COVID-19 & Healthcare

Post SB1062: Arizona’s Christian Extremists Make Headlines with More Legislation

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cross27-colored-sig-sm72Arizona’s anti-gay “religious freedom” bill (SB1062) met with a swift and forceful negative response in the streets, on social media, and on national television. Responding to pressure by business interests and worried about losing Super Bowl 2015, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the bill.

Now that the tide of religious extremism has been thwarted, everyone can relax, right? Not hardly. SB1062 was only one of several bills designed to take away someone’s rights and backed by the fundamentalist ChristianCenter for Arizona Policy (CAP). 

The Huffington Post published a brief but comprehensive report (excerpted below) detailing the scurrilous collection of bills backed by the CAP and founder Cathi Herrod.

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Healthcare enrollment for AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders)

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Posted by Carolyn Sugiyama Classen

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As an Asian American born in raised in the State of Hawaii, this is important to me and my community here in Tucson. Press release info:
“Get your health insurance questions answered and help with enrollment during Enroll AAPI(Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders) on Saturday, March 1st from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center (1288 W River Rd).

Certified Navigators will be on hand to help people enroll in a healthcare plan. Information on the new healthcare laws and how to sign up to get healthcare coverage will be presented in English and selected Asian languages (Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese). Representatives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will also be on hand.

Free health screenings for asthma, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, and osteoporosis will also be available. The diabetes test requires fasting 8 hours prior to the screening.

This event is made possible thanks to a coalition of partners that includes the Center for Rural Health at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, College of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, the Southern Arizona & Pacific Islander Health Coalition, Pima County Health Department, Health hand other community organizations.

For more information, please contact Kim Tham or Sujana Vinjamuri at (520) 300-0627”.

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Action Alert: CAP abortion bill in the House today

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Your work is not done now that Governor Jan Brewer has vetoed the Religious Bigotry bill from Cathi Herrod and the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP). The Committee of the Whole (COW) in the House is debating the CAP bill for surprise inspections of abortion clinics,HB 2284 (.pdf) TODAY. This bill is really about harassing … Read more

We really dodged a bullet there

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So Brewer vetoed the very bad no good Center for Arizona Policy bill, with the attention of the world on her, and of course we must all contact her and thank her, for Republicans must be praised effusively like good doggies who haven’t soiled the rug on those rare occasions they do the right thing. … Read more

CBO scores GOP health care alternative to ‘Obamacare’

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Tea-Publicans are not serious about public policy. Everything they propose turns out to be a disaster.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report (.pdf) scoring the GOP health care alternative to ‘Obamacare’ finds that it would reduce the number of people receiving employer-based coverage, increase dependence on government-sponsored health care, and raise the national deficit.

Think Progress reports, GOP’s Own Health Care Bill Will Lead 1 Million To Lose Employer-Sponsored Insurance:

The proposal, which Republicans voted for in the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month, would alter the definition of full time employment under the Affordable Care Act from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week and exempt more businesses from penalties for not offering employer-based insurance or lower the overall penalty burden. Under existing law, employers with more than 50 workers pay a penalty if their full-time employees (defined as working an average of 30 hours a week) receive subsidized coverage in the law’s health care exchanges.

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