Enact Medicare for All

Medicare delivers the highest quality, most cost-effective health care with the most patient choice. That’s why I support Medicare for All. I’ve run three competitive elections in a historically Republican area and never wavered in my support for Medicare for All. Many career politicians now say they support Medicare for All but were in Congress when health care policies that put profits over patients were passed – and they voted for such laws.

That’s the problem with the current system: greedy corporations – with Washington’s blessing – prioritize profit, not patient care. We see that in the outrageous prices they charge. We see that in the chronic understaffing of our hospitals. We see that in the policies that health insurance companies develop to avoid covering critical health care services. Wall Street should not be allowed to shut down health care for rural Californians simply because it isn’t “profitable enough” for them. We must stop Wall Street from putting profits before people’s health care by finally passing Medicare for All.

Treat Mental Health

It isn’t enough to pass mental health protections into law if powerful insurance companies aren’t held accountable – either because of a lack of teeth or because government enforcers are asleep at the wheel. The very first bill I got signed into law was my legislation to crack down on insurance companies that don’t adequately cover mental health services.

So many of our laws have loopholes that let insurance companies deny mental health care, which is why I also worked to get another bill signed into law to close a loophole Big Insurance uses to refuse mental health services to public school teachers, firefighters, and other city and state workers. I’m fighting tooth and nail to make access to quality mental health care a reality for every Californian who needs it, and I can’t be bought to look the other way when insurance companies won’t cover services required by law.