Healthy Communities Online

Today, as the United States officially ends the COVID public health emergency, we know too many Americans continue to deal with the aftereffects of the pandemic, including mental health and substance abuse challenges. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., serves as Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She joins hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to explain plans for dealing with the fact there are more Americans dying of drug overdoses now…

Read More Read More

Philip Zelikow, co-author of the new book “Lessons from the COVID War,” has an important finding as the U.S. still grapples with the tough questions from the pandemic: “We point out in the report that community health workers can play this extraordinary role…where we had them [during the pandemic], they were really effective and that’s like a huge innovation that should punch out to us as a lesson from this war and can have a dramatic effect in America,” says…

Read More Read More

Republicans in the U.S. House passed a deal that lifts the debt ceiling along with spending cuts aimed at the nation’s health care safety net. Romina Boccia, Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, supports the move. She says, “I do think there’s quite a bit of improper spending, waste for certain and things the federal government shouldn’t be involved with anymore, where members of Congress could cut.” Jennifer Wagner, Director of Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment with…

Read More Read More

Anti-tobacco advocates just had another big win: New York, California, and several other states reached a settlement worth nearly $500 million against e-cigarette maker Juul Labs. How can states use these funds for public health good? And how is the truth initiative helping to spread messages about the dangers of vaping? Truth Initiative is America’s largest nonprofit public health organization committed to making tobacco use and nicotine addiction a thing of the past. Experts credit it for helping significantly reduce…

Read More Read More

A federal judge’s decision to revoke the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone has led some politicians to ask the Biden Administration not to enforce the ruling. Yet NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju, who’s in close contact with the White House, tells “Conversations on Health Care” that’s not the right move. “I think calls for the FDA not to comply, while you know emotionally satisfying, are not actually helpful in a litigation strategy. And our goal is for…

Read More Read More

At a time of high misinformation and confusion, Americans need to count on journalists for getting the facts about the state of health care. Reporters are busy covering the top stories including the legal challenges to Affordable Care Act and medical abortion. Join Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter as they talk with three leading health care journalists: Amy Goldstein with The Washington Post; Joyce Frieden with MedPage Today; and Jessica Bartlett with The Boston Globe.