AirTalk dives into the local implications of Trump’s executive order, which allows small businesses to buy plans that are cheaper – but provide less coverage – than plans under the ACA. We also debate the state’s revised regulations aimed to get self-driving cars on the road by June 2018; how will admitting girls to some Boy Scouts programs change both organizations?; and more.
Evacuations expand: The latest on Northern California fires
Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history.
Winds up to 45 mph were expected to pummel areas north of San Francisco, where at least 23 people have died and at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. These conditions could erase modest gains made by firefighters.
Entire cities had evacuated in anticipation of the next round of flames, their streets empty, the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.
In Calistoga, a historic resort town known for wine tastings and hot springs, 5,300 people were under evacuation orders. Tens of thousands more have been driven from their homes by the flames. A few left behind cookies for firefighters and signs reading, "Please save our home!"
The 22 fires, many out of control, spanned more than 265 square miles (686 square kilometers) as the inferno entered its fourth day.
With files from the Associated Press
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Josh Rubenstein, public information officer, Cal Fire
What Trump’s new executive order means for the ACA and Covered CA
President Trump will release an executive order today that will roll back health insurance rules and requirements, allowing small businesses and potentially consumers to buy “association health plans,” which are cheaper but provide less coverage than health plans under ACA.
According to the administration, this would help people facing soaring premiums. Opponents say that while this might make insurance less expensive for healthy consumers, it will raise prices for people who are sick and will might also lead to insurers abandoning the Obamacare marketplace.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Covered California said it will ask insurers to add surcharges to some policies in 2018, because the Trump administration hasn’t pledged yet to pay certain ACA consumer subsidies. Silver-level health plans will face a total premium jump of about 25 percent.
Guest host Libby Denkmann gets the latest on the new order and its potential ramifications, as well as what this might mean for Covered California.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Chad Terhune, senior correspondent at California Healthline and Kaiser Health News; he’s been following the story; he tweets
Harvey Weinstein and the seeming intractability of the ‘open secret’
“Open secret” is one term that has been used over and over again to describe disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s behaviors.
As more women speak up about how they were harassed – and in some cases, assaulted – by Weinstein, the fact that what he did was widely known and unexposed has become as unfathomable as the revelations themselves.
How could behaviors as damaging as those perpetrated by Weinstein and by media power players like Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly become buried for so long, and why? As revelations of sexual harassment in different industries – from Fox News, to Hollywood, to Silicon Valley – come to the fore, do you feel more empowered to speak out about exploitative behaviors in your workplace?
In a Time magazine essay, actor Mira Sorvino has detailed why she decided to speak out in a New Yorker article about her experiences with Weinstein and has issued a call to action for other women to follow suit, whatever industry they are in. How have the Weinstein revelations impacted you?
Call us at 866.893.5722.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Kim Elsesser, author of the book, “Sex and the Office” (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2015); lecturer at UCLA, where she teaches courses on gender in the workplace
How will admitting girls to some Boy Scouts programs change both organizations?
The Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday that it will be admitting girls into the Cub Scouts.
As reported by the Associated Press, the change will start next year, and older girls will be admitted in 2019, enabling them to earn an Eagle Scout rank. Michael Surbaugh, the BSA’s chief scout executive said that the “values of Scouting...are important for both young men and women.” But the Girl Scouts of the USA have opposed the plan, saying the move was put into place because of financial problems.
Both organizations have had drops in memberships in recent years, and the announcement is adding strain between the Scout groups, each of which is more than a century old. So what does this announcement mean for both the BSA and the Girl Scouts? What are the differences in skills both groups teach young people? And how have the BSA and Girl Scouts changed over the years?
Note: We reached out to the Boy Scouts of America and they did not reply to our request in time for our air. The Girl Scouts of the USA declined our request to join the conversation today, but pointed us to this statement posted on its blog.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Kenya Yarbrough, director of marketing and advocacy at the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
Ben Jordan, professor of History and sustainability studies at Christian Brothers University; his recent book is “Modern Manhood and the Boy Scouts of America: Citizenship, Race, and Environment, 1910-1930” (The University of North Carolina Press, 2016)
Susan Miller, associate professor of Childhood Studies at Rutgers University; she is the author of “Growing Girls: The Natural Origins of Girls’ Organizations in America” (Rutgers, 2007)
CA DMV hits the gas on getting driverless cars on the roads by 2018, releases new regulations
Are California freeways ready for driverless cars with no one behind the wheel?
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is continuing with its push to have fully autonomous vehicles on the road in the Golden State as early as June of next year, releasing a revised set of regulations for driverless car operation in the state on Wednesday. The regulations, originally proposed in March, will be up for a 15 day public comment period before being submitted to the state government.
California’s current rules require a licensed driver to be in the driver’s seat while autonomous vehicles are being tested, a rule that some say is too stringent. The new regulations would relax that rule, but require any driverless car manufacturers to prove they’re meeting federal benchmarks and that any files that federal regulators get on testing also go to the DMV. Companies testing driverless cars would have to notify the local government anywhere they plan to test. The new regulations do not allow for large driverless trucks because the DMV says vehicles over 10,000 lbs. will need their own set of regulations.
What’s your take on the new regulations? Do they go far enough? Do they go too far? Based on these regulations and what we know about advances in autonomous vehicle tech, how safe do you think you’d feel sharing the road with a car that doesn’t have anyone at the wheel?
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Ashley Z. Hand, co-founder of CityFi, a company that focuses on the integration of technology in the urban environment; formerly served as the transportation technology strategist for the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and developed public policy for shared mobility, automated vehicles and other technologies; she tweets
John M. Simpson, director of the Privacy Project at Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy organization based in Santa Monica