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The Hill
02-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Want safer communities? Protect and expand Medicaid
The debate around public safety is overly focused on policing, prosecution and punishment. One of the most effective tools for building safer communities — Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California — is on the chopping block in Congress's proposed budget. Medicaid isn't just a health care program; it funds mental health and substance use treatment. Accordingly, it's a cornerstone of public safety infrastructure. Research shows that when people have access to health coverage through Medicaid, communities experience fewer crimes, fewer incarcerations and less strain on emergency systems. The reverse is also true: Cuts to Medicaid have negative consequences for public safety. So, a Senate-passed budget that puts nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid funding on the chopping block doesn't just threaten health care, it also jeopardizes progress on public safety. As two people with experience in criminal justice reform, we see the connection between health care access and safer communities. When people reentering society receive addiction treatment services, mental health services and even basic health care, they can focus on completing their education, securing a job and reuniting with their families. These are all key strategies for reducing recidivism — ensuring people don't end up back in the prison system after they are released. Our friend Alex is a formerly incarcerated man who now works to help others like him sign up for Medicaid. For him, it's more than a job — it's a lifeline. Alex's employment reinforces his own stability, while helping others access the health care they need to stay out of crisis and out of prison. If Congress enacts deep Medicaid cuts, Alex loses his job, and we lose a proven strategy for public safety. We shouldn't dismantle programs that help people rebuild their lives and keep communities safer. History is full of warnings about the impact of health care cuts on public safety. In 2005, Tennessee rolled back Medicaid coverage for over 170,000 low-income residents. Within two years, those counties saw a nearly 17 percent increase in crime. When people lose access to stabilizing care, the risks of crisis — including contact with the justice system — skyrocket. This matters because more than 70 percent of people in jails and prisons today have at least one diagnosed mental health condition or substance use disorder. That's not a coincidence — it's a warning. Without access to care, individuals often end up in emergency rooms, shelters or jail cells. That's our broken health care system manifesting as a public safety failure. Fortunately, we know what works. Under California's CalAIM initiative, Medi-Cal now offers Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports — services designed to stabilize housing, provide mental health and addiction services, and meet people where they are before a crisis occurs. These programs are compassionate, cost-effective and reduce reliance on emergency interventions. This model supports reentry and stabilizes families. When parents have access to health care and the support they need to heal from addiction, trauma or incarceration, their children are less likely to enter the justice system or the foster care systems. To foster an ecosystem of care for those reentering society, the Amity Foundation integrates health care with education programs, group therapy services and employment services — all of which depend on Medicaid to operate. If the proposed cuts become law, Amity's clinics will shut down, jeopardizing the stability their students need to succeed after years of incarceration. Amity's clinics are not unique — millions nationwide could lose care if clinics close their doors. Medicaid is public safety. It is prevention. It's de-escalation. It's treatment instead of incarceration. And when designed thoughtfully and implemented intentionally, it gives people a fair shot at stability, health and dignity. But we must protect it. Proposals to scale back Medicaid or impose barriers like work requirements threaten to reverse progress. These policies may sound sensible or tough on wasteful spending, but they make communities less safe by stripping away the supports that prevent crime. If we're serious about safety, we have to be serious about Medicaid. We must see it for what it is: an effective public safety strategy. Handcuffs, courtrooms and prisons can only take public safety so far. Safe communities start with prevention — and that means protecting and investing in Medicaid. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democrat, represents California's 37th Congressional District (in Los Angeles) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Doug Bond is CEO of Amity Foundation, with locations in the 37th District. Together, they have collaborated on justice reform efforts focused on reducing incarceration and improving reentry outcomes in California.
Politico
18-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Pharma's silver lining: A tax break
Presented by WASHINGTON WATCH Threats to drugmakers have come fast and furious during President Donald Trump's first five months in office, from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s broadsides about drug safety to Trump's call for lower prices and tariffs. But at least pharmaceutical companies can look forward to a big tax break. How so? That's if Republicans in Congress can coalesce around language in the megabill that would allow drugmakers and other companies that invest heavily in research and development to deduct R&D costs immediately. The Senate Finance Committee's version of the megabill — which aims to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts — would reverse language in the 2017 law and allow firms to permanently take a deduction in the first year they spend on R&D. The 2017 law required them to amortize domestic expenses over five years and foreign expenses over 15. Drugmakers have lobbied ever since to revert that change. The version of the megabill the House passed last month would also allow immediate expensing but only for five years. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a lobby for pharmaceutical companies, has long argued that the 2017 tax change has curtailed investment in drugs. What's next? The Senate has to pass its version of the bill and then the House and Senate must agree to the text. But the inclusion of immediate expensing in both versions bodes well for drugmakers. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Sweden and Belgium are lobbying other EU countries to limit the amount of sperm any one man can donate — to prevent future generations from unwitting incest and psychological harms, our colleagues across the pond report. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Danny Nguyen at dnguyen@ Carmen Paun at cpaun@ Ruth Reader at rreader@ or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@ Want to share a tip securely? Message us on Signal: Dannyn516.70, CarmenP.82, RuthReader.02 or ErinSchumaker.01. AROUND THE NATION Dr. Mark Ghaly, who helped steer California through the pandemic as head of the state's Health and Human Services Agency, is joining a startup that's using artificial intelligence to cut health care costs for the Golden State's Medi-Cal program for low-income people, our Rachel Bluth reports from Sacramento. Why it matters: Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is looking for ways to reduce Medi-Cal's multibillion-dollar deficit. Ghaly will join Pair Team as a strategic adviser. Pair Team provides enhanced care management under CalAIM — a Medi-Cal reform initiative that Ghaly helped shape to include nonmedical benefits for patients with complex medical needs. Pair Team also acts as an intermediary, connecting health care plans with nonprofits and patients. The company employs community health care workers who serve as case managers and nurse practitioners, nurses and social workers who provide an array of services, including primary care, mental health care and chronic care management. The company is also a hub for nonprofits that provide nonmedical support such as food, housing and transportation. Since many of the groups aren't set up to bill Medi-Cal plans directly, they're paid through Pair Team. What's next? The company is eager to expand beyond California.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
SF mayor unveils new ‘vision' for tackling homelessness, addiction
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled what his office is calling a 'new vision' to tackle the city's homelessness and drug problem. The plan, which the mayor's office has dubbed 'Breaking the Cycle,' features a series of actions broken down by timeframe. The executive directive, which Lurie signed on Monday, is intended to outline a roadmap with immediate actions and longer-term reforms aimed at tackling SF's 'enduring homelessness and behavioral health crisis.' In the first 100 days of the plan, city departments will be responsible for actions that include launching a new street teams model, deploying emergency housing vouchers, reassessing policies for distribution of fentanyl smoking in public spaces, and merging the Journey Home and Homeward Bound programs, among other things. Chuck Schumer book tour postponed, including SF event In the first six months of the program, the mayor is instructing city departments to expand short-term response capacity by 1,500, expand treatment capacity, improve case management, and encourage regional partners to build capacity to meet responsibility for their residents. Within a year, the plan aims to maximize Medi-Cal, CalAIM and Prop 1 benefits, improve technology and data systems and evaluate the city's current organizational structure for health, homelessness, and human services, and housing programs. 'These reforms will better support the city's most vulnerable residents while keeping public spaces safe and clean and ensuring responsible management of taxpayer resources,' Lurie's office said. The new roadmap, Lurie's office said, builds on work his administration has already been doing since the mayor announced the 'Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance' on his first day in office. 'I believe our city must be judged by how we care for our most vulnerable residents, and today, we are outlining immediate actions and long-term reforms to address the crisis on our streets,' Mayor Lurie said. 'This directive will break the cycle of homelessness, addiction, and government failure by transforming our homelessness and behavioral health response.' The mayor promised to being in a 'new era of accountability' and deliver outcomes designed to 'get people off the street and into stability.' Despite millions, and possibly billions, of dollars being spent over several decades, San Francisco is still faced with a persistent homelessness, drugs, and behavioral health crisis. According to the mayor's office, roughly two people die every day from overdose in the city.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Los Angeles Times
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Mailbag: Policy questions arise as homeless disappear in Fountain Valley
In response to the Feb. 26 TimesOC newsletter, 'How will Trump's policies hit O.C. where it hurts? Officials working to end homelessness look at uncertainties,' my husband and I frequently walk the Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. We have noticed the homeless gathering in some areas of the park. A few days ago, we lost our car keys and retraced our steps for two days straight. On the first day, we asked several homeless groups if anyone had found any car keys. They were all very friendly and wished us luck. On the second day, the homeless groups were nowhere to be found. They left behind some heartbreaking messages scrawled on cardboard and nearby walls. Meanwhile, we were very thankful that a park employee at the office found our keys. They were very helpful. Our question is, where does the administration think the homeless are going to go? From place to place until — what? We do understand there are many concerns and safety issues. But how and where do the homeless get vital information about resources they may already have available to them without face-to-face communication? Most have no cellphones, no television, no internet, no way to travel to known shelters and food banks, except for hearing the news by word-of-mouth. Many need desperate help. In other words, it is up to law enforcement, first responders, advocates, informed volunteers, printed signage and fliers, etc., to inform them. How well are these approaches working? As one example, CalAIM is a multiyear program that was approved in 2021. It is currently scheduled to expire in 2026. However, a person has to know this program exists and most importantly they must 'qualify' to receive benefits. Some people choose to live on the street no matter what. They do not want anything to do with 'shelters.' Where do they go? They still need resources to move from place to place. Where are the funds going to come from in Orange County, where federal dollars for its Continuum of Care are threatened? How will the funds be managed? The situation remains overwhelming. It seems all we, the American people, can do is to protest, boycott, send money, and volunteer. But most of all we must be an informed voter — before we can't. Vicki MikoCosta Mesa Despite a huge outpouring of vocal opposition from community residents, the Huntington Beach City Council is moving forward with an ill-advised and destructive plan to place a damaging installation in our public Central Park. The so-called Symphony of Flowers is proposed to occupy a large section in the middle of Central Park for six months every year, from September to March, with a disruptive light show and music lasting from 5 to 11 p.m. daily. The contract is for three years with options to renew. In addition to charging for admission to several shows per night, the city proposes to sell access to the parking spaces associated with the Central Library, which is usually open until 9 p.m. most days. This installation will damage the grass and plants in the proposed area, as well as disrupt the environment for the birds and animals who inhabit the park and the people who enjoy the park on a daily basis. And it will disturb the residents for miles around the park with excessive traffic, noise and sound pollution! And it is not even likely to bring in the pitiful amount of revenue that is projected in the proposal. This is another boondoggle with smelly political overtones, and Huntington Beach residents do not want it to pollute our park! Diane BentleyHuntington Beach
