public health

baby

In #AZ, Maternal & Child Health Is in Crisis (video)

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Maternal and child health is in crisis in the state of Arizona. Too many babies die. Too many new Moms die. Too many babies are born prematurely. Too many babies are born with birth defects. Too many pregnant women don’t get adequate prenatal care. Some Arizona counties have been labeled maternal health deserts because of … Read more

HB2318 texting

#AZ House Passes Texting while Driving Ban (video)

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Thursday was a red letter day for the state of Arizona. The Arizona House debated — at length— three competing bills on distracted driving and texting while driving. Many family members, who lost loved ones to texting while driving, were in the gallery for this historic day. The family of Officer Clayton Townsend, who was … Read more

Joint Health Committee Meeting

Passage of Dental Therapy Expands Access to Affordable Care (video)

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Joint Health Committee Meeting
Joint House and Senate Health Committee Hearing on Novermber 28, 2017

For several weeks during the 53rd Legislative Session, I posted (almost) daily one-minute video updates from my office at the Capitol and posted them on Facebook and YouTube.

I never imagined how wildly popular these videos would be. At the Capitol, #RedForEd advocates would randomly come up to me and say, “I love your videos!” Now that I am back in Tucson, people come up to me at events, at church and in stores, and say, “I love your videos!”

So… I will be keeping them up during the interim.

My first interim video is on the passage of dental therapy. To catch up, I am doing a few videos on some of the bills we passed in a flurry at the end of the 53rd Session last week.

On the very last day, we passed dental therapy as a striker on another bill. I played an integral role in getting dental therapy out of the sunrise committee hearing last fall. Going into the November hearing (pictured above), only Republican Senator Nancy Barto and I were supportive of dental therapy. After five hours of testimony, it passed out of the sunrise committee but had a rocky road in the Legislature. I’m glad it finally passed.

I believe dental therapy is good public health policy because it will offer affordable dental care in rural and urban areas. This will expand access to care, prevent tooth loss, and offer a new career to residents of Arizona.

To Learn more about why dental therapy is important, you can read:

Economic Inequality, Access to Care & Workforce Development: A Progressive Roadmap.

Here is some of the media coverage on the passage of dental therapy:

Arizona law creates dental therapists to handle fillings, extractions and crowns 

Arizona is about to get a new type of dental professional

Chester Antone: Dental therapists good for tribes, good for Arizona

Watch the video below the fold. (Cross-posted from PowersForThePeople.net.)

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#AZLeg Passes Landmark, Bipartisan Opioid Bill

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There were a lot of conversations going on in advance of the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act.

January 25, 2018 was one of the most dramatic days at the Arizona Legislature, since I was elected.

Not only did we have ~75 Luchadores visiting their Legislators and five extremely aggressive anti-immigrant, pro-Trump protesters heckling them, we also had the big vote on the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act (SB1001).

We have been working on SB1001/HB2001 for weeks. Unlike much of what we do in the Arizona Legislature, the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act was a truly bipartisan effort. The governor even gave the Democrats the bill language in advance and asked for our input. The Republicans included us in the bill development process because they needed our votes and because didn’t want us to blow it up on the floor with our speechifying, as we did with the stingy TANF and teacher raises in 2017.

As someone who worked in public health and nicotine addiction treatment for years, I was proud to serve on the Democratic Caucus team that reviewed the bill and offered suggestions for revision. It was very heartening that they included several Democratic ideas in this bill. Four of my suggestions were included: offering treatment instead of jail during an overdose situation, AKA the 911 Good Samaritan bill (HB2101), which has been proposed by Democrats for four years in a row; providing funds to counties for life-saving NARCAN kits (HB2201); providing a non-commercial treatment referral service; and offering treatment in a brief intervention after an overdose scare (when your doctor says, “You didn’t die this time. Maybe you should quit!”). The Democrats also suggested including the Angel Initiative (where addicts can drop off their drugs and ask for treatment, without fear of arrest) and $10 million for drug addiction treatment services for people not on AHCCCS (Medicaid) or private insurance.

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Rep. Martha McSally will vote to take health care away from thousands of her constituents

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As I pointed out earlier this year to the folks at “McSally Take A Stand,” It turns out that Martha McSally does stand for somethin’: Trumpism.

The Five Thirty Eight Vote Tracker still shows our “mythical moderate” Congresswoman (a myth created by our local media) voting 100% with the destructive positions of “The Donald.”

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McSally has now declared her support for the “Trumpcare 2.0” bill to be voted on Thursday, which will take health care insurance away from thousands of her constituents. Hopefully they vote and will return the favor in November 2018.

The Arizona Republic reports, Martha McSally signals support for ‘Obamacare’ repeal bill; Trent Franks doesn’t:

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally signaled support for the revised Republican health care bill Monday, but the plan’s passage remained uncertain as it headed toward a key vote Thursday in the House or Representatives.

In a statement Monday night, McSally, a two-term Arizona Republican, said the bill backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan “is not perfect and I still have concerns,” but she indicated she was working to strengthen that plan.

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