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A Healthier California
Our healthcare system does not do enough to prevent you from getting sick or to give you the best possible care when it is needed. That is why we need to put patients over profits and create not only a single-payer healthcare system but also a strong public health system. We have the funds and the resources to keep Californians healthy. It’s time to allocate these resources. No one should have to pick between making the rent and affording medical care.
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Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
What is the problem?
The US for-profit health system benefits insurance companies, drug manufacturers, hospital corporations, dialysis companies, and other health care providers– but NOT ordinary Californians. It doesn’t work for over 3 million Californians that do not have health insurance and cannot get care because of high costs. It does not work for those with insurance who spend thousands on premiums, meeting deductibles and high out-of-pocket charges. Our healthcare system should not be based on making money for CEOs and shareholders.
What is Mia’s plan?
Mia is a strong champion of single-payer healthcare and she will support the leadership of the state of California (see AB1400) to create a high-quality, low-cost healthcare system that provides medical, dental, hearing, vision, and mental health care, reproductive services, and long-term care.
Under this proposal, federal funds and the $400 billion we already spend yearly on healthcare would be used to build a single-payer system. A single-payer system would in fact be cheaper for California and result in overall net savings to Californians of 10%. Since this would be a publicly-guaranteed program, Californians would be provided universal coverage without worrying about premiums, co-pays, deductibles, or “out of network” charges. There would be no more irregular pricing. We are going to create a high-quality, free at the point of service healthcare system that will save you money in the long run.
Parents will no longer have to stay up late at night trying to figure out how to pay for a doctor’s appointment. Workers won’t have to stay at a job that doesn’t treat them well just to keep their healthcare. Single-payer is a plan that works for all.
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Preventative Public Health
What is the problem?
We don’t do enough to prevent you from getting sick.
Working-class communities, especially communities of color, are almost twice as likely to develop chronic illnesses like asthma, diabetes, or cancer due to a variety of physical and environmental factors. Known as the Social Determinants of Health, these include but are not limited to a lack of safe housing, environmental injustices, no access to healthy food and untreated medical needs. These unaddressed determinants generate a big problem for California:
40% of residents report having at least one chronic condition;
Not enough of our neighbors have access to medical professionals;
35% of adults in LA County report that it is very difficult to get medical attention;
What is Mia’s plan?
Under our single-payer proposal, we will prioritize preventative care over reactive care. The first step is to change California’s current strategies and dramatically expand our public health infrastructure to eliminate any barriers to preventative care. That is what Mia will do with Preventative Public Health.
Public Health Departments should be empowered to join efforts to clean our air, remove lead/asbestos from our homes, eliminate food deserts, etc. This will prevent millions of people per year from developing chronic health conditions and will result in a healthier population. Mia will propose to fully fund our Public Health Departments through CalCare and give them the tools they need to keep us healthy and tackle the social determinants of health.
Centralizing health care within all communities, Mia will address the lack of services in vulnerable neighborhoods. She will fight for the state to build Community Health clinics where they are needed most. No matter where you live, you deserve healthcare and a strong public health system.
Mia will fight for our health in the Assembly. Mia will also advocate for a plan to place nurses and counselors in every single public school in California so that no child lacks access to care.
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Reproductive Rights
What’s the problem?
In the aftermath of the U.S Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, we are reminded again just how important our state lawmakers are in protecting the right to abortion and reproductive healthcare.
In America, more than 1 in 3 women and transgender and non-binary people have lost the right to abortion and access to reproductive healthcare. Twenty-six states have either already made abortion illegal or are about to. States like Tennessee are on the verge of banning basic healthcare like contraceptives.
For five decades, the right to abortion empowered women to participate more fully in society and reach higher levels of education, employment, and economic security. Without the right to control their own bodies, those who can become pregnant can’t decide their own futures.
What’s more, we know that abortion bans don’t lead to fewer abortions. Indeed, bans only lead to less safe abortions. In order to get a legal abortion, interstate travel is now needed for many, which is both costly and inaccessible for most.
We must do everything in our power to ensure reproductive justice here in California and across the country. Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is a human right.
What is Mia’s plan?
Mia is a strong supporter of Proposition 1, a ballot initiative to enshrine our right to choose into the California State Constitution. But we can’t stop there. We must take bold action to not only protect the right but make access universal. In rural and under-resourced parts of the state, there are no reproductive healthcare providers to perform abortions.
In the short term, Mia will support legislation to fully fund community health clinics to train and provide reproductive healthcare in at-need communities. Additionally, Mia will introduce legislation to ensure public libraries and public buildings have menstrual health products easily available.
Mia will also support the work to turn California into a reproductive healthcare sanctuary state, providing support and assistance to people seeking healthcare in California from other states. She will fight to ensure that law enforcement in California cannot collaborate with law enforcement in anti-abortion states to incriminate anyone exercising their human rights.
As part of her support for CalCare (single-payer healthcare), she will fight to ensure access to abortion is covered under any state health insurance plan.
At the national level, Mia will fight to encode the rights protected by Roe v. Wade into law and lobby for a national constitutional amendment enshrining the right to choose nationwide. Moreover, Mia believes the US Supreme Court Case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which allows privately held corporations to block their employees’ access to contraception, was wrongly decided.
There can be no gender equity without reproductive healthcare rights for all.
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People-First COVID Response
What is the problem?
Two years into the pandemic, we know that COVID is here to stay. The Delta and Omicron waves showed us that we still do not have the system we need to keep us safe. When the next variant hits, we have to be ready. Instead of waiting hours in line for testing, it should be fast, accessible, and free at the point of service. At-home tests and masks shouldn’t be impossible to find - they should be sent to you as needed. Workers should not be sent back to work without protection or hazard pay. Nurses and first-responders shouldn’t be pushed to exhaustion.
What is Mia’s Plan?
In the Assembly, Mia will be on the frontlines of making sure we get the resources we need. She will advocate for the construction of new public Free Community Testing Centers, as well as funding at-home tests and N-95 masks for every Californian. Mia will also fight for mobile public health units to bring testing and care to the most impacted communities, including our seniors. To prevent further outbreaks, Mia will support aggressive efforts to invest in vaccine education and outreach.
If you get sick with COVID, the State of California should be guaranteeing your care. Mia will be a champion for services, paid time off (PTO), hazard pay, and debt forgiveness to those infected with COVID-19. For our nurses, doctors, teachers, and first responders: we are with you. Mia will advocate for safe staffing ratios in hospitals, all the materials/staff you need, and the funding to make it happen. You should not be expected to carry the entire weight of this pandemic. Mia will work to provide you with the mental health services and protections Californians need as they care for our loved ones.
Los Angeles has been a leader in school-based COVID prevention. Mia believes this model should be followed state-wide. She will propose that all schools and education centers must be outfitted with testing services, proper ventilation, masks, and remote learning software to keep students safe.
In the end, reactive care is more costly than preventative care - not only in money, but in lives. Mia will fight hard to make sure when the next variant comes, we will be ready.
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Healthy Food For All
What is the problem?
Nearly two million Californians live without access to nearby supermarkets or fresh food, also known as living in a “food desert.” One of the largest food deserts in the region is within Assembly District 52: East LA. Thousands of families do not have access to nutritious food and fresh fruits/vegetables which puts them at risk of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. That is unacceptable. Fresh and healthy food is a human right.
What is Mia’s Plan?
Mia will fight to end food insecurity in California with a Healthy Food for All plan. She will introduce legislation to help build more community gardens, community fridges, markets, and food co-ops. She will also move to build publicly-sponsored supermarkets in areas like East LA that suffer from food insecurity. And for our children, all school districts should ensure that every child has access to free, healthy, and nutritious food while they are at school and during breaks.
We have the resources to make food deserts a thing of the past. Feeding America estimates that people facing hunger in California need an additional 2 billion dollars to meet their needs. For comparison, California currently spends nine times that amount on prisons. Food insecurity is a policy choice. Mia will champion that no one goes hungry. We need to have the political will to fight for a Healthy Foods for All plan to ensure that every Californian has access to nutritious and affordable food, regardless of zip code.