The new “public charge” rule is a cruel policy, and it threatens to harm the broader community. Health care costs will certainly rise for everyone if people drop off Medicaid rolls. Some will forgo vaccinations, which has the potential of creating outbreaks of preventable diseases.
Now is the time for California to finish the job of improving our health care system by ensuring communities have the opportunity to be healthy.
Advocates say a plan to turn a grassy lot in Oxnard into a port storage facility is part of a pattern of disregarding poor communities living near California’s ports. These neighborhoods are often saddled with disproportionate amounts of industrial pollution compared to more affluent locales further away from port facilities.