Supervisor Chen urges state to restore Medi‑Cal acupuncture benefit and asks Planning for interactive rezoning modeling tools

Supervisor Chen used part of the June 3 meeting to introduce two items: a resolution urging state leaders to fully restore optional adult acupuncture coverage under Medi‑Cal, and a letter of inquiry to the San Francisco Planning Department seeking a publicly accessible modeling tool for the city’s upcoming housing-element rezoning.

On the acupuncture resolution, Chen said California has more than 12,000 licensed acupuncturists and that acupuncture serves as a nonpharmacologic option for pain management, treatment of opioid use disorder, depression and other conditions. The resolution asks Governor Newsom and the state senate budget chair to recognize acupuncture’s importance and to restore the optional benefit in Medi‑Cal during the state budget process. Chen said the city previously sent similar messaging the prior year when the benefit was threatened but preserved.

Separately, Chen said the city will soon consider a rezoning proposal to create additional capacity required by the regional housing needs analysis and that the public and decision-makers need better tools to understand potential impacts. She requested that the Planning Department produce a publicly accessible, interactive modeling tool that would allow users to view development capacity at the parcel level and to explore effects on variables such as entitled projects, rent‑controlled units, historic resources, affordable‑housing opportunity sites and small business impacts. Chen said her office had spoken with Planning Director Hillis and formally submitted a letter of inquiry requesting a timeline and implementation details for the proposed tool.

Ending: Both items were introduced and submitted; the acupuncture item is a local resolution urging state action, and the planning inquiry requests staff modeling work ahead of the rezoning decisions that supervisors will later consider.