- Potential Policy Changes
Politico: The Potential Impact of RFK Jr. on American Public Health
If the Senate confirms Kennedy, it will presage the biggest rethinking of the U.S. public health system ever. HHS and its agencies oversee drug approvals, food safety and disease surveillance, in addition to Medicare and Medicaid. A scion of one of America’s most famous Democratic families, Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” movement blame Americans’ poor health in part on a corrupt alliance among the food and drug industries and the regulators supposed to watch over them. They want to replace the bureaucrats and overhaul the systems for overseeing pesticides, food additives and vaccines. Here’s what Kennedy and MAHA want to do. (Payne, Cirruzzo, Brown, Gibson and Snider, 11/14)
Roll Call: New Congress Ushers in Changes to Health Policy Leadership
Congress’ most influential health panels will see dramatic changes next year, with several advocates on specific issues like mental health, Medicare and drug pricing retiring or losing their reelection bids. The biggest changes will be in store at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose wide-ranging jurisdiction includes health insurance, biomedical research, and drug and device safety. (Raman, 11/13)
The Washington Post: What Would It Mean if Trump Followed Through on Closing the Education Department?
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to “return” responsibility for education to the states. In fact, education has long been the responsibility of state and local governments, which provide 90 percent of the funding and set most of the rules. The department does not dictate curriculum or have a hand in most school policies. But the federal agency plays an important role. It administers federal grant programs, including the $18.4 billion Title I program that provides supplemental funding to high-poverty K-12 schools, as well as the $15.5 billion program that helps cover the cost of education for students with disabilities. (Meckler and Timsit, 11/12)
- Infectious Diseases
The Washington Post: Global Measles Surge Linked to Insufficient Vaccine Coverage, WHO Reports
An estimated 10.3 million cases of measles occurred worldwide last year, up 20 percent from 2022, primarily because of inadequate immunization coverage, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The disease resulted in 107,500 deaths last year, mostly killing children younger than 5, the two agencies said. Although that number was an 8 percent decrease from 2022, the reduction in fatalities was primarily because the increase in cases occurred in countries with better nutritional and health services, the WHO and CDC said. (Jeong, 11/15)
CIDRAP: CDC Reports Significant Increase in Meningococcal Disease Rates
Surveillance data released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that rates of meningococcal disease have risen sharply in the United States since 2021 and now exceed pre–COVID-19 levels. A total of 438 confirmed and probable cases of meningococcal disease were reported in 2023, the most US cases reported since 2013. (Dall, 11/13)
- Obesity
The New York Times: Over 75% of U.S. Adults Are Now Overweight or Obese
Nearly three quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to a sweeping new study. The findings have wide-reaching implications for the nation’s health and medical costs as it faces a growing burden of weight-related diseases. The study, published on Thursday in The Lancet, reveals the striking rise of obesity rates nationwide since 1990 — when just over half of adults were overweight or obese — and shows how more people are becoming overweight or obese at younger ages than in the past. Both conditions can raise the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and shorten life expectancy. (Agrawal, 11/14)
- Disparities
KFF Health News: Examining Why the U.S. Has Made Limited Progress in Improving Black Americans' Health
The United States has made almost no progress in closing racial health disparities despite promises, research shows. The government, some critics argue, is often the underlying culprit. KFF Health News undertook a yearlong examination of how government decisions undermine Black health — reviewing court and inspection records and government reports, and interviewing dozens of academic researchers, doctors, politicians, community leaders, grieving moms, and patients. (Clasen-Kelly, Rayasam and Norman, 11/15)
- Women’s Health
NBC News: U.S. Premature Birth Rates Stay at Record High, March of Dimes Finds
Many pregnant women in the U.S., particularly in the South, face inadequate prenatal care, complicated by abortion restrictions, air pollution and extreme heat, according to a new March of Dimes report. As a result, there have been no improvements in the preterm birth rate in the last 10 years. In its annual report, released Thursday, the March of Dimes gave the U.S. a dismal D+ grade based on the number of babies born too soon last year. Last year, the preterm birth rate was 10.4%. In 2022, it was 10.5%.In fact, little has changed in the past decade. In 2013, the preterm birth rate was 9.8%. (Edwards, 11/14)
ABC News: CDC Reports Black Infant Mortality Rate Is More Than Twice That of White Infants
Infant mortality rates remained relatively unchanged from 2022 to 2023, but racial and ethnic disparities still persist, new provisional federal data released early Thursday finds. The U.S. provisional infant mortality rate in 2023 was 5.61 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, unchanged from the 2022 rate, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The report also found that infants born to Black mothers still died at much higher rates than those born to white and Asian mothers -- more than double the rate of white infant mortality, according to the CDC. (Kekatos and Rayala, 11/14)
- ADHD
The New York Times: Study Finds Busy Schedules May Ease A.D.H.D. Symptoms
Research has shown that A.D.H.D. symptoms can change over time, improving and then worsening again or vice versa. And according to a recently published study, having additional responsibilities and obligations is associated with periods of milder A.D.H.D. This might mean that staying busy had been beneficial, researchers said. It could also just mean that people with milder symptoms had been able to handle more demands, they added. (Caron, 11/13)
- Health Care Workforce
Becker's Hospital Review: Nurses Challenge Healthcare Technology
Nurses nationwide are raising concerns over the rapid adoption of AI and virtual nursing in healthcare, arguing that these technologies could compromise patient safety. In 2024, nurse-led protests spotlighted these concerns. In April, the California Nurses Association staged a demonstration at Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco Medical Center, advocating for nurses and union members to be involved in "every step" of the decision-making process around AI and other data-driven technologies in healthcare. (Diaz, 11/12)
NBC News Los Angeles: Kaiser Mental Health Workers' Strike Continues Across Southern California
Kaiser Permanente mental health workers are entering week four of their strike as progress has continued to stall at the bargaining table on both sides. It’s been 22 days since nearly 2,400 NUHW workers began the strike. They are fighting for what their colleagues in Northern California received after their strike in 2022, which included more time outside of appointments and higher pay. (Chang and Papp, 11/11)
- Uninsured
Modern Healthcare: CDC Report Reveals U.S. Uninsured Rate at 7.6%
The share of Americans lacking health insurance has remained largely steady in recent years, but questions remain about the future. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday shows 7.6% of Americans, or 25.3 million people, lacked health insurance during the time of data collection from April to June. Although the rate represents a 0.4 percentage point increase from the year-ago period, it is consistent with 2023's full-year uninsured rate — a historic annual low. (Berryman, 11/11)
- Children’s Health
CIDRAP: CDC Reports Small Increase in Flu Cases Among Children, First Pediatric Flu Death of the Season
In its weekly flu season update today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said though activity remains low nationally, there are slight increases in children, along with the first confirmed pediatric flu death of the 2024-25 season. (Schnirring, 11/8)
CIDRAP: Study Shows No Negative Impact on Brain Development in Kids Exposed to COVID In Utero
A study of children exposed to maternal COVID-19 before birth found no adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes by 2 years and a slight increase in parent-reported infant self-regulatory behavior—a generally positive finding—at 6 months. (Van Beusekom, 11/8)