California Physicians Alliance

We are repulsed and saddened by the racist, misogynistic killings that took place Tuesday night in Atlanta, GA. Our hearts go out to the victims and our condolences to their families. These horrific acts speak to the racist and xenophobic attitudes toward the Asian, Hawaiian Native, and Pacific Islander (AAHNPI) communities that have especially spiked since the start of the pandemic. Gun violence, sexism, and white supremacy continue to be urgent public health issues in our c...ountry. This crisis must be acknowledged, addressed, and resolved as we advanced with the principles we value. CaPA condemns all forms of hate in white supremacy. We stand in solidarity with our AAHNPI siblings. #stopasianhate ~Beatriz Sosa-Prado, executive director

We need #Care4AllCA to help recover from the pandemic now, and set us up for a stronger health system for the future. Find out more about our actions to make progress this year: https://care4allca.org/ https://www.facebook.com/healthaccess/videos/446274240141289

TODAY the #Care4AllCA coalition of over 70 orgs unveil 2021 actions in the campaign towards universal, affordable, and equitable health care for ALL Californians. Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/healthaccess

Wishing you and yours health and peace in 2021!

The most exhaustive study on Medicare for All just came out. Its conclusion: a single-payer system would guarantee health insurance to all people while reducing overall health spending by hundreds of billions of dollars every year. https://www.jacobinmag.com//medicare-for-all-singler-payer

How a hospital system grew to gain market power and drove up California health care costs "The state's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, filed a civil lawsuit against Sutter in 2018. We interviewed him before the pandemic and before he was nominated for secretary of Health and Human Services. Xavier Becerra: They were gobbling up hospitals. They were gobbling up physicians through these physician practices. They were just munching away, getting bigger and bigger. ... Till they amassed a conglomerate of 24 hospitals, 12,000 physicians, and a string of cancer, cardiac and other health care centers. Xavier Becerra: Sutter got big enough that it could use its market power to dominate, to dictate. It was abusing of its power. The suit accuses Sutter of embarking on "an intentional, and successful, strategy" of cornering much of the market in Northern California, and then jacking up prices -- for example, on the price of delivering a baby. Xavier Becerra: You live in Sacramento, you can expect to pay twice as much to deliver that baby here than in your hometown of New York City." https://www.cbsnews.com//california-sutter-health-hospita/

Shaping tomorrow by voting today! Vote like your life depends on it! #everyonedeserveshealthcare

Election day is finally here! Vote like your health depends on it! #everyonedesrveshealthcare

California's Progressive - and Expensive - Healthcare Ambitions Rely on Biden Win "Behind the scenes, Democrats in California are positioning for a White House led by Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris which they presume would be more supportive of California’s agenda and some are already planning legislation for next year. Not only are they plotting ways to crack down on hospital consolidation and end surprise emergency room bills, but they are also quietl...y discussing a trio of liberal initiatives that could again push California to the forefront of health care policy." "A new single-payer health care bill that would nix private insurance and create a taxpayer-funded health care system for all Californians. Just expanding the Affordable Care Act is not nearly enough. We need to be willing to stand up to the drivers of health care costs rather than give Americans an insurance card that they can’t afford to use, said Assembly member Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), who is considering introducing the measure." https://californiahealthline.org//californias-progressive/

Overturning the Affordable Care Act could result in 68,000 deaths. "The loss of health insurance has well-documented financial, medical, and psychological consequences. In general, the uninsured tend to be sicker because they receive less preventive care. Something as simple as treating high blood pressure can prevent strokes and heart attacks, said Adam Gaffney, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Harvard Medical School who is one of the study’s authors. I’ve seen many patients in the ICU with emergencies that could have been avoided with a better system. https://theintercept.com//affordable-care-act-supreme-cou/

#everybodydeserveshealthcare https://imgflip.com/i/4k7tde

Overturning The Affordable Care Act Would Be Catastrophic Especially For People With Disabilities by Elizabeth Warren "For the 61 million Americans who live with a disability, there’s an important date on the calendar this fall: November 10, the day the Supreme Court will hear a case about whether to overturn the Affordable Care Act. President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have picked a Supreme Court nominee whose position is clear: she doesn’t like the ACA, or the previous court rulings that upheld it. There is so much at stake." https://www.wbur.org//disability-and-the-aca-obamacare-med"

California leaders issue dire warnings if Affordable Care Act is struck down. https://www.publicnewsservice.org//ca-leaders-iss/a71864-1

Healthcare for millions of Californians on the line "Sick patients are getting more help managing diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. Women are giving birth more safely, health records show. And the share of working-age Californians without health coverage tumbled from nearly 1 in 4 to just 1 in 10 before the current economic crisis one of the steepest declines in the nation. But the gains largely made possible by the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare now hang in the balance of the presidential election."

Tonight 10/15/2020 at 7 PM PST, CaPA advisor, Dr. Hector Flores will speak at the Miller Lawrence Medical and Dental Society’s virtual symposium: The Impact of Covid-19 on The Practices of Solo and Small Group Providers in Communities of Color. Register at https://zoom.us//regi/tJ0oc--opj4qH9XY-p0w8sQ4iLNaL-CKVFAb #everyonedeserveshealthcare #california #physicians #doctors #socialjustice #healthcareadvocacy #communitiesofcolor #covid_19 #healthcareproviders

Happening Now. E Rick Brown Symposium at UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: Healing a Fractured Society: Healthcare as a Right Speaker: "Underinvestment on public health is on display now. We’ve come out of a public health emergency we have to transform health and opportunity so everyone has the opportunity to thrive." https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu//Pag/ER-Brown-Symposium.aspx

Understaffed and Unsafe, Bay Area Hospital Workers Strike Five day hospital strike by SEIU and CNA unions highlights patient care and worker safety during pandemic. We have a lack of leadership in the administration before the crisis that was just heightened during the crisis, said Adrian Jackson, a respiratory therapist. When we have to fight the administration it’s impossible for us to give 100 percent of our care and attention to the patients who desperately need us.... https://www.labornotes.org//understaffed-and-unsafe-bay-ar

Virtual Town Hall: Still Fighting for Our Health Thursday, October 15th, 10:00 am - 11:15 am PST Register now! https://bit.ly/3iAv7P5

Reports of forced hysterectomies at Georgia ICE facility stir dark memories for some "The unethical hysterectomies are an atrocity... As an OBGYN, I denounce this and...the previously spoken poor health conditions in ICE detention facilities..."- Dr. Keyon Mitchell, MD MSW https://www.macon.com/n/state/georgia/article245747515.html

Must watch: "To recap here: The drug didn't get any better, the cancer patients didn't get any better, you just got better at making moneyyou just refined your skills at price gouging." ~Katie Porter (D-CA 45th District)