As Californians brace for a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the state’s marketplace, Covered California, legislators are working on an alternative healthcare bill that would establish a single-payer healthcare system in the state. The Healthy California Act, or Senate Bill 562, is a measure that proposes a premium tax towards a public fund, which would finance all healthcare services. State residents would pay into this fund, instead of paying a monthly premium to their insurer for a…
California has one the nation’s lowest number of hospital emergency rooms per capita, and Bay Area legislators are calling this shortage a crisis, as the number of people who need urgent care services keeps growing. They are pushing for a bill that would require non-profit hospitals to obtain approval from the state Attorney General.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)’s recent announcement that its drinking water reservoirs have reached full capacity might sound alarming after the spillway crisis in Oroville, but staffers say that is actually good news. It means a steady water supply to over a million of its customers in the East Bay, including Oakland and Richmond.
As Californians, along with the rest of the nation, brace for a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Marshawn Harris, an Oakland-based health care insurance broker, had been trying to sign up as many people as possible. “My goal is to get everyone enrolled and make sure they understand that Covered California [the state’s version of the Affordable Care Act] will be around at least until the end of 2017,” Harris said, referring to the state’s version of the Affordable…
The city of Richmond is considering a redevelopment plan for a brownfield located between Marina Bay and Point Isabel known as the Zeneca site.
Contra Costa County health care benefits for undocumented and low-income residents may be threatened, given President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to wholly or partly dismantle the Affordable Care Act.
Polls had predicted a tight race, but in the end the the drug price-control measure Proposition 61 was defeated statewide—although in Contra Costa County 51 percent of voters approved it.
On Wednesday afternoon, one day after Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States, a group of Richmond High School seniors walked out of school in protest, marching to City Hall and briefly stalling traffic on the I-80.
High school students across the East Bay walked out of class Wednesday and marched in protest of Donald Trump’s election, carrying signs and chanting. In Richmond, students from Leadership Public Schools, Kennedy High School and Richmond High School walked to City Hall, shutting down traffic on MacDonald Avenue along the way.
Proposition 61 would prohibit state agencies from paying more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Drug companies are spending heavily to defeat the proposition.
Community members and experts say the Zeneca site’s levels of toxic chemicals aren’t adequately reduced by the company’s proposed cleanup plan.
Scenes from Mayor’s second annual golf tournament.
A dispute between Mayor Tom Butt and Emeryville real estate firm Wareham Development over contaminated piles of soil stored at a lot on Richmond’s Canal Boulevard came to an end last week, when trucks hauled the dirt off the site.