The proposed action levels — which are not legally set limits — would result in reduced exposures to lead and lessen potential health effects for babies and toddlers, the agency said. [Chicago SunTimes]...

How much lead would be allowed in processed baby food?

The processed foods covered by the draft proposal, entitled Action Levels for Lead in Food Intended for Babies and Young Children, includes foods in jars, pouches, tubs and boxes and intended for babies and young children less than 2 years old.

Proposed action levels:

• Fruits, vegetables, mixtures, yogurts, custards/puddings and single-ingredient meats: 10 parts per billion (ppb).
• Single-ingredient root vegetable foods: 20 ppb for root vegetables (single ingredient).
• Dry infant cereals: 20 ppb.

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• Rural, critical access and safety net hospitals have not expanded initiatives to address social determinants of health in vulnerable patient populations, and some are implementing fewer such strategies, according to an analysis of survey data collected during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to develop community partnerships especially have lagged.
• Insufficient financial and community resources, workforce constraints, limited institutional partnerships and a lack of incentives were among the possible explanations for the stalled momentum offered by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
• For state and federal policymakers looking to alleviate health inequities by implementing programs focused on social needs, addressing resource barriers that hospitals serving vulnerable populations face should be a priority, the researchers said in a report published in JAMA Health Forum.
• Read both articles. 

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Meeting patient needs for mental healthcare access will require industry leaders, clinicians, and healthcare policymakers to focus on giving clinicians the tools needed to meet patients in any care setting, as well as enable more ample access to mental healthcare providers, according to a new paper from the Alliance for Patient Access (AfPA). [Patient EngagementHIT]

More patients than ever are seeking mental healthcare, with AfPA citing figures that 53 million Americans now live with some kind of mental illness. Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this prevalence of mental illness has pushed the mental health space to face unheard-of patient demand.

But patients don’t always look for mental health treatment in a traditional mental health setting, the report authors noted. While some still seek care from a mental health professional, many others find the most accessible pathway is through their primary care provider. Some find themselves in a mental health emergency and accessing the emergency department.

“In some cases, these spaces and their providers don’t have access to the tools needed to provide mental health patients with the services to effectively treat their conditions,” the report authors noted. “It is imperative that policymakers, insurers and clinicians collaborate and adapt to provide accessible, affordable services by meeting mental health patients where they are.”

CHALLENGES, LIMITATIONS IN PRIMARY CARE

Four in 10 mental health visits happen in a primary care setting, the AfPA report noted, potentially because of the longitudinal relationships patients have with their primary care provider. Primary care providers have had the opportunity to build a strong baseline of trust with patients, and that trust may make it easier for patients to disclose mental healthcare needs.

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The City of Chicago shares the increase in mental health clinics. The increase of support help is compared to 2019.  The mental health challenge is a silent, internal struggle.   Too often, dealing with a mental health challenge is a silent, internal struggle – but it doesn’t have to be. Even though the moments in which we need help the most can be the hardest ones to ask for it, you’re not alone. We understand that sometimes you need a shoulder to lean on, which is why the City of Chicago is committed to supporting your mental health with the resources it takes to keep our communities well. 

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A five-year experiment aimed at improving care for some of California’s most at-risk Medicaid patients — including homeless people and people with severe drug addictions — resulted in fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits that saved taxpayers an estimated $383 per patient per year, according to a review released Wednesday. [AP Associated Press] 

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research said that for every 1,000 people enrolled in California’s Whole Person Care pilot program, there were 45 fewer hospitalizations and 130 fewer ER visits when compared with a similar group of patients who were not in the program.

California has the largest Medicaid program in the country, with about 13 million people getting free health care from the government. That’s about one-third of the state’s population.

In 2016, the state launched an experiment focused on the most at-risk Medicaid patients, those who were prone to expensive, repeated hospital visits but whose conditions rarely improved. These included people who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, people recently released from prison, people with multiple chronic health conditions and patients with severe drug addiction or mental health problems.

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Five Illinois Democrats joined colleagues last week to introduce a proposal to expand family and medical leave. [Health News Illinois]
 
The bill would expand protections to those working for smaller employers by reducing the current federal coverage threshold from 50 employees to one employee as well as eliminating the requirement that an employee work 1,250 hours at a single workplace over the previous year. It would also cut the amount of time an individual must have worked at their workplace to receive protections from 12 months to 90 days.
 
Lawmakers that have signed on include Sen. Dick Durbin for U.S. Senate, D-Ill., and Reps. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove; Danny Davis, D-Chicago; Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston; and Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville.
 
Underwood introduced the proposal last week, ahead of Sunday's 30th anniversary of the original legislation mandating that certain employers provide family and medical leave.
 
“(Co-sponsor Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.) and I are introducing the (bill), the largest expansion of the (Family and Medical Leave Act) since its enactment, so that working people can provide for their families and care for their loved ones without having to worry about their job security or putting their career plans on hold,” Underwood said in a statement. 

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Most states had lower average official poverty rates in 2019-2021 than a decade earlier, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates released in January, during National Poverty in America Awareness Month. [US Census Bureau]

A new historical table using the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) shows that three-year average official poverty rates fell nationwide and in most states between 2009-2011 and 2019-2021.

Download Table here>

These changes reflect economic trends over the decade. 

The 2009-2011 data cover the period immediately following the Great Recession (December 2007 to June 2009), when poverty rates were among their highest this century.

The 2019-2021 data include three key time periods:

• The end of economic expansion following the Great Recession.
• The recession that accompanied the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (February to April 2020).
• The government’s response to the pandemic, which provided support and reduced poverty rates. 

The official poverty measure uses a set of thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. Those thresholds are compared to family or individual before-tax money income. Capital gains and noncash benefits (like public housing, Medicaid or food stamps) are not included as income.

Overall, the national average official poverty rate fell from 14.8% in 2009-2011 to 11.2% in 2019-2021. The figures below demonstrate the differences between the states during both time periods. 

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It's easy these days to take an at-home COVID test when you have symptoms like a fever and sore throat. But when the test is negative, the next step toward diagnosis usually means leaving the comforts of home. [MedScape]

But that could soon change. The FDA says it is confident that at-home rapid tests like those for COVID-19 are forthcoming for the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

The division of the National Institutes of Health that helped create rapid COVID tests confirmed it is partnering with developers on combination tests that can look for multiple respiratory illnesses.

Combination tests that can look for the markers of more than one disease are called multianalyte. Europe and Australia already have over-the-counter tests that look for flu and RSV along with COVID-19.

"We will be authorizing at-home flu and/or RSV tests that are multianalyte with COVID," an FDA official told WebMD. "I can't tell you exactly when that would happen, but we are eager to do that."

Making such an at-home test possible would be in line with the FDA's goals to expand healthcare equity and affordability, the official said.

Right now, the process for developing and applying for FDA approval of combination tests is less complicated and expensive for developers under special pandemic rules. Developers get extensive assistance from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH, particularly in the area of validation studies.

The institute has already helped develop combination tests that can be used in healthcare settings, says its director, Bruce Tromberg, PhD.

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