Anti-flavored tobacco campaign kicks off + Lara supports AB 1400 + Struggles with medical bills
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert.
PADILLA, KOUNALAKIS KICK OFF CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT FLAVORED TOBACCO BAN
The November election isn’t that far away, and with it comes a referendum on the 2020 law, SB 793, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in the state.
On Thursday, a coalition of groups including the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the California NAACP, the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids are coming together with several top state officials with a press conference to kick off the campaign in support of the ban.
Among the California politicians speaking in support of the ban are U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Board of Equalization Chair Malia Cohen and former state Sen. Jerry Hill.
“Once again, California is locked in a battle with Big Tobacco over the health and well-being of our kids. While the FDA is considering action at the national level to end the sale of menthol cigarettes, and Big Tobacco continues to use candy-flavors to hook kids on nicotine, California must take action. That’s why I’m voting YES in November – to protect our kids, and finally end the sale of candy-flavored tobacco in California, including minty-sweet menthols, the original candy-flavored cigarettes,” Padilla said in a statement.
The Zoom press conference kicks off at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
The coalition will show off a new 90-second explainer video in support of the flavored tobacco ban.
LARA ENDORSES SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE BILL
State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara came out Wednesday in favor of AB 1400, the embattled single-payer health care bill currently working its way through the Assembly.
Lara sent a letter to the bill’s author, Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, pledging his strong support for the bill.
“Despite the incredible progress we have made, the pandemic has laid bare the inequities in how Californians access health care coverage. We have paid a deadly price for the needless discrimination, complexity, and excessive costs of for-profit insurance. That is why we need to continue to fight for a single-payer plan that will protect all Californians and serve our collective public health,” Lara wrote in the letter, which can be read here.
Lara noted that an estimated 3.2 million Californians remain uninsured, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has only led that number to continue to grow as people have lost their employer-based insurance coverage.
CALIFORNIANS STRUGGLE WITH MEDICAL BILLS, SURVEY SAYS
One in four Californians struggled to pay a medical bill within the last 12 months, according to a new survey released by the California Health Care Foundation.
The survey results, which can be found here, found that 83% of Californians say it is extremely or very important for the governor and Legislature to make health care more affordable in the coming year.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 27 and Nov. 17 of last year, polling 1,681 adults living in California.
The survey also found that 43 % of lower income households reported struggling to pay at least one medical bill, an increase from 32% the year prior. More than 60% of Californians worry about unexpected medical bills and out-of-pocket health care costs, and more than half worry about affording monthly insurance premiums.
Nearly a fifth, 17%, said that it was at least somewhat difficult to find a provider who would take their health insurance.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In light of the attacks on our reproductive freedoms and the real threat on #RoevWade, there IS A REAL sense of urgency to push for a replacement. It is time for a Black woman to serve on the Court. As Chair of @CaWomensCaucus, I couldn’t disagree more with @SenFeinstein!”
– Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement from the Supreme Court opens the way for President Joe Biden to nominate the court’s first Black woman — and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger is being widely mentioned, via David Lightman and Gillian Brassil.
Most of the 1.4 million people asked last year to prove they properly received federally-funded unemployment benefits have not responded to the state’s request and could eventually face penalties and repayments, via David Lightman.
The lion’s share of California cities and counties have signed off on a national settlement with four major pharmaceutical players to resolve allegations that they fueled the opioid crisis, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday, and that deal will award roughly $2.34 billion to state and local governments, via Cathie Anderson.