A 🧵:Why people are upset w/US #healthcare costs & #Medicare changes?

I was prescribed a new medication.
It costs:
- $110 w/insurance at pharmacy (1 mo supply)
- $45 cash price at pharmacy (1 mo)
- $18 for a 3 mo supply via mail service 🤨

Same medication.
$300+ difference... 2/ The medication is a common prescription for women- which may be part of the problem.

It's estimated women pay 30% more for healthcare costs than men "—costs that are tied to the ever-increasing price of prescription drugs."
americanprogress.org/article/prescr…

1/ In light of recent concerns expressed by @CityofSanDiego Councilmembers, about the historic and ongoing lack of equity and diversity in many contracting awards:

- A 🧵 about the value and importance of audits by public agencies, regarding the costs of inconsistent employment practices:

In 2006, a former @SDSU professor- a Black woman in the LGBTQ community- came to my Assembly office to share concerns over her tenure process experience at the university.
- She had received consistently positive reviews- but ultimately was not offered a permanent teaching position.

She filed complaint with the federal Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination. Her complaint was upheld- but that did not result in a teaching position.

I had broader concerns about the costs of bias and discrimination in the California State University hiring process- especially during a time of educational budget shortfalls.

I requested an audit be conducted by the California Auditor's office, to address these questions:
- How many employees in the California State University (@calstate) system report experiencing bias or discrimination during their academic career?
- How many filed lawsuits as a result?
- What was the dollar cost to taxpayers, from legal complaints and settlements, and what is the social cost of not hiring more diverse faculty members and administrators?

The Auditor's findings were announced in Report 2007-102.2...
1/x
2/ FROM THE REPORT: Over $7 million had been spent on lawsuits in recent years- but this did not include a $19.1 million dollar judgement for a woman basketball coach, who had been fired by Fresno State during their work on the audit.
(The award was later reduced to $6.2 million- see: )

And "Our review of California State University's [@CSU] (university) hiring processes and employment discrimination lawsuits revealed the following:

1️⃣"Campuses are inconsistent in their consideration of gender and ethnicity when hiring assistant, associate, and full professors.

2️⃣"Campuses use differing levels of detail when estimating the percentage of qualified women and minorities available for employment, decreasing the university's ability to effectively compare data among campuses.

3️⃣"As of June 30, 2007, the university spent $2.3 million on settlements resulting from employment discrimination lawsuits filed during the five-year period we reviewed, and $5.3 million for outside counsel in defending itself against such lawsuits."

Related, in the @UofCalifornia
4️⃣ " ...a UC study group reported in September 2007 that women and minorities continue to be substantially underrepresented on its faculty, regardless of their growing numbers among doctorate recipients."

Next: STATE RECOMMENDATIONS


2/xcalaborlaw.com/fresno-state-w…
information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/summar…

Why would someone would submit a proposal to make the @CityofSanDiego Attorney an appointed position, to weaken their investigative and oversight work of the Mayor and other elected officials?

To answer these questions- consider:
Who proposed the change:
Jared Quient- lawyer,… https://t.co/Y86pGFyqrUtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…






Who is Jared Quient?
Jared is a lawyer, and #MayorToddGloria appointee to the #SDGE Franchise Oversight Committee. He works with #GilCabrera- the Principal Officer of @ToddGloria's "New San Diego PAC"

What do Jared & Gil Cabrera actually do?
Gil raises money to be used for… https://t.co/LV0ANBwUl4twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

The weekly Prime Minister’s Questions is pretty awesome.

I’d love to see an American version of this.

This week’s topic:
National Health Service Now on to sustainable energy generation in Scotland and the Scottish National Party leader’s accent is also awesome.

#SanDiego #Housing Commissioner/Vice Chair #RyanClumpner seems to be in a mood today
Let's cheer him up by reviewing accomplishments of his agency, shall we?
Of the 1566 people leaving shelters
- 78% did NOT report (920) or are back on the street (300)
Way to be accountable Ryan! How much did #CityofSanDiego pay for #AlphaProjectSD shelters that #HousingCommission show have a 78% failure rate, and how long do people stay?
- $1.8 million over past year (at least)
- 1373 households
- Avg. stay: 57 days
- Avg. stay for actual permanent #housing: 109 days
2/

September 2022: @MayorToddGloria explains "complex barriers to #housing" at announcement of new #housing location
January 2023: The converted hotel will provide NO ADA ACESS for unsheltered older adults w/#disabilities even though it is managed by a senior-serving organization

https://twitter.com/LoriSaldanaSD/status/1614759879515963392

More from @MayorToddGloria last year re:the budget for this facility to serve people experiencing #homelessness compared to "hospital and emergency room stays" & it's place in #CityofSanDiego budget (sorry for poor sound quality)

Update/background on this situation:
@janis_wilds helped an older #disabled #unhoused woman discharged from a hospital emergency room to the streets of #SanDiego with no place to recuperate.
She had been living (?) on a bus stop bench since CHRISTMAS!
This is all too common
1/

https://twitter.com/LoriSaldanaSD/status/1614068819122872320

Fortunately: Janis coordinated w/@Housing4Hmless to find a hotel room until Tuesday BUT- it was not an #ADA room.
The woman's wheelchair could not go into the bathroom, so a bedside commode was essential for her dignity & health.
2/

Remember when @sullivanms provided hot drinks to people kicked out of #SanDiego inclement weather shelters at 5AM?
FYI: #AlphaProjectSD does "not aim at making #homelessness easier, or less costly, or more tolerable"

Alpha staff does this to make lives even harder for #PEH
1/ #AlphaProjectSD gets millions in taxpayer $$ to provide #homelessness shelter & services- yet has failed to provide clean restrooms & or safe drinking water
Despite record rainfall: they don't provide more inclement weather shelters
TIME TO #AuditAlphaProject #CityofSanDiego
2/

Re:#DonnerPass:
January 1982 was an historic #ElNino winter
A devastating Tahoe blizzard hit as the (then) #SanDiego #Chargers were playing an historic playoff game in Miami

We may have listened on the car radio... but mostly I remember endless snowfall & lines of cars.
1/ The next year I was working as a carpenter in Pacific Beach, building the US Post Office on Cass Street, and saw the Crystal Pier get knocked apart like so many matchsticks
2/

Who rides #bicycles to work in #SanDiego?
Census data for @CityofSanDiego shows
- Only 0.6% of people commute on bikes to work
- 2X more men bike to work vs women (.4% v .2%)
- Women are:
- less likely to carpool but
- less likely to drive alone 25%/34%- maybe children in car?
1/ This shows:
- #SanDiego is investing a lot in #bikelanes that are used by a very small % of the population for work-related mobility
- There is a bike #gendergap that needs to be studied
- Ridership could potentially be increased by 33% by simply encouraging more women to ride
2/

FYI @MayorToddGloria
#TheyWereAllOfUs but caught #COVID in a congregate shelter or died outside a shelter or near a hospital for lack of #housing and #healthcare

#SOTCSD #ForAllofUs #IAmSanDiego These people died in parks or parking lots

So disappointed to hear @KPBS #MiddayEdition hosting #BobMcElroy from #AlphaProjectSD
Have they reviewed his salary & tax returns?
Taxpayers subsidize his shelters w/horrible conditions
Few people get #housing after a shelter stay

@inewsource @dulaney He mentions his staff struggles to afford rent-
Perhaps he could demonstrate "personal responsibility" by not driving a Maserati?
Or reduce his $245K salary & pay caseworkers doing direct services more so they aren't #housing insecure?
#SOTCSD #MayorToddGloria #homelessness
2/

Let's review @MayorToddGloria's previous #SOTCSD remarks, what he said- and what he did not say- and how people reacted.
1) 2022- He never mentioned how @SanDiegoPD routinely criminalize people for being unhoused and/or needing to use a bathroom

https://twitter.com/LoriSaldanaSD/status/1482084243031289856

2) But @MayorToddGloria has pledged things like:
Transparency (see: Ash Street)
Fiscal responsibility (Also- see Ash St. $175M bond)
And equity (See: lack of #EEOC contract compliance)

https://twitter.com/JoeLaCavaD1/status/1349547081900322816?s=20&t=X_sqJPYQHlRg6hX6MQrgBg

It's #California budget time!

https://twitter.com/CAgovernor/status/1612860234774753281?s=20&t=SvD3MtlQ-xaW4F20qS6HlA

"Transitional" skills training for #fossilfuel workers

In 2019 #SanDiego #AlphaProject's Bob McElroy was on multiple IRS filings:
"Low income housing" for "Anaheim Gardens Corporation," and "Oxford Terrace"- and another for Alpha Project
He's running a multimillion #Homelessness Industrial Complex w/ multiple charities
1/ Their operations include exploiting people via "crew labor"-
People who are criminalized for #homelessness & arrested for encroachment violations are offered a chance to "work off" their penalties doing unpaid labor for Alpha Project
2/

My response to today's Politics Report in #voiceofsandiego

I encourage #SupNoraVargas to increase funding for healthcare, behavioral and mental health services and provide more restrooms and showers for unsheltered #SanDiego residents living downtown
voiceofsandiego.org/2023/01/07/pol… Providing medical treatment, counseling, and treating unsheltered/unhoused people humanely is the first step in preventing many of these "horror stories" and conflicts. Many people living on San Diego's sidewalks are survivors of abuse, assault, and violence.

FYI: As you talk w/unsheltered people, many are stuck in a recurring #PTSD loop, actively reliving past trauma
They may become- or be perceived as- a threat to others when they are actually struggling to survive/process a sexual assault or other abuse (including police sweeps)
1/ I often hear stories of surviving violence from unsheltered people talking to themselves:
"Get away from me!"
"Leave me alone"
"Get your d-ck out of my face!"
"I don't want to do that..."
It's horrifying- and all too common
+ #SanDiegoPD sweeps can trigger memories of abuse
2/

I’m posting these bench pics as examples of NON- #hostiledesign.

Most benches in #sandiego have raised areas to prevent people from using them to sleep- or are removed altogether from public spaces.

Displacing people is so common it’s become normalized I joined a person eating a sandwich on one of the non-hostile benches, before he returned to work at a nearby gas station
He told me the current #MegaMillions lotto is close to a billion$ (attracting as many visitors to his workplace as the need for fossil fuels apparently)
2/

When the #SanDiego coastal zone becomes a tidal zone
#BombCyclone #Californiastorm

Preparing to testify re:unjust #homelessness citations in #sandiego

Commissioner Pete Singer presiding

Also present: attorneys @objkshn & @ScottDreher1 and
#housing advocates @sullivanms @HomelessnessSD

1/ If you’d like to listen in- We are in courtroom B

First case to be heard is a traffic issue re tinted windows.

sdcourt.ca.gov/sdcourt/traffi…

Several months ago a request to modify a downtown redevelopment agreement & remove installation of a "Portland Loo" restroom was pulled from a @SDCityCouncil hearing

Does anyone know what has happened to this project since then?

1/ Public restrooms are desperately needed throughout #SanDiego for people of all ages, housing status & ability levels

The current model (i.e.- only customers have access to restrooms, via hotels, stores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.) impacts #publichealth & transit use
2/