Single-payer health care legislation proposed in California.
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Medicare for All
“Your questions answered as Twin Rivers teachers strike heads toward third week,” (sacbee.com, March 14)
There is a solution to astronomical health care prices: a single-payer (Medicare for All) health care system, like in most other industrialized countries. With a single-payer system, health care benefits would not even be an issue.
There is currently a bill in the legislature — Assembly Bill 1900 — for just such a system. Everyone should contact their legislators and urge them to support it.
Laurel Mahannah
Rio Linda
Flawed plan
“Sacramento councilmember questions expanding homeless services amid $66M deficit,” (sacbee.com, March 11)
City leaders are aggressively pushing for a micro-community at Arena Boulevard and El Centro Road in Natomas. It sits in a high-risk flood zone. The site intensifies traffic. It jeopardizes the adjacent senior living community by obstructing safe traffic in and out of the facility. And the micro-community would be located less than 500 feet from Sundance Park, violating zoning ordinances.
Councilmember Lisa Kaplan and Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes champion a superior alternative that is cost effective.
Ashley Hamidi
Sacramento
A choice between affordability or war
“Traders warn $100 oil is imminent if Iran war keeps raging,” (sacbee.com, March 6)
There are many consequences of President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, but the most immediate is affordability.
Instead of addressing the rising cost of living, Trump has dismissed concerns about affordability. Yet the war’s economic effects are already evident: With the Strait of Hormuz disrupted, oil prices have surged. In Folsom this week, I saw gasoline priced at more than $6 per gallon.
Reports also indicate that the conflict is pushing up fertilizer prices, which will inevitably raise food costs that are already high for many families. At the same time, the war itself is estimated to cost at least $1 billion per day.
Americans are often told there is not enough money to make health care more affordable or to provide adequate Medicaid support. Yet there seems to be no shortage of funds for an expensive war abroad. If affordability truly matters, our national priorities should start at home.
Debra McCartney
El Dorado Hills
Quick action can save lives
“Dog laws in CA: Can you break into locked car to save pet?” (sacbee.com, March 16)
Last year, at least 140 animals died of heat-related causes — and those are just the cases that made headlines. Untold others go unreported.
As California contends with rising temperatures, it’s vital to protect animals. Walk dogs early in the morning or late at night when it’s cooler, and test the pavement with your hand to ensure it won’t burn their paw pads.
If you see chained or penned dogs, ensure they have potable water in a tip-proof container, access to shade and that their living space is ventilated. If they lack these necessities, provide water and shade and notify authorities immediately.
Heat can kill. Quick action can save lives.
Lindsay Pollard-Post
The PETA Foundation
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