Overview
- After her forum comments went viral, Mayor Karen Bass told ABC7 that dental services for unhoused people are already covered by Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, and that the real gap is linking people to those benefits.
- She said the city also set up substance-use treatment contracts using tobacco lawsuit funds to steer people from interim housing into care and jobs.
- Bass’s original remarks came at a homelessness forum, where she said many people living on the street have lost teeth from meth use and argued that people cannot get stable work without basic dental care.
- Conservative commentators and social-media users blasted the focus on teeth as misdirected, with critics saying she sidestepped addiction as the root problem.
- The dispute is shaping the June 2 mayoral primary, as coverage notes Bass still leads in polling while challenger Spencer Pratt gains ground by attacking her record on homelessness and the 2025 fire response.