The U.S. maternal mortality rate fell to 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, statistically similar to the 2023 rate of 18.6 per 100,000, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported that the maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2024 was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, significantly higher than rates for white (14.2), Hispanic (12.1) and Asian (18.1) women. [ AHA & CDC]

The AHA is committed to safeguarding mothers and babies by eliminating maternal mortality and reducing maternal morbidity. For more on members’ efforts, including case studies, podcasts, webinars and other resources, visit the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies Initiative webpage. 

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WASHINGTON -- A group of 53 medical schools pledged to increase the amount of time spent on medical students' nutrition education starting this fall, HHS announced Thursday. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

"I'm pleased to announce a transformative breakthrough in medical education," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference at the department's headquarters. "It will reshape the way that we train doctors in our country and deliver on President Trump's promise to end the chronic disease epidemic in America."

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Under the initiative, the 53 medical schools across 31 states will require 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or competency equivalent before graduation, he said. "More than 30,000 physicians each year will now graduate equipped with nutrition education to help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease."

... David Skorton, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, praised the collaboration between the schools and HHS. "This is a great example of an area where alignment between government and academic medicine can drive real impact for patients," he said.

Bobby Mukkamala, MD, president of the American Medical Association, also praised the initiative. "For too long, nutrition has been treated as an elective in medical education -- a few hours here and there," he said. But "considering how important what we eat is for our health, it should be a basic foundational training, because it impacts every one of our patients."

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a toolkit to help states strengthen access to behavioral health services for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. [Becker's Behavioral Health & CMS] 

Medicaid and CHIP cover behavioral health conditions for about 38 million children, making the programs the largest single source of funding for children’s behavioral health services, according to a February report. 

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The toolkit outlines strategies for improving early screening and intervention, care coordination, crisis services, telehealth and workforce capacity. 

The guidance also emphasizes ensuring utilization management and reimbursement policies support early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment requirements. 

It is structured around four focus areas: developing and supporting a behavioral healthcare delivery system that can meet a range of children’s needs; promoting early intervention; improving access through service coordination and integration; and increasing workforce capacity.

Among the recommended practices, CMS said states should ensure Medicaid managed care plans have payment structures sufficient to maintain network adequacy and provide access to medically necessary care required under the early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment.

Read the full toolkit here. 

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on potential new standards for in-home opioid disposal products. This effort is part of the agency's broader work to combat the opioid crisis. [FDA- US Food & Drug Administration]  Canva image  Companies selling opioid analgesics are currently required to make available prepaid mail-back envelopes to outpatient pharmacies and other dispensers. Now, the agency is considering whether to require that opioid sponsors, through dispensers, make available in-home disposal systems. "Having unused opioids laying around at home can be a significant risk to those struggling with opioids and can be a gateway for opioid-naïve family members," said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. "We need to develop creative ways to address opioid misuse and abuse." At present, FDA recommends dropping off unused opioids at a drug take-back location or mailing them back using a pre-paid envelope provided by a pharmacy. Alternatively, the FDA recommends flushing unused opioids down the toilet (something the agency only recommends for certain high-risk medications). A 2017 study in the Science of Total Environment concluded that flushing unused opioids presents a "negligible eco-toxicological risk." Today's RFI seeks input from industry, health care providers, and advocates on appropriate criteria for in-home disposal kits. This aligns with the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, which mandates the FDA to issue guidance to facilitate in-home safe disposal, as well as President Trump's Great American Recovery initiative.   Responses to the RFI are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 6, 2026. All interested parties are invited to submit comments to the docket. ###

Cook County leaders said Tuesday they will continue to support their program that helps pay off medical debt for residents. [Health News Illinois] 

The program launched in 2022 through the use of $7 million from federal relief funding coming out of the pandemic.

As that funding is set to expire at the end of the year, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said they will use county funds to keep the program going.

“This work has proven that targeted public investment can produce immediate, life-changing results, and we're not walking away from that success,” she said.

The program is separate from a state-based medical debt relief program launched in fall 2024. Combined, officials said the programs have erased about $1.5 billion in debt across Cook County, the most medical debt forgiven at the county-level anywhere in the United States.

Over 770,000 Cook County residents have received debt forgiveness between the two programs, representing about 15 percent of the total population.

Gov. JB Pritzker joined officials at the event, noting his budget proposal unveiled last month would continue to support the state program.

“Countless people across the state are living proof that this program is more than clearing numbers on a ledger,” he said. “It is about giving people the freedom and the opportunity to build and live their lives.”

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Patients with rare diseases may no longer have to wait years for gene therapies to clear the Food and Drug Administration. The agency issued draft guidance on Monday outlining a new “plausible mechanism” framework that would allow for the approval of targeted treatments for ultra-rare diseases without requiring large-scale randomized clinical trials — which can be impossible to run when patient numbers are low. [Nice News]
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Under the proposal, the FDA would consider approving a treatment when there’s solid scientific reasoning for why and how it should work, in hopes of creating tailored, cutting-edge therapies for those who have long had few or no options.
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The policy was partly inspired by an infant treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia last year who became the world’s first patient to receive a personalized CRISPR-based gene therapy for his rare metabolic disease. The same approach, supporters say, could be adapted for other, similar conditions.
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“We realized we can do this over and over again, individualizing the therapy for many patients,” Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who helped develop the baby’s treatment, said at a briefing this week, per NPR. “It will allow doctors to treat many, many patients.”

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Important fact on Maternal Health- average number of poor mental health days reported in the last 30 days, reported by KFF (CDC data).

Illinois = 5.0 Days in the last 30 days 

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Data represent the average number of days all adult females reported poor mental health in the past 30 days. Includes women who reported zero poor mental health days.

Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race but are categorized as Hispanic; all other groups are non-Hispanic.

Data based on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an ongoing, state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of non-institutionalized civilian adults aged 18 years and older. For more information about BRFSS, go to http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.html.

Sources

KFF analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Definitions

NSD: Estimates are not provided if the relative standard error exceeds 30% or if the denominator is based on fewer than 50 respondents in the unweighted sample.

N/A: Data not available. Tennessee was unable to collect enough data to meet the minimum requirements for inclusion in 2024.

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On Friday, NIH Director and CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, sent an introductory email to CDC staff, which was shared with MedPage Today. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

In his message, Bhattacharya acknowledged the "abrupt changes in leadership" at the agency, and the shooting at its Roybal Campus in Atlanta last summer.

Nonetheless, he still blamed federal decision-making for a loss of trust in the agency and outlined a brief plan for restoring that trust.

Here's the full text of that message:

Dear Colleagues,

It is an honor to write to you as Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I step into this role with deep respect for the expertise, dedication, and public service that define this institution -- and with clear recognition of the challenges we have faced together over the past several years. I also recognize the unique challenges faced by each of you over the past year due to abrupt changes in leadership, the tragic act of violence last summer, and overall uncertainty felt by all of you. One of my goals is to ensure that you all get the recognition you deserve for your efforts.

The pandemic also tested this agency in unprecedented ways. Many of you worked tirelessly under extraordinary pressure, often at personal cost. Public trust is the foundation of public health. Without it, even our best science cannot achieve its full impact. It is undeniable that some of the Federal government's decisions, communications, and processes contributed to confusion, frustration, and a loss of that trust. Acknowledging this reality is a necessary step toward renewal. It is not a repudiation of your hard work; your work over recent years has been heroic, courageous, and essential.

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Pre- and postpartum mothers in Illinois would receive cash under a new plan unveiled Wednesday by progressive Democrats. [Health News Illinois]

The plan from Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, and Sen. Graciela Guzmán, D-Chicago, would establish a state-funded program that would give eligible mothers a lump sum payment of $1,500 during the third trimester of pregnancy, and $500 per month for the first six months of a child’s life.

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The program would cover those either enrolled in or eligible for Medicaid.

Guzmán said the program is modeled after a similar one operated in Michigan. The Michigan program launched statewide in 2025 at a $270 million cost.

“We need our legislators to also understand the pains that our families are going through, how much these dollars would make a meaningful difference in each of your lives,” she said during a rally in Springfield.

The program would be administered by the Department of Human Services. 

While Illinois faces a difficult budgeting session, Sarah Saheb, director of Economic Security Illinois Action, argued the initial investment in the program will save the state and its residents over $140 million in Medicaid costs associated with preterm and low-birthweight births.

“By putting cash directly in their hands, we can improve birth outcomes, reduce health care costs, and make Illinois the best place in the country to start a family,” she said.

A spokesman for Economic Security Illinois Action did not say how much they expect the program to cost, as it could be scaled up based on investment. He noted the Michigan program began as a pilot in the city of Flint.

Saheb said they have spoken with Gov. JB Pritzker’s office about the program. She did not disclose whether there is support, but said they are aware of the Michigan program.

The program was not part of Pritzker’s budget proposal released last week.

Additionally, advocates are also backing a plan from Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, and Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, to decouple the state’s child tax credit from federal restrictions, a move they said will ensure the lowest-income families can receive the full benefit.

“Too many eligible families are only receiving a fraction of the benefit because of outdated federal income rules that penalize parents,” Aquino said. “This bill would remove unnecessary barriers so that every eligible family can receive the full benefit they deserve and ensure the program reaches every family it was meant to serve.”

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Putting more residency training slots in rural areas is key to increasing access to healthcare among rural and underserved communities, several lawmakers and witnesses said Tuesday at a House hearing on advancing the next generation of the healthcare workforce. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

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"Residency training shapes where physicians ultimately practice," said rural health system CEO

"Rural hospitals must overcome a lack of resources, staff, and patient volume to establish new residency programs while simultaneously getting reimbursed less than their urban counterparts," Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), who chaired the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing in the subcommittee chair's absence, said in his opening statement. "Congress recognized this gap and recently funded more than 1,000 new GME [graduate medical education] slots, with 10% specifically reserved for rural areas, but concerningly, large urban hospitals have exploited a Medicare loophole and have collected 97% of the 800 slots distributed so far."

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