CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: September 28, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Shaping the Ballot The Legislature may be in recess, but the political fights in Sacramento continue. With lawmakers gone for the year, attention is turning to the ballot, where spillover from the legislative session, and some infighting among Democrats, is beginning to emerge. The big question will be what, if anything, to do about taxes. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen two different versions of proposals to extend ... September 29, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
Why Organized Medicine Matters — Another Example! AB 533 Has Been Defeated! September 17, 2015 Thanks to your assistance, CMA has defeated Assembly Bill 533, which would have transferred negotiating power to health plans at the expense of physicians. AB 533 would have drastically changed the current healthcare marketplace by allowing a massive transfer of negotiating power to the health plans at the expense of physicians. Although CMA is in favor of removing patients from billing disputes between health plans and out-of-network physicians, this specific solution was unacceptable and would have given too much power to health plans. AB 533 ... September 17, 2015 CMA, Legislation AB 533 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: September 15, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. The End of the Road After years of having his way in the state legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown suffered a series of defeats at the end of this legislative year. Some came at the hands of Republicans — like Brown’s failure to muster support for new gasoline taxes to pay for road construction and repairs. Others were handed out by fellow Democrats, including a cluster of members in the state ... September 15, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: September 1, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Where Legislation Goes to Die This week was the virtual thinning of the herd for legislation, as the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees held their annual suspense file hearings. The hearings involved every bill from the opposite house that had made its way through the entire committee process in its house of origin, and through all policy committees in the second house. Many of those proposals were effectively shelved for ... September 3, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: August 17, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Cars, Care, and Climate As lawmakers return from their summer recess, Sacramento is getting ready for the final legislative sprint of 2015. Hundreds of bills will be debated and voted on, but the focus will be centered on three areas of policy debate: transportation, healthcare, and climate change. The four-week stint also offers Gov. Jerry Brown another opportunity to burnish his legacy as he wraps up the first year of his ... August 17, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: August 5, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Recess, but Not Rest It may be recess for the Legislature, but that doesn’t mean a rest for politics. While lawmakers were scattered off to their districts or far-away lands for the summer junket season, the anti-vax forces were busy gathering signatures to recall Senator Richard Pan, MD, for authoring Senate Bill 277, which removes the personal belief exemption from school vaccination requirements. While it is unclear whether an actual referendum ... August 5, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: July 22, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. An International Impact Gov. Jerry Brown is at the Vatican this week, where he will join Pope Francis and leaders around the globe for a climate change conference. The gathering weaves together threads throughout the former Jesuit seminarian governor’s life that have all shaped him in profound ways. Before Brown was an elected official, he was a student at a Jesuit seminary at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Los Gatos. He ultimately ... July 22, 2015 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
Coalition Partners Stand Together to Thank Legislature, Governor Brown for Passing and Signing Senate Bill 277 June 30, 2015 Sacramento — Despite three-digit temperatures, dozens of coalition partners came together to rally one last time for Senate Bill 277 (Pan/Allen). The bill passed out of the State Assembly on Thursday and cleared the final hurdle in the State Senate Monday. Governor Brown signed the bill today. “This is a monumental day for Californians. Senate Bill 277 will help keep kids and communities safe and I thank Governor Brown and my colleagues in the State Legislature for their commitment to enacting this important law,” said Dr. Richard Pan, ... June 30, 2015 CMA, Public Health, Vaccinations SB 277, Vaccinations 0 0 Comment Read More »
SB 277 (Pan) Signed by the Governor This morning, June 30, Governor Jerry Brown signed CMA-sponsored SB 277 (Pan) on the elimination of person belief exemptions for vaccination requirements for school entry. It is through the hard work of CMA physicians across the state that we have been able to realize this achievement in protecting the public health in California. Click here to read the governor’s signing message. June 30, 2015 CMA, Public Health, Vaccinations SB 277, Vaccinations 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: June 23, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Finding the Fix: Healthcare and Transportation Democratic lawmakers and Governor Jerry Brown came to agreement on a $115.4 billion spending plan this week, which included billions more for schools, the California State University system, and child care, while agreeing to expand Medi-Cal coverage to thousand of undocumented children. Despite some of the details of the landmark agreement, the budget may be more notable for what was not in the spending plan. ... June 24, 2015 CMA, Legislation Anthony York, CMA Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »