News briefs

SACRAMENTO

Aguiar-Curry introduces bill to expand cancer-prevention vaccination coverage in state, private health insurance programs

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) has introduced Assembly Bill 2516, to require that all health insurance programs, including Medi-Cal, Family Planning Access Care Treatment (Family PACT) and private health insurance providers cover the costs of the cancer-preventing vaccination for the human papillomavirus (HPV).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 13 million Americans become infected with HPV each year. While some HPV infections will go away on their own, infections that don’t go away can cause certain types of cancer. In fact, HPV is a leading cause of cervical cancer, which is one of the most preventable cancers.

There is no cure for HPV, but a vaccine exists to protect against infection from the start. Since the vaccination has been in use, HPV infections and cervical pre-cancers have dropped significantly. The CDC says as many as 93% of cervical cancers could be avoided simply by screening and receiving the HPV vaccine.

AB 2516 would require that all of the state’s public and private health insurance programs include the full cost of the HPV vaccine within its covered health services. As a common, but preventable, disease which infects both males and females, we must take every possible precaution to prevent the spread of HPV. The federal government has approved the use of federal funds for this purpose and some state and private coverage is available as well.

“We have a proven cancer-prevention treatment available to Californians,” said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry. “If we let another year go by without offering access to critical HPV prevention coverage, more young people will contract HPV, and more young people will get cancer. We’ve been laser-focused on the pandemic crises in our state, and we should be. But, we have the means to prevent a silent health crisis in the spread of HPV and the cancers that result. Everyone should have access to its prevention. And if we let cost determine access, shame on us.”

— Submitted

SACRAMENTO

Newsom files amicus brief in UC Berkeley enrollment case, arguing for college access and affordability

Gov. Gavin Newsom this week filed an amicus brief in Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. Regents of the University of California, a case before the California Supreme Court that involves issues of college access and affordability, the state’s housing affordability crisis, and creating new pathways to success for Californians.

The brief argues that the Supreme Court should block a lower court’s order capping enrollment while the ruling is under appeal because the order would undermine critical priorities of the state. Most notably, the order would force UC Berkeley to shut the door on over 3,000 potential college freshmen and transfer students — one out of every three undergraduate students who would have otherwise enrolled — disproportionately impacting students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds.

“We can’t let a lawsuit get in the way of the education and dreams of thousands of students who are our future leaders and innovators,” said Governor Newsom. “I urge the Supreme Court to step in to ensure we are expanding access to higher education and opportunity, not blocking it.”

The state, consistent with the Governor’s budget priorities, has made historic investments in higher education, including a total of $47.1 billion in the last enacted budget. Expanding college access is the keystone of the higher education vision, with the state supporting expanded enrollment of nearly 5,000 full-time equivalent students within the UC System and nearly 10,000 full-time equivalent students within the California State University System in the 2019-20 budget.

The Governor’s California Blueprint proposal builds upon these priorities by expanding access to education at all levels, with a focus on expanding enrollment for in-state residents and community-college transfers at the UC System, including UC Berkeley. The proposed expansion of access to California’s world-class higher education system includes the following:

For the UC System, beginning in 2023-24 and through 2026-27, increasing California resident undergraduate enrollment by more than 7,000, with a significant portion of the new enrollment growth occurring at UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, and UC San Diego — tracking demand from prospective students and families. For the California State University System, beginning in 2023-24 and through 2026-27, increasing California resident undergraduate enrollment by more than 14,000.

In turn, both systems have committed — in exchange for historic investments — to close equity gaps in graduation, expand access for transfer students, create debt-free pathways, and increase by 25 percent the number of graduates entering into careers in climate action, health care, education, and technology.

— Submitted

SACRAMENTO

In other COVID news:

• State Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat and pediatrician who recently introduced a bill that would require all K-12 students to be vaccinated against COVID by Jan. 1, is set today to unveil another COVID proposal “to keep schools open and safe.”

• Starting today, Los Angeles Unified School District will no longer require students to wear masks outdoors.

• California’s indoor school mask mandate, which will remain in place through at least Feb. 28, is continuing to make waves. “It breaks my heart that kids in our public school system still have to wear masks,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed told Yahoo News. “If I had my way, I would let kids run around free without masks.”

• Some San Diego County schools are grappling with how to handle kids — many of whom are younger than 13 — refusing to wear masks on campus.

• The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant an emergency order blocking San Diego Unified’s student vaccine mandate, citing the district’s decision to delay implementing the policy.

— Emily Hoeven, CalMatters