Marie Waldron – Access to affordable healthcare, keeping your own doctor, covering pre-existing conditions, expanding mental health/substance use disorder treatments and children’s healthcare are important parts of my healthcare advocacy in Sacramento.
As a member of Assembly Health Committee, the Select Committee on Health Care Delivery & Universal Coverage, the Select Committee on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, I’m also “Vice Chair” of the Select Committee on Infectious Diseases in High Risk Communities, and serve on the Stanford 5 Year Initiative on Neuroscience, a working group fostering communications between policymakers and researchers regarding mental health and opioid addiction.
Legislation I’ve authored includes a bill to improve health care outcomes for all Californians and expand access to lifesaving treatments through the health benefits review program, making evidence based decisions which bring results upfront, save money and improve quality of life. Also, legislation that expedites the patient appeals process for newly developed epilepsy drugs, anti-rejection, antipsychotics and HIV/AIDS so more patients can access them, and working with the CA Medical Board to include preventative training on HIV/AIDS protocols and counseling for primary care physicians.
This session, I introduced legislation encouraging genetic counseling to inform women diagnosed with breast/ovarian cancer about BRCA gene mutations to help target treatment. Three bills were aimed at the opioid crises; one to expand access to Medically Assisted Treatments of opioid abuse by incentivizing more providers to become certified, another to create a public awareness campaign on substance use addiction, along with a bill to provide mental health and addiction treatment for women charged with misdemeanor violations to end the cycle of recidivism.
The California Life Sciences Association and the Chronic Care Coalition both recognized me as Legislator of the Year last session. As your Assembly representative, I will continue my efforts to encourage accessible health care for Californians.
Minority Floor Leader Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, represents the 75th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes the communities of Bonsall, Escondido, Fallbrook, Hidden Meadows, Pala, Palomar Mountain, Pauma Valley, Rainbow, San Marcos, Temecula, Valley Center and Vista.
