US Health Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visits Coachella Valley health centers
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited the Coachella Valley on Friday to speak with residents about vaccinations, mental health and legislation to lower health care costs.
Becerra was accompanied by U.S. Rep. Raul Ruizat the Desert Hot Springs Senior Center and DAP Health in Palm Springs.
Around 100 residents and city officials gathered at the senior center to get caught up on their vaccinations and hear Becerra and Ruizspeak. Innercare administered vaccines for COVID-19 and the flu until the afternoon, according to Francisco Castro, the senior center's director.
Becerra said he has launched a national "Mi Salud Importa" campaign — "My Health Matters" — which aims to reach out to communities such as Desert Hot Springs where vaccines aren't as accessible.
The effort focuses on Latino residents, who make up 56% of Desert Hot Springs' population.
"We know there's some communities that don't often get reached. They would get vaccinated if they had easy access," Becerra said in an interview with The Desert Sun at the senior center. "They either work too many hours, double jobs or they've got family – for whatever reason, it's not that they don't want it, it's that they haven't had the chance to get it."
Ruizsaid Desert Hot Springs' population is medically underserved, and oftentimes in the margins of the Coachella Valley.
"I want to make sure that I bring the secretary of health and human services to Desert Hot Springs so that the people … know that they matter to me and they matter to the secretary and to President (Joe) Biden and that we're doing everything to work hard to help reduce costs and to improve healthcare access for the residents of Desert Hot Springs and the entire Coachella Valley," Ruizsaid.
Aside from urging seniors to get vaccinated, Becerra and Ruiz shared information about the Inflation Reduction Act that passed this summer. The legislation addresses inflation, the federal deficit and energy — but also lowers the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.
Some features for people on Medicare include capping the cost of insulin to $35 a month, capping the cost of prescription drugs to $4,000 in 2024 and $2,000 in 2026 and free vaccines. It extends the Affordable Care Act's federal subsidies to 2025, which will lower the cost of premiums.
Medicare will also be able to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and lower the cost of some expensive medications, Ruizadded.
"For those who actually end up having to pay more than $2,000 out-of-pocket for their Medicare prescriptions, this is going to be a godsend, " Becerra said. "Because I was in New Mexico, heard the story of a woman who was paying $90,000 a year. When you're a senior — most seniors can't afford that."
Several seniors at the event participated in the vaccine drive on Friday. Ruiz, a doctor, helped inoculate a few Desert Hot Springs residents himself.
Tommy Enge was one of them, which he called a "really awesome" experience.
"I got (the COVID-19 booster) before and I know that we still have this variant going around, so I (decided) to be on the safe side and take the booster shot," Enge said.
Lynn Cavanaugh, a volunteer at the senior center's Desert Rose Thrift Store, was at the event to get a flu shot.
"As seniors, our resistance (isn't) as high as (it) should be," she said. "A lot of us have other underlying illnesses that cause us to get sicker quicker, so the more immunity we have towards disease I think is much better for us all."
Myra Holcomb was looking forward to hearing Ruizspeak. She planned on getting both the COVID-19 booster and flu shot.
"It just seems like the right thing to do. I've got my other shots and I want to keep up and hopefully stay well," she said.
City officials also participated. Ruizadministered a vaccine to Mayor Pro Tem Gary Gardner.
"Ironically, I was looking yesterday for a place to get my booster shot and my flu shot and when Congressman Ruiz's officecalled and told us we were going to do this event, I went, 'All right, I'll be there,"" Gardner said.
Becerra said the Biden-Harris administration is expanding its certified community behavioral health clinics. These clinics provide accessible services for mental health and substance use disorders.
The secretary also spoke about the new 988 mental health hotline, which is a shortened phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
"We're gonna try to do as much as we can to make it clear to everyone that we're going to treat mental health the same way we treat physical health," Becerra said.