Public Health Archives - Page 8 of 187

Health Spending Is Moving in Congress

Episode 430

Jan. 22, 2026

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is bleaker for the health care outline released by President Trump last week. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join �Թϲ��’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your Ice Cream.”

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As US Is Poised To Lose Measles-Free Status, RFK Jr.’s New CDC Deputy Downplays Its Significance

Measles is at a 30-year high in the U.S., but technicalities may stave off the loss of the nation’s measles elimination status.

By Amy Maxmen

Jan. 21, 2026

A woman wearing a yellow headband and a brown sweatshirt stands in front of a garage door, posing for a portrait.

Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell: Companies Get Paid Only if Costly Gene Therapies Work

The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program — created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump — could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.

By Phil Galewitz

Jan. 21, 2026

�Թϲ�� On Air

Physician-Journalist Shines Light on Measles Upsurge and New GLP-1 Study

�Թϲ��' editor-at-large for public health recently took to the airwaves to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of her appearances.

Jan. 17, 2026

How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.

Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 16, 2026

A photo of Martha Santana-Chin smiling in front of a wall painted blue. The wall appears decorated for Thanksgiving: a string of pennants spells out "Give Thanks." Images of employees' heads are superimposed on turkeys.

GOP Cuts Will Cripple Medicaid Enrollment, Warns CEO of Largest Public Health Plan

Martha Santana-Chin, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, last year took the helm of L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. She warns that looming federal cuts will push up to 650,000 people off L.A. Care’s Medicaid rolls by the end of 2028.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Jan. 15, 2026

A photo of an older man having a bandage placed on his arm after receiving a vaccine.

The New Old Age

Vaccines Are Helping Older People More Than We Knew

Many shots seem to have “off-target” benefits, such as lowering the risk of dementia, studies have found.

By Paula Span

Jan. 14, 2026

A photo zoomed in close-up on an ingredients list. The focus is on a list of food dyes.

RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Has Picked Up Steam in Statehouses. Here’s What To Expect in 2026.

“Make America Healthy Again” policies driven by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made major strides in state legislatures, with food additives among the most common targets. The trend is expected to continue this year.

By Alan Greenblatt

Jan. 13, 2026

The Week in Brief

Vaccines Jettisoned by CDC Safeguarded Millions From Disease

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Arthur Allen and Jackie Fortiér

Jan. 9, 2026

A photo of a store exterior with graffiti tags on the outside.

Postcard From New Orleans

Thrift Store. Clinic. Roller Rink. Center Becomes ‘Radical’ Lifeline Amid Homelessness, Drug Crises.

Located in the Lower 9th Ward, this abandoned building has become a community sanctuary and resource.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 9, 2026

A man with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing a dark blue t-shirt stands near a building under construction.

In Lodge Grass, Montana, a Crow Community Works To Rebuild From Meth’s Destruction

Meth is a problem most everywhere, but particularly in Indian Country. On the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, new buildings serve as symbols of a town trying to rebuild after being devastated by addiction.

By Katheryn Houghton

Jan. 8, 2026

Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine

The experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 7, 2026

A woman holds a young child, who is wearing a tie-dye shirt and a bandage, on her hip

The CDC Just Sidelined These Childhood Vaccines. Here’s What They Prevent.

The CDC is recommending fewer childhood vaccines, although the ones it has jettisoned from the recommended schedule have successfully battled serious illness for years. Experts warn that if vaccine uptake falls, millions could be hospitalized — or worse — as a result of preventable diseases.

By Arthur Allen and Jackie Fortiér

Jan. 6, 2026

HealthCare Helpline

To Knock Down Health-System Hurdles Between You and HIV Prevention, Try These 6 Things

It’s been more than 10 years since the FDA first approved an HIV prevention drug. Today, people who could benefit from preexposure prophylaxis often struggle to access the lifesaving medicine or run into doctors without the education or empathy to offer affirming care. And those lapses can produce billing headaches.

By Zach Dyer

Jan. 5, 2026

Guns, Race, and Profit

Guns Marketed for Personal Safety Fuel Public Health Crisis in Black Communities

During the covid pandemic, gun marketers told many Americans they needed firearms to defend against criminals and protesters. Then firearm deaths mounted rapidly in racially segregated and low-income neighborhoods, according to federal data.

By Fred Clasen-Kelly and Daniel Chang

Dec. 19, 2025

A building seen through the glass of a wind shield next to an outdoor bench. An etching in the glass reads "FDA" and the sign above the entrance to the building in the distance reads "Food and Drug Administration."

Inside the FDA’s Vaccine Uproar

An internal email claiming covid vaccines killed children triggered a formal response from a dozen past FDA commissioners. The email, sent by the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, outlines a framework that could have significant impact on the nation’s vaccine policies.

By Céline Gounder

Dec. 19, 2025

A photo of the CDC's ACIP panel in a room. A television broadcast camera is seen recording the meeting in the center of the frame.

Vaccine Panel’s Hepatitis B Vote Signals Further Turbulence for Immunization Policy, Public Trust

Clinicians and epidemiologists warn the decision to no longer recommend the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine could unravel decades of progress and expose newborns to a deadly, preventable disease.

By Céline Gounder

Dec. 12, 2025

What the Health? From �Թϲ��

Crunch Time for ACA Tax Credits

Episode 426

Dec. 11, 2025

Dec. 15 is the deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans that begin Jan. 1, and Congress remains at odds over letting expanded tax credits for the plans’ premiums expire and increasing the cost of insurance for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to remake vaccine policy to reflect ideology rather than science. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join �Թϲ��’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown professor Linda Blumberg about the GOP’s health plans.

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A black and white photograph from 1988 shows Rafeeuddin Ahmed, Chairman of the UN Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, speaking at the opening ceremony. On the right is Mrs. M Perez de Cuellar, wife of the UN Secretary-General.

This HIV Expert Refused To Censor Data, Then Quit the CDC

HIV physician John Weiser talks about why complying with President Donald Trump’s orders to erase transgender people is bad for science and society. And he notes that acquiescing didn’t spare the CDC from further harm.

By Amy Maxmen

Dec. 10, 2025

A photo of the ACIP hearing from the press section. Reporters type on laptops in the foreground. In front of them is a large TV screen showing Robert Malone speaking. The full panel is seen behind the screen.

In RFK Jr.’s Upside-Down World of Vaccines, Panel Votes To End Hepatitis B Shot at Birth

A session of a vaccine panel dominated by skeptics was chaotically at odds with past practices of the CDC, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has described as a “cesspool of corruption.” His crew voted to end a 34-year recommendation to vaccinate newborns against hepatitis B.

By Arthur Allen

Dec. 5, 2025

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