Assemblywoman Fiona Ma: Women and Long-term Care

As a member of the Women's Legislative Caucus and chair of the caucus' Legislative Committee, women's health care is a very important issue to me.

This past session, we made important strides with legislation allowing Californians to take paid-leave in order to care for sick family members and improving health access for women. I hope that in the next session, we can pursue an even more aggressive agenda and work on issues related to women and long-term care.

On Oct. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Hiram Johnson State Building Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Ave., there will be a presentation about "Women and Long-term Care," sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. Speakers for the event include: Wendy Boglioli, Olympic Gold Medal champion and long-term care national spokesperson for Genworth Financial; Brenda Bufford, from the Office of Long-Term Care; and Jackie Speier, former state senator. Brenda Bufford, the deputy project director for the Office of Long-Term Care for the State of California, will be speaking about California Partnership for Long-Term Care and how long-term care costs will affect you and your loved ones.

This partnership is an innovative state program in cooperation with a select number of private insurance companies. The partnership's mission is to provide affordable, quality, long-term-care insurance protection, so you will not be forced to spend everything you have worked for on long-term care.

Additionally, the partnership seeks to protect you from spending down your assets, should you use up your private long-term care benefits and need to apply for Medi-Cal assistance.

Finally, the partnership seeks to protect your assets from Medi-Cal estate recovery. Long-term care is about living, and ensuring that the person in care and their family are as comfortable as possible. Because women tend to be the driving force in a family's decisions concerning care, they play a vital role in how long-term care is provided.

The event is free. Snacks and light refreshments will be served. For more information, please call UCSF Women's Health Resource Center at (415) 353-2668, or e-mail whrc@ucsfmedctr.org.

I am also happy to announce that the end of the legislative session brought a number of key victories.

My important children's health legislation, Assembly Bill 1108, squeezed out of the Senate with bipartisan support and is now awaiting action from the governor. The bill will ban the use of toxic chemicals known as phthalates in toys intended for children under the age of 3. Fourteen other countries and the European Union have already banned the chemical. Thus, California and the rest of the country have become the dumping ground for toys that are banned in much of the industrialized world.

Another piece of legislation that passed on the last few days of legislative session was Assembly Bill 101. I authored the bill at the request of SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, who worked with me to secure its passage through the legislative process. The bill will allow cameras to be placed on San Francisco buses in order to issue citations for people who park in Muni bus lanes. My hope is that this bill will save the city resources, deter drivers from parking in transit lanes, and speed up Muni's performance.

Both AB1108 and AB101 are on the governor's desk awaiting either a signature or veto. The governor has until Oct. 12 to take action. I am hopeful he will sign both of these important pieces of legislation.

Fiona Ma is the majority whip at the California Assembly.