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Three months in, the ongoing strike by Kaiser mental health therapists in Southern California continues to generate plenty of media attention from National Public Radio, The Good Men Project, WBUR, Capital and Main, PBS, Fox San Diego. Stories this month featured several of our members and note that the labor stoppage will make it harder for patients to find care in the coming weeks and months as they are trying to recover from the fires.
A story published by Labor Notes about how unions can fight President Trump’s mass deportation agenda highlights NUHW’s Sanctuary Union resolution, which was passed in 2017. The resolution declares that NUHW “will not voluntarily cooperate with federal agents to enforce immigration laws.”
SanBenito.com reported that as part of the deal to acquire Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, Insight has committed to maintaining the hospital’s status as a nonprofit public benefit corporation under California law through the Insight Health Foundation of California. Insight has also pledged to maintain the uninterrupted operation of the hospital, and offer employment to at least 90% of the existing staff.
California is advising healthcare providers not to write down patients’ immigration status on bills and medical records and telling them they don’t have to assist federal agents in arrests, reported California Healthline. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are requiring healthcare facilities to ask the immigration status of patients and tally the cost to taxpayers of providing care to immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization. In December, California Attorney General Rob Bonta released a document emphasizing that while providers should not physically obstruct immigration agents, they are under no obligation to assist with an arrest.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that up to 3 million Californians could see health care savings under new legislation that would end out-of-pocket costs for young patients. Assembly Member Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, said her first-in-the-nation bill would eliminate co-pays, deductibles, or cost-sharing on most health insurance plans in the state for patients 21 and younger. State Senate Bill 43 has now gone into effect. The bill — the largest and most comprehensive update to the state’s detention and conservatorship laws in decades, according to Times of San Diego — has modified the legal definition of “grave disability,” which can be used to evaluate a person with behavioral health issues. This means that now more people throughout the state may be involuntarily held or transported for evaluation and treatment.
