CA State Budget Update

Although SB277 has passed and the uproar around the bill has seemingly calmed, anti-vax forces apprehend a new goal in contention with the vaccination bill.

On June 30th Governor Brown signed the controversial bill, SB 277, which mandates mandatory vaccinations for children in most public education institutions.

California law requires that children entering kindergarten are to obtain vaccinations for several diseases. However, parents are currently able to obtain exemptions if vaccinations are against personal or religious beliefs by providing documentation stating that the parents have been informed about the vaccine and disease.

The SGR Reform and the Childrens Health Insurance Reauthorization Act has finally crossed the U.S. Senate and passed after a decade of exhausting debates. This extremely important passage disrupts the original SRG outline which has held back a plethora of issues including payment plans and physician involvement in regards to determining how much input they are able to contribute on quality. While the SGR repeal will stand as an example of the effect that group effort maintains, it will also allow for there to be new discourse on other healthcare issues.

The "No On 46" campaign has begun releasing campaign videos and advertisements on the radio in both English and Spanish, such as "The Truth about Proposition 46," which features real practicing physicians and medical students from California discussing the costs and potential devastating effects that the passage of Prop. 46 would have on patients and the state's overall health care system.

Please support the "No on 46" Campaign, the broad coalition working to defeat the trial lawyers' MICRA reform initiative (Proposition 46). Myriad health providers, education groups, business organizations, labor unions, workers, and community clinics have announced their opposition to Proposition 46.

Of the six measures (Propositions 43-48) that have qualified for the upcoming November ballot, two of them are health-related.

The bill would have required a warning label on all sugary drinks sold in California.

The CTA is the largest statewide teacher organization.