Desert Star Weekly March 20, 2020 issue!

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Your adjudicated newspaper for Riverside County

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Coronavirus: Just the Facts on pages 9 and 8.

says there’s no worry of her network running out of food at the moment. The food bank warehouse has 4 million pounds of food at any given time, and Morgan says over the past year it’s received an

By Desert Star Staff SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento lawmakers are pressing for health care reforms that they say will help combat COVID-19. The Health 4 All Coalition announced their legislative priorities for 2020 on Monday - designed to get more people covered and cut costs for patients. State Sen. Richard Pan, who also is a pediatrician, said Senate Bill 65 would cap health insurance premiums and copays at a percentage of people’s income. “We need to provide some limits on cost sharing so that people don’t just have coverage but they can actually afford to get

the care,” Pan said. Another bill would have the state of California start manufacturing generic drugs so no company could gouge consumers. Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, also a doctor, has sponsored Assembly Bill 4, which would open up Medi-Cal to all incomeeligible adults, regardless of immigration status. He said we can’t stop the spread of disease while hundreds of thousands remain uninsured. “Health care is a human right,” Arambula said. “Our undocumented Californians should be

PERMIT NO 00005

Friday, March 20, 2020 Vol. 24 No. 22

Food Pantries Respond During COVID-19 Outbreak By Desert Star Staff Food assistance programs are making sure people have the resources they need during the COVID-19 outbreak. Oregon Food Bank CEO Susannah Morgan

Desert Hot Springs, CA

exceptionally high flow of food from the government, which has been purchasing U.S.-grown food to mitigate impacts from tariffs. “We really encourage anyone who needs food assistance to reach out

and get it,” she stresses. “We all want to emerge stronger from this crisis.” Morgan says folks in Oregon and southwest Washington can go to Oregon Food Bank’s website to find a local meal site. She says the best way for folks to help right now is with financial donations. Healthy

people under the age of 60 can sign up to volunteer. Like grocery stores, food assistance sites are exempt from mandatory closures to promote social distancing. However, local distribution sites have worked out ways to keep people healthy. Continues on Page 3

Advocates Push for Universal Coverage to Help Fight Coronavirus

Continues on Page 3

Health advocates say the new coronavirus makes the goal of universal health care even more pressing. (Cathy Yeulet/iStockphoto)


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