As California “roars back” from the pandemic, budget leaders must prioritize public health by eliminating the needless exclusion of income-eligible immigrants from Medi-Cal. The governor and legislature can make a down payment toward the health of all Californians by ensuring that immigrants, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, have access to health care.
Everyone living in California, regardless of immigration status, will benefit for years to come if we invest in strengthening our health care system.
The pandemic forced public health officials to consider how equity affects our collective well-being. We witnessed this when leaders protected older adults from COVID-19 by prioritizing them for vaccines. Our state can build on the success of its COVID-19 response and make all low-income Californians eligible for Medi-Cal.
One year later, it is not too late for Gov. Newsom to return to his promise of Medi-Cal for all adults 65 and over. But with a seismic surplus of $75 billion, coverage for seniors is low-hanging fruit. The governor must act with courage and guarantee health care for all. If we’ve learned anything after this year, it’s that no one in our communities is healthy until we all are healthy.
Benyamin Chao, Los Angeles
Ghost gun crackdown
Megan Cassidy’s article on the proposed “ghost gun” ban in San Francisco is demonstrative of a spike in senseless, preventable violence in our communities.
If I were so inclined, at this very moment, I could purchase an 80% complete firearm with a slide parts kit. I could purchase using Bitcoin or another type of cryptocurrency. Expected shipping: 3-4 business days. When I get my package, all I need is two hours, a drill and sandpaper. I now have a fully operational handgun, barren of any serial number.
I know these things because my little brother, at 18 years old, was shot and killed one summer night with a ghost gun. For too many of us, gun violence is a face remembered, a bittersweet reminiscence and the pang of realizing there will be no more future memories.
I want to live in a country where firearms are not the leading cause of death for children and teens. I want to live where nascent hopes, dreams and aspirations are not cut off by the pull of a trigger.
That envisioned future necessitates closing the ghost gun loophole. It needs to start now.
Sabrina Mangseth, Carlsbad
(San Diego County)
An education case study
As some school districts have reopened and others have not, we have what economists delight in: a natural experiment. I invite The Chronicle’s editorial board to pick a similar district to SFUSD that reopened last September (perhaps San Antonio, for its similar size); then pick a measure of choice (graduation rate, dropout rate, standardized test score, etc.).
If over the next couple of years we see a statistically significant decline of SFUSD versus the opened school district, I will be forced to agree with their May 13 editorial that my work and that of colleagues was “inadequate.”
If the evidence shows otherwise, I invite The Chronicle to apologize to all the teachers busting their butts to provide support in this crisis.
M. Wolf, San Francisco
Better late than never
It was so nice to read that Tom Ammiano finally received his letter for running track after six decades of delay, after being denied it in 1959 because he was gay.
I worked with Tom one summer as a teacher and got to know him over the years when he was a supervisor. He was an upstanding individual who cared for and stood up for the little person his whole career. I’m so glad his letter and sweater made his day.
Thank you, Tom, for all the years of service you have given to us.
Laura Hurley, San Francisco
Real water wasters
California household users are being urged to conserve water. How about asking frackers to cut back, too?
The amount of water they use to get a bit of gas is unconscionable. We need the water more than the gas.
California is again in drought. Let’s ask big industrial water users to cut back to help the whole state.
Connie Suzuki, Daly City
