Pandemic reshapes California's health policy

Inaugurated in 2019, the current governor of California had ambitions to change the landscape of health policy of the state, including expanding insurance coverage and even rolling out a white-label generic pharmaceutical program. As with many other states, the pandemic changed many plans. Kaiser Health News wrote about the current governor having to scale back the agenda that he had earlier promoted.

The pandemic -- in conjunction with the subsequent shelter-in-place ordinances -- has had a tremendous impact on state and local governments: not only are people working less (and the governments receiving less in tax revenue), but more people need financial assistance and are seeking out programs such as Medicaid or unemployment benefits. It would have been interesting to see how certain programs would have played out, but for now, one person quoted in the article summarized the current dilemma: "Do we invest in prevention when the house is burning down?"