Around 19,000 Illinoisians could lose health insurance coverage next year, following the expiration of temporary enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies and the end of Medicaid’s continuous enrollment policy, according to a recent report from the Urban Institute. [Health News Illinois 4.18.2022]
 
The American Rescue Plan Act, enacted in April of last year, boosted premium tax credits and extended eligibility to those making more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Those changes are set to expire next year. 
 
If Congress doesn’t act, 3.1 million more people could become uninsured across the nation, with those enrolled through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces facing hundreds of dollars more per person on premiums, per the report. 
 
Nationwide, the uninsured rate would rise to 10.4 percent. In Illinois, it would rise to 9.2 percent, with about 996,000 people without insurance.
 
Black people, young adults, and people with incomes between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level will likely experience the biggest coverage losses. 
 
Extending the subsidies will likely increase the federal deficit by $305 billion over 10 years, the report noted. 
 
The federal public health emergency is set to end this summer, along with Medicaid’s continuous enrollment policy. The report’s authors estimate that Medicaid enrollment will fall by 14 million next year nationwide.
 
Extending the subsidies could mean more leaving Medicaid will be eligible for premium tax credits, with those eligible likely to pay less in premiums, per the report.

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Everyone goes through tough times in life. But many things can help you survive—and even thrive—during stressful periods. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Learning healthy ways to cope and how to draw from resources in your community can help you build resilience. [NIH News In Health]

“Resilience is the extent to which we can bounce back from adverse events, cope with stress, or succeed in the face of adversity,” says Dr. Cindy Bergeman, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame.

You’re not born with resilience. “It’s not something you either have or don’t have,” says Dr. Alexandra Burt, a child development expert at Michigan State University.

Full article here>

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Socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood predicts a myriad of negative outcomes, including lower earnings, poorer mental and physical health, and higher rates of criminal behavior (Cohen et al., 2008; Duncan, Ziol-Guest, & Kalil, 2010). One way disadvantage may exert these effects is by undermining the development of self-control, or the broad capacity to regulate behavior, thoughts, and emotions (Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994). Consistent with this notion, disadvantage predicts poorer self-control during childhood (Hackman, Gallop, Evans, & Farah, 2015; Last, Lawson, Breiner, Steinberg, & Farah, 2018; Lengua et al., 2015) and, in turn, lower levels of self-control during childhood and adolescence predict poor short and long-term outcomes (Mischel & Ayduk, 2004; Moffitt et al., 2011).  [National Library of Science] 

Full article here>

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Successful public health efforts are data-driven, focused on unhealthy or unsafe environments as well as risky behaviors, and often intentional about reforming systems that are unjust and harm public safety. While laws and their enforcement can be important to advance public health and safety, including reducing gun violence, minimizing harms of exposure to the criminal justice system is also important. Research demonstrates that appropriately targeted efforts that invest in and support individuals and neighborhoods at greatest risk for involvement in gun violence can be successful in saving lives and reaping impressive return on investment. [Daedalus; American Academy of Arts & Sciences ]

Gun violence is the number one public safety priority for many U.S. cities. It extracts extraordinary human and economic costs: firearms were used in 14,414 homicides committed in the United States in 2019, accounting for 75 percent of all homicides.¹ There were 283,503 nonfatal crimes of violence committed with firearms reported to the police in 2019, and many more gun crimes go  unreported.² Firearm homicides are the third-leading cause of death for persons twenty-five to thirty-four years old and the leading cause of death for Black males aged fifteen to thirty-four.³ One study estimated that costs related to medical treatment, disability, lost productivity, and criminal justice responses to gun violence totaled $229 billion annually.⁴ The impacts of gun violence go well beyond the people most directly involved in it. Fear of gun violence and the things we do to respond to that fear result in enormous costs to individuals and local governments. Economists at the Urban Institute found that surges in gun violence reduced neighborhood home values by 4 percent and decreased credit scores and home ownership in affected communities. A single gun homicide in a census tract in a year resulted in decreases in home values the following year of $22,000 in Minneapolis and $24,621 in Oakland, and decreases in home ownership by 3 percent in Washington, D.C., and 1 percent in Baton Rouge.⁵

Full article here>

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COVID-19–related discrimination is common, and it appears that the pandemic has exacerbated preexisting resentment against racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized communities. Efforts are needed to minimize and discredit racially driven language and discrimination around COVID-19 and future epidemics.  [AJPH - American Journal of Public Health] 

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of COVID-19–related discrimination among major US racial/ethnic groups and estimate associations between discrimination, race/ethnicity, and other sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods. We conducted a nationally representative online survey of 5500 American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Latino (English and Spanish speaking), White, and multiracial adults from December 2020 to February 2021. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19–related discrimination were estimated via multinomial logistic regression.

Results. A total of 22.1% of the participants reported experiencing discriminatory behaviors, and 42.7% reported that people acted afraid of them. All racial/ethnic minorities were more likely than White adults to experience COVID-19–related discrimination, with Asian and American Indian/Alaska Native adults being most likely to experience such discrimination (discriminatory behaviors: adjusted odd ratio [AOR] = 2.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.73, 3.89; and AOR = 2.67; 95% CI = 1.76, 4.04; people acting afraid: AOR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.15, 2.07; and AOR = 1.84; 95% CI = 1.34, 2.51). Limited English proficiency, lower education, lower income, and residing in a big city or the East South Central census division also increased the prevalence of discrimination.

Conclusions. COVID-19–related discrimination is common, and it appears that the pandemic has exacerbated preexisting resentment against racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized communities. Efforts are needed to minimize and discredit racially driven language and discrimination around COVID-19 and future epidemics. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(3):453–466. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306594) 

Download full article here>

Authored by Paula D. StrasslePhD, MSPH, Anita L. StewartPhD, Stephanie M. QuinteroBA, Jackie BonillaBS, Alia AlhomsiBA, Verónica Santana-UfretBS, Ana I. Maldonado. 

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Opioid overdoses in Illinois increased 33% from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, there were 2,944 opioid overdose fatalities – more than twice the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents and more than twice the number of homicides. The increase in the number of fatalities is attributed to the rise of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl. Since 2013, synthetic opioid deaths in Illinois have increased 2,736%.

For more details on opioid overdoses during COVID-19 visit this page>

The United States is in the middle of the deadliest drug crisis in our history. Fueled by the growing opioid epidemic, drug overdoses have now become the leading cause of death nationwide for people under the age of 50. In Illinois, opioid overdoses have killed nearly 11,000 people since 2008. Just last year, nearly 2,000 people died of overdoses—almost twice the number of fatal car accidents. Beyond these deaths are thousands of emergency department visits, hospital stays, as well as the pain suffered by individuals, families, and communities. The opioid epidemic is the most significant public health and public safety crisis facing Illinois. 

More details here>

Current new: Last month, state Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville) introduced a bill that would impose harsher penalties for people who distribute fentanyl, but would give people seeking treatment for an overdose immunity from being prosecuted for possessing small amounts of the drug. The move is aimed at saving lives and encouraging people to seek help for fentanyl overdoses without fear of arrest. [The Patch 4.11.2022] 

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Despite public health experts' fears about coinciding surges of flu and COVID-19 engulfing the country, a so-called "twindemic" never materialized. Now, scientists are considering a theory that could explain why, The New York Times reported April 8.

Masks, social distancing and other public health measures rolled out to contain the coronavirus's spread may have played a role in fending off flu and other respiratory viruses during the pandemic. But scientists are also pondering whether a biological phenomenon known as viral interference was at play.

The theory is that exposure to one respiratory virus may put the body at high alert and amplify its ability to fight off other viruses. As a result, only one virus could gain dominance in a region at a time. 

"My gut feeling, and my feeling based on our recent research, is that viral interference is real," Ellen Foxman, MD, PhD, an immunologist at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine, told the Times. "I don't think we're going to see the flu and the coronavirus peak at the same time."

That said, hospitals can still become overburdened even if a twindemic doesn't occur, Dr. Foxman said.

View the full report here.

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The country's total drug spending increased by 7.7 percent in 2021, growing to $576.9 billion, according to a study released April 6 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. [Becker's Health Review 4.7.2022]

Hospitals accounted for $39.6 billion of that spending, marking 8.4 percent growth from 2020. Clinics accounted for $105 billion, a 7.7 percent increase

Gilead's COVID-19 therapeutic remdesivir made up nearly 10 percent of what hospitals spent on drugs in 2021. Hospitals' remdesivir spending outpaced the next three drugs combined, according to the study.

"The drug-spending whiplash that clinics and hospitals experienced in the first year of the pandemic did not end with 2021," Eric Tichy, PharmD, division chair of supply chain management at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and lead study author, said in a statement. "Uncertainty remains around how long the federal government will continue to pay for COVID treatments, and around inflation, which is moving through most economic sectors." 

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The Biden administration unveiled a new plan on Tuesday to improve the nation's understanding of long COVID and to better prevent, detect, and treat the condition, particularly in hard-hit communities.

"Long COVID is real, and there is still so much we don't know about it," said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra during a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.

Millions of Americans may be affected by lingering symptoms of an acute COVID-19 infection, with symptoms ranging from labored breathing to an irregular heartbeat to serious neurological symptoms or mental health problems.

HHS will lead a government-wide response to long COVID, Becerra said, with a new research agenda focused on three core goals: improving care, enhancing outreach and education, and advancing research. HHS will oversee the development of an interagency National Research Action Plan on Long COVID, with input from the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration, among other government entities, as well as from public and private efforts focused on long COVID.

In addition to establishing an action plan, President Biden issued a memorandum that calls on the HHS Secretary to publish a report that would steer people with long COVID to services available from various federal agencies, as well as those experiencing a COVID-related loss and those dealing with pandemic-related mental health and substance use problems, with particular attention to "high-risk communities."

Tuesday's announcement and memorandum stem in part from recommendations of the Presidential COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. Other efforts by the administration to address long COVID detailed in a White House fact sheet included the following:

Full details here> 

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National Minority Health Month 2022 | April is National Minority Health Month (NMHM). This year, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) will highlight the important role individuals can play in their own communities to help reduce health disparities and improve the health of racial and ethnic minorities and American Indian/Alaska Natives.

Here is the link to events in the US-https://lnkd.in/dPfPpzNP. Find the local events in your area. 

This year's NMHM theme is Give Your Community a Boost! This theme focuses on the continued importance of COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, as one of the strongest tools we can use to protect communities from COVID-19. The theme also supports the many other efforts happening in communities throughout the country to advance health equity.

Visit their National Minority Health Month website in English and Spanish to find resources, events, social media messages, graphics, and information to share with your organizations, communities, and networks about how to Give Your Community a Boost!

Public Health is where you are! https://lnkd.in/dBH8p4AV

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