| Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
Part XXVII of “Cancer/Medical Moonshot” Series
As stated last Wednesday, an aspirant for governor of California in the June 2, 2026, open primary in California is focused on universal healthcare (“CalCare”) as one of his major socioeconomic platforms. He is Xavier Becerra, who served as the 25th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025. Perhaps former HHS Secretary Becerra can lead his fellow Democratic and opposing Republican aspirants in the said open primary to discuss the urgent need for “CalCare”. Why?
Universal healthcare should be a human right, at least in California, the country’s most populous state, and the U.S. federal union’s largest economy. There are now many discoveries in cancer treatment, as this column is discussing. But the problem is that almost all health insurance firms do not cover experimental treatments. Then premiums for health coverage, particularly those that provide for early detection of major diseases, especially cancer, and rapid treatment, are too expensive for the minimum-wage earners, especially those who live in poor neighborhoods.
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the United States, recent 2026 cancer research has identified new and aggressive mechanisms, such as transposon elements in lung cancer that act as “mobile DNA” causing rapid genetic changes. Other breakthroughs are described in one of several pinned articles in a Facebook Group called “DrRizal/HMO Proposals,” which was founded by this columnist.
Aggressive Lung-Cancer Mechanism, New Therapies for Fatal Brain Tumors, “Ready-made” T-cell Therapy, Targeted Therapy for Rare Cancer, and New Pancreatic Drug Trial.
These findings highlight a shift towards more personalized, immunotherapy-driven treatments and highly sensitive diagnostic techniques.
Perhaps the leading candidates for governor of California can discuss in a special town hall meeting or a televised debate how the Golden State can lead the way in establishing “universal healthcare coverage (UHC)” (or “CalCare”) with affordable premiums. Yes, as done in almost all the developed countries, except in the United States. If California can pave the way for UHC, then the other 49 states and U.S. territories can follow and eventually have it as well.
This column has also been discussing how to fund the UHC, especially cancer treatment. The campaign managers of all the aspirants for California’s governorship may just read all the articles in this series. And in a new additional series called the “Cancer/Medical Moonshot–North America/ASEAN (NA/ASEAN)” Series. There are now 30 articles in both series, including this instant article.
