefits – nearly $70 Million over their lifetime, more than 23 times the total paid by all previous Clear Channel relocation agreements in Oakland combined.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 13, 2024

Oakland Post

The Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition.

Grand Jury Report Incorrect – Council & Community Benefit

Unfortunately, a recent flawed Grand Jury report got it wrong, so we feel compelled to correct the record:

Regarding the claim that the decision was made hastily, the report itself belies that claim. The process was five years in the making, with two and a half years from the first City Council hearing to the final vote. Along the way, as the report describes, there were multiple Planning Commission hearings, public stakeholder outreach meetings, a Council Committee meeting, and then a vote by the full Council. Not only was this not hasty, it had far more scrutiny than any of the previous relocation agreements approved by the City with Clear Channel, all of which provide 1/23 of the benefits of the Becker/OFI agreements approved by the Council.
More importantly, the agreements will actually bring millions to the City and community, nearly $70M to be exact, 23 times the previous Clear Channel relocation agreements combined. They certainly will not cost the city money, especially since nothing would have been on the table at all if our Coalition had not been fighting for it. Right before the decisive City Council Committee hearing, in the final weeks before the full Council vote, there was a hastily submitted last-minute “proposal” by Clear Channel that was debunked as based on non-legal and non-economically viable sites, and relying entirely on the endorsement of a consultant that boasts Clear Channel as their biggest client and whose decisions map to Clear Channel’s monopolistic interests all over the country. Some City staff believed these unrealistic numbers based on false premises, and, since they only interviewed City staff, the Grand Jury report reiterated this misinformation, but it was just part of Clear Channel’s tried and true monopolistic practices of seeking to derail agreements that actually set the new standard for billboard community benefits. Furthermore, our proposals are not mutually exclusive – if Clear Channel’s proposal was real, why had they not brought it forward previously? Why have they not brought it forward since? Because it was not a real proposal – it was nothing but smoke and mirrors, as the Clear Channel’s former Vice President stated publicly at Council.

Speaking on behalf of the community health clinics that are the primary beneficiaries of the billboard funding, La Clinica de la Raza CEO Jane Garcia, states: “In this case, the City Council did the right thing – listening to the community that fought for five years to create this opportunity that is offering the City and community more than twenty times what previous billboard relocation agreements have offered.”

Oakland Billboard Economic Development Coalition

Native American Health Center	La Clínica de la Raza	West Oakland Health Center
Asian Health Services	Oakland LGBTQ Center	Roots Community Health Center
The Unity Council	Black Cultural Zone	Visit Oakland
Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce	Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce	Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce
Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce	Building Trades of Alameda County	(partial list)