Health articles
Get unbiased data and visuals on healthcare, health insurance, birth and death rates, life expectancy, sickness, and disease.
How many high schoolers are trans?
About one in 30 high schoolers identifies as transgender, according to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. What does it mean to be transgender?Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s glossary, “transgender” is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity is different from their sex assigned at birth. People whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth are called “cisgender.”What percentage of US high schoolers are trans?When given a description of what it means to be trans, 3.3% of high schoolers reported that it applied to them. Of the other students, 93.3% of reported not identifying as trans, 2.2% weren’t sure, and 1.3% didn’t understand the question.
Jul 7, 2025How far into pregnancy do most abortions happen?
In 2022, two out of five (40.2%) of reported abortions occurred within the first six weeks of pregnancy. Another 38.4% happened between seven and nine weeks, and 14.2% within 10 and 13 weeks. Put another way, 92.8% of reported abortions were performed before three and a half months of pregnancy.Farther into pregnancy, abortions are less common. Of the remaining 7.2% of reported abortions, 3.0% occurred between 14 and 15 weeks, 1.6% at 16 to 17 weeks, 1.5% at 18 to 20 weeks, and 1.1% at 21 weeks or more.
Jul 3, 2025Just the Facts about US healthcare and the health of Americans
Americans have faced many health challenges in recent years, from opioid addiction to COVID-19. And accidental deaths are rising. So what does the government spend on health for its citizens?
How many people get sick from foodborne illnesses?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that nearly 9.9 million people (or a population that’s a bit more than New Jersey) contract foodborne illnesses every year. Of those, an estimated 53,300 people are hospitalized and 931 die.Foodborne illnesses are severely underreported; some outbreaks are never reported to local health departments, and some are never formally identified because individuals do not seek medical assistance. The CDC’s National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) collects all the data it can, but reporting is voluntary. Based NORS data, the number of reported illnesses decreased 65% from 1998 to 2023. In 2023, 9,521 Americans reported becoming sick from a foodborne illness.
May 8, 2025How many people die from gun-related injuries in the US each month?
An estimated 3.8K in August 2024, the most recent month for which data is available. This includes homicides, suicides, accidents, and other incidents where a shooting was considered the primary cause of death.
How much fentanyl is seized at US borders each month?
About 720 pounds in May 2025. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid used medically as a pain reliever but is also trafficked illegally due to its potency. In 2023, the latest data available, fentanyl was involved in 69% of fatal accidental drug overdoses in the US.
Updates monthlyHow many drug overdose deaths happen every year in the US?
About 105,007 overdose deaths in 2023. That means that for every 100,000 people living in the US, 31 died of a drug overdose. This is the third highest the drug overdose death rate has been since data from 1999 became available.
Which states have the highest and lowest life expectancy?
From 2022 to 2023, life expectancy across the United States rose from 77.5 to 78.4 years, according to final death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).But what exactly does life expectancy mean? And how does it vary by state?
Mar 27, 2025Drug prices have outpaced inflation since the 1980s
Drug prices were 5.5 times higher in 2024 than in 1985, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, and their increases are outpacing general cost-of-living increases: The cost of medication has gone up three times as fast as the overall rate of inflation, with drugs targeting heart disease rising the fastest.
Mar 21, 2025Do women live longer than men in the US?
In the United States, women are expected to outlive men by 5.3 years. This longevity gap, which was two years in 1900, grew to nearly eight around 1980 before dropping to its current level. What are the average lifespans for men and women born in the US?
Mar 21, 2025Which vaccines are recommended for American adults?
Federal vaccine recommendations and state mandates only apply to children, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that adults stay up to date on certain vaccines. Which ones? It depends; recommended vaccinations depend on factors like age, pregnancy, or medical conditions increase infection risks.
Mar 12, 2025What are the leading causes of death in the US?
In 2022, heart disease, cancer, and accidents were the leading causes of death. Out of the nearly 3.3 million deaths in 2022, over 1.5 million, or 47%, were due to one of these three causes. The fourth, fifth, and sixth most common causes were COVID-19, cerebrovascular diseases, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.
How many people have mental illness in the United States?
About 58.7 million adults had a mental illness in 2023. That’s the equivalent of 22.8% of the adult population of the U.S, or 2 in 9 adults. This data comes from an annual survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which defines mental illness as a range of disorders, from mild to severe, affecting a person’s thinking, mood, or behavior.
Updates annuallyHow many people die by suicide in the United States each year?
About 49,476 people died by suicide in 2022. In other words, there were about 14.2 suicides for every 100,000 people in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says several factors cause suicide and they exist at individual, community, and societal levels.
What does the Department of Health and Human Services do?
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch agency responsible for overseeing public health policy and administering funding for health programs and services. The department's functions include managing national health programs like Medicare and Medicaid, advancing medical research, ensuring food and drug safety, and promoting health equity for all individuals. It was established in 1980 after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was reorganized into separate entities.
Updates annuallyHow many kids are vaccinated?
Children born during the COVID-19 pandemic are getting fewer vaccines compared to children born in the 2010s. To control infectious diseases in the US population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all kids get a set of vaccines known as the “combined 7-series” vaccines, by the time they turn 2. Though trends for the individual vaccines in the series vary, complete vaccination is trending downward: 72.8% of children born in 2020 and 2021 got the full set of seven by 35 months, compared to 74.4% of children born in 2013–2014.
Feb 7, 2025Is bird flu impacting egg prices?
Avian flu cases have emerged in flocks of both commercial and wild birds since 2022, contributing to spikes in egg prices, which crossed $4 a dozen in late 2024. What is the avian flu? Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly called the bird flu, is the general term for a group of viruses that usually spread between birds but can also infect mammals, including humans. The symptoms include those usually associated with the flu: fever, cough, sore throat, aches, and fatigue. With bird flu in particular, conjunctivitis is also common. The health risk for humans is low — 67 people contracted bird flu in 2024, resulting in one death, and there hasn’t been any person-to-person spread — but the H5 strain of bird flu has been impacting America’s commercial poultry flocks on a large scale, and is now spreading among herds of cows.
Jan 23, 2025The Affordable Care Act and the data: Who is insured and who isn't
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a comprehensive healthcare reform act signed into law in March 2010, during Barack Obama’s first presidency.The legislation aimed to “make affordable health insurance available to more people” by offering tax credits to some enrollees, expanding Medicaid to be available based on income alone, and supporting innovation to lower the cost of providing healthcare.Is Obamacare the same thing as the ACA?Yes — “Obamacare” is an unofficial nickname for the ACA, used both inside and outside of government.What did the ACA do?The ACA had implications across the healthcare and insurance industries, including introducing a number of changes to how people get insured.In 2013, 85.5% of Americans were covered by public or private health insurance, leaving 14.5% uninsured. The ACA went into effect in 2014. By 2016, 91.4% were insured, dropping the uninsured percentage to 8.6%, a 5.9-point shift.In early 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services reported that more than 40 million people had enrolled in ACA-related insurance plans.
Jan 17, 2025How common are triplets and higher-order births?
In 1998, around 19 in 10,000 babies born in the US was a triplet (or more). By 2023, around seven in 10,000 were. How many is 10,000? It's just over half the capacity of Madison Square Garden. Both medical professionals and the general public have long been interested in pregnancies that result in two or more babies — also called multiple birth pregnancies. While twins are a familiar phenomenon, triplets, quadruplets, or more, are less common.What does “multiple births” mean?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “multiple births” as when a pregnancy results in two or more fetuses being delivered. Twin births are the most common type of multiple birth. In 2023, the rate of twin births was 306 per 10,000 births, or 3.06%. How common are triplets and higher-order multiple births?In 1998, the rate of triplets or higher-order multiple births was 193.5 out of 100,000 live births, or a rate of 0.19%. In 2023, this rate was 73.8 out of 100,000. That’s 0.07% of live births that year. Overall, from 1998 to 2023, the rate of triplets and higher-order multiple births dropped 61.9%.
Jan 2, 2025How have US fertility and birth rates changed over time?
Women nationwide are giving birth to fewer children than they did 100 years ago, 10 years ago, and even a year ago. Those who do are increasingly having children later in life. Measuring a nation’s fertility and birth rates helps explain how demographics may shift over time.How are fertility rates calculated?The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines the general fertility rate as the number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44.
Oct 25, 2024How many people skip medical treatment due to healthcare costs?
In 2023, 27% of American adults skipped some form of medical treatment because they couldn’t afford it, according to the Federal Reserve. This is lower than the 32% who avoided care in 2013, when data collection began, but ties with 2015 and 2017 as the fourth-highest year on record.The probability of declining medical care seems to correlate with income: 42% of people with a family income under $25,000 skipped some medical treatment in 2023, compared to 12% of people with incomes over $100,000.
Oct 14, 2024Which states are people traveling to for abortions?
According to the most recent national abortion data, 74,244 pregnant women traveled outside of their areas of residence for abortions in 2021. That’s 11.9% of all abortions reported that year. California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey did not submit abortion data.Where are people traveling to get abortions?Washington, DC, had the highest rate of non-residents traveling for an abortion, at 70.8% and Kansas had the second highest rate at 49.9%.Abortion medication is available in Kansas, though abortions are prohibited after 22 weeks of gestation. Surrounding states Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma all have laws prohibiting abortion regardless of gestational age.Abortion medication is available in Washington, DC, and in nearby Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
Aug 30, 2024Can Medicare negotiate the price of prescription drugs?
The 2022 passing of the Inflation Reduction Act means that, for the first time, Medicare can negotiate the prices of some prescription drugs.Ten prescription drugs covered by the Medicare Part D benefit program are now subject to price negotiation. This program won’t affect prices until 2026 and will expand annually until 2029. Medicare can only negotiate on the price of drugs that have a high total cost to the federal government, don’t have a generic alternative, and were approved by the FDA for at least the last seven years.What’s included in Medicare Part D?People 65 and older and people with certain disabilities are eligible for Medicare, a federally sponsored health insurance program. The optional Medicare Part D provides prescription drug coverage for about 52 million Americans as of November 2023.Most people participating in Part D pay a small monthly premium and must pay an annual deductible before the Medicare drug benefit starts assisting with costs. How much the government assists on medication costs depends on a person’s income and the total cost of a person’s prescriptions, among other factors.Is spending on Medicare Part D drugs increasing?Part D spending depends on several things including enrollment numbers, according to the Congressional Budget Office.One contributing factor is the size and quantity of drug manufacturer price rebates. Rebates are payments that manufacturers make to Medicare; on average, rebates are equivalent to 47% of the total price for standard drugs and 12% of the price for more specialized, expensive medications.According to annual reports by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), per-enrollee spending on Medicare Part D prescription drugs has decreased in recent years, falling 14% from a recent peak in 2015 to 2022.
Aug 1, 2024How much does the government spend on Medicare?
Medicare is a health insurance program in the United States for individuals aged 65 and older.In 2023, the federal government spent about $848.2 billion on Medicare, accounting for 14% of total federal spending. This amount averages approximately $15,727 per Medicare beneficiary annually.What is Medicare?Former president Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965. Younger people with specific disabilities and/or diseases are also eligible.Medicare is part of mandatory spending, which also includes Social Security, Medicaid, and Veterans care. These programs operate based on eligibility rules and benefit formulas established by law, making this spending “automatic” as it does not require annual appropriations by Congress.How many Americans use Medicare?The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that Medicare currently covers 67.1 million Americans, which is roughly one in four American adults. About 89.5% of Medicare recipients are 65 years old or older.
Aug 1, 2024US cancer rates and trends: how have cancer rates and mortality changed over time?
Cancer has been one of the top two leading causes of death in the United States for over 75 years. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), nearly 40.5% of all Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.According to NCI data, 2024 could have over 2.0 million new cancer cases. It projects approximately 611,720 people could die from cancer.However, even though the overall number of cases rises as the population grows, fewer people are getting and dying from cancer. Between 2000 and 2021, the incidence rate — or the rate of new cancer cases per 100,000 people — declined by 5.7%, while the annual mortality rate fell by 27.5%.In 2021, age-adjusted figures show 458.3 new cancer cases and 144.2 deaths per 100,000 individuals.As of January 2022, an estimated 18.1 million cancer survivors were in the United States. That’s approximately 5.4% of the population.There are some disparities in cancer rates across different population demographics. As of 2022, Black and Indigenous Americans are more likely than any other racial demographic to die from the disease.However, age is still the most indicative cancer risk factor for all racial and ethnic groups.Cancer rates also vary between states due to differing local risk factors.
Jul 29, 2024How many people in the US get colon cancer?
In 2024, colorectal cancer is estimated to be the fourth most common cancer in men and women and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.In 2000, there were 153,118 cases of colorectal cancer, peaking at 153,889 in 2003. Cases fell to 139,115 in 2012, rose to 147,445 in 2019, and then dropped to 129,820 in 2020 and 131,902 in 2021, likely influenced by reduced testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.Between 2000 and 2021, nearly 3.5 million people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, an amount comparable to the entire population of Connecticut in 2023. This averages to about 400 new cases daily and represents about 9.2% of all new cancer diagnoses during those years.In 2021, there were an estimated 1,392,445 people living with colorectal cancer in the US, meaning one out of every 238 people were directly affected by the disease that year.How many people die from colon cancer?From 2000 to 2021, nearly 1.2 million people died from colorectal cancer — roughly 146 people per day on average. Annual deaths ranged from roughly 57,000 to 52,000 per year. These totals have fallen by 8.2% over this period.What’s the difference between colon and colorectal cancer?Colorectal cancer refers to cancers that can develop in the colon or the rectum. There are key differences between colon and rectal cancers, such as where they occur and how they're treated.The colon is the large intestine, leading to the rectum, which connects to the anus. It's important to recognize that colon and rectal cancers are not the same; they have different risk factors and treatments. Understanding these differences helps ensure more effective care and treatment.Based on data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), since 2000, about 70% of colorectal cancers have been diagnosed as colon cancers.Are colon cancer rates on the rise?Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates have fallen since 2000. Between 2000 and 2021, new case rates have dropped 32.7%, and mortality rates have fallen about 38.2%, according to NCI data.
Jul 29, 2024Which states ban the abortion pill?
On June 13, 2024, in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the US Supreme Court unanimously reversed a lower court decision suspending the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a medication used to end pregnancies in the first trimester and treat early miscarriages. The ruling allows healthcare providers to continue distributing the medication without added restrictions.As of June 2024, 14 states have near-total bans on mifepristone. The other 36 states and Washington, DC, provide some form of legal access to the abortion medication.
Jul 15, 2024Mammograms are recommended beginning at age 50. Are women getting them?
Adjusting for age, 71.6% of women 50 and older have had a mammogram screening in the past two years. This figure includes women of all backgrounds, including education, race, income level, and other factors, including insurance status — which denotes the biggest gap between who does or doesn’t get screened.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, with approximately 119 per 100,000 women in the United States diagnosed with a new case in 2020. Among women’s cancer deaths, it is the second most common cause, responsible for approximately 19 deaths per 100,000 women in 2020.
Oct 24, 2023Has vehicle traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels?
Preliminary data from the Federal Highway Administration has American drivers logging a total of 2,154,571,000,000 miles this year to date — that’s 2.15 trillion — the most vehicle miles traveled during the first eight months of a calendar year since 2019.How much did the pandemic impact vehicle traffic?According to the USAFacts America in Facts 2023 report, the number of miles driven in the US increased at an average rate of 2% annually between 1970 and 2019. In 2020, fewer people traveled to work, school, or other destinations due to the pandemic, and vehicle miles dropped 11%. Miles driven rose again in 2021, 2022, and the first eight months of 2023.
Nov 3, 2023Where mental illness is increasing in the US
In 2019, adults in the US experienced mental illness at a higher rate than the decade prior. Within the previous year, 20.6% of adults had experienced a mental illness, compared to 18.1% in 2009, according to estimates from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.The increase is more pronounced for adults ages 18–25, reflecting trends among children and teens in recent years. The implications reach throughout the world of public policy, prompting discussions about mental health and access to professional services, alternatives to police responses to mental health crises, and the role of schools in addressing mental health at an early age.
Nov 16, 2023Which waterborne illnesses are most common?
In 2020, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study estimated that waterborne illnesses affect around around 7.2 million Americans annually. These illnesses can spread through drinking water, recreational bodies of water like swimming pools and lakes, and via water used for agriculture.What is a waterborne illness?Waterborne illnesses are diseases caused by pathogens — bacteria, viruses, and parasites — that travel via water and are contracted by drinking or encountering contaminated water.What are the most common waterborne illnesses?Per CDC estimates, the five most common waterborne illnesses in the US are:Otitis externa or "swimmer’s ear": A bacterial infection that typically occurs when water stays in the outer ear canal for too long. Although more prevalent among children, anyone can get swimmer’s ear. It’s not contagious.Norovirus: A highly contagious virus that spreads through contaminated food or water — it’s considered both a foodborne and waterborne illness. It often spreads when an infected person handles food without washing their hands first.Giardiasis: A waterborne illness triggered by the microscopic parasite Giardia duodenalis. Giardia parasites spreads by being ingested in contaminated water or food. After infection, the parasite lives in the intestines and can be passed through fecal matter.Cryptosporidiosis: Cryptosporidium, often called “Crypto,” is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. The primary symptom of a Cryptosporidium infection is watery diarrhea. Other symptoms include stomach cramps or pain, dehydration, nausea, vomiting, fever, and weight loss. It can be spread through drinking contaminated water or coming in contact with contaminated fecal matter.Campylobacteriosis: An illness caused by the bacteria Campylobacter, and the most common bacterial cause of diarrheal illness in the United States. Campylobacter spreads mainly through consumption of raw or undercooked poultry, or foods that have been in contact with raw poultry. It can also be transmitted through other foods, contact with infected animals, and untreated water.
Feb 7, 2024Food prices are up as millions of Americans are unemployed
At a time of record unemployment, Americans are paying more for food at the grocery store. In April, national prices for household food items rose 2.6% over March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).This 2.6% change in food is a seasonally adjusted average for a category called the BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI) calls “Food at Home.” It’s an overall measure for price fluctuations for items like milk and bread. This increase is in the midst of when people must cook at home and can’t as easily opt for restaurants due to state-mandated closures due to COVID-19.The average price of goods overall declined 0.8%, but clearly not all categories experienced that decline.
May 23, 2020The $2 trillion CARES Act, a response to COVID-19, is equivalent to 45% of all 2019 federal spending
Congress passed several major pieces of legislation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past few weeks. What’s the difference between these bills, currently being discussed in phases, and what’s the best way to measure the size of the CARES Act in the context of previous government spending?Phases I & II: First stages of the coronavirus responsePhase One – Health agencies and initial small business loansThis first significant piece of legislation passed on March 6, 2020. H.R. 6074, or the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, provides $8.3 billion in funding for vaccine development, loans for affected small businesses, evacuations and emergency activities at State Department facilities, and other humanitarian assistance.Phase Two – Paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, and food assistancePhase Two refers to H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which passed on March 17, 2020. The law provides roughly $100 billion in tax credits supporting emergency paid leave benefits. It also expands unemployment benefits and requires employers to give approximately two weeks of paid sick leave. The bill also increases access to food and nutrition support for both children and adults by waiving specific program requirements.Phase III: The CARES ActOn March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law, amounting to over $2 trillion in aid. That’s roughly $6,000 per American or 45% of all federal government expenditures in 2019.
Sep 23, 2020How many people die in traffic accidents in the US?
Traffic fatalities increased more than 10% in 2021, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The increase came along with a rise in out-of-state travel and greater miles traveled in 2021, rebounding after stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Most of the fatalities occurred on multilane highways and freeways.
Sep 2, 2022How does the government count COVID-19 deaths?
The number of COVID-19 deaths in the US since the pandemic began topped 700,000 in October. This makes the virus the nation’s third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.Those numbers are preliminary, and the official data will not be complete until at least a year after the government officially ends the public health emergency for the pandemic. With both the provisional and official data tracking causes of death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires anyone certifying death information to follow international standards from the World Health Organization.When an individual dies, there’s often multiple contributing conditions or factors. Those can create challenges for tracking the cause of death in government data.
Oct 25, 2021What does the Veterans Health Administration do?
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is a subdivision of the US Department of Veterans Affairs responsible for providing comprehensive healthcare services to military veterans. The agency operates a nationwide system of medical centers, outpatient clinics, and specialized care facilities, offering services ranging from primary care to specialized treatments for conditions such as PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. It also conducts research and provides training for healthcare professionals. It was established in 1930.
Updates annuallyWhich states have the highest risk for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases?
Every year from mid-spring to mid-summer, reports of tick bites rise. Although Lyme disease is the most well-known and most common tick-borne disease, there are others to be aware of.What is Lyme Disease?Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US — that is, spread via blood-feeding insects like fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. Symptoms include headache, fatigue, fever, and a skin rash. If untreated, the disease can spread to the heart, joints, and nervous system. In most cases, it can be successfully treated with antibiotics.How common is Lyme Disease?Although it’s difficult to know exactly how many people are infected every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease annually. The agency based this number on insurance claims from 2010–2018 — and it may be an overestimate due to people receiving treatment when they weren’t actually infected.The number of reported cases in 2022 was 63,000 or nearly 19 in 100,000 people. This is an increase from 2018’s 7.21 in 100,000 people.Why are estimates and reported cases so different? This is partly because reporting is not required, and what is reported varies by health department. Many cases are never reported because they're diagnosed and treated without lab testing.The CDC attributes increasing tick-borne diseases to changes in land use — suburban development has introduced people into areas where ticks are more likely to live. It also notes that changing climate patterns impact the locations and seasonality of tick bites.
May 15, 2024Gun injuries are killing more Americans. Which communities are most impacted?
The number of people dying from firearm-related incidents has been increasing since 2000 — in particular, deaths increased by 45.5% between 2012 and 2021, with a spike between 2019 and 2021. There were 48,830 firearms deaths in 2021, the highest total number since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began tracking this statistic in 1968. This is a 70% increase from 2000, when there were 28,663 firearm deaths.
Sep 21, 2023How many people die from extreme heat in the US?
For many Americans, managing high summer temperatures has become a fact of life. Unfortunately, the human toll of these longer and more intense heat waves is also increasing.Heat waves — defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as periods of two or more days where the weather is “abnormally and uncomfortably hot” and “outside the historical averages for a given area” — have become more frequent and longer in duration since the middle of the 20th century. In April 2023, 69.7 million Americans lived in counties experiencing higher temperatures than the 20th-century normal.In 2023, Americans are increasingly grappling with prolonged heat waves — sometimes dubbed “heat domes” or “heat islands” by the Environmental Protection Agency — even in areas accustomed to particularly high heat. Phoenix, Arizona, for example, registered an average daily high temperature of 114.7 degrees Fahrenheit in July.
Aug 22, 2023Is Medicaid enrollment dropping?
A pandemic provision kept states from disenrolling Medicaid recipients for years. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, this provision ended on March 31, 2023.The Office of Health Policy projects that 17.4% of those enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or approximately 15 million people, will lose coverage. Here’s how millions gained or continued coverage over the pandemic — and who will lose coverage soon.How did Medicaid enrollment change during the pandemic?Congress passed the continuous enrollment provision under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act at the onset of the pandemic. This policy prevented states from disenrolling Medicaid recipients to ensure public health needs were met.During the pandemic, states received a temporary increase in Medicaid funding with the expectation that enrollment rates would increase.Between 2020 and 2022, Medicaid enrollment grew by approximately 20 million people. As a result of this policy, the nation hit a historic low uninsured rate of 8% at the beginning of 2022.As of January 2023, over 93 million people were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
May 8, 2023