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POLLING
ELECTION ISSUE: Via Politico, VERBATIM: “Battleground-state voters across the political spectrum say the cost of their health care has skyrocketed this year. They’re avoiding the doctor because they can’t afford the out-of-pocket expenses. They feel forced to choose between paying their insurance or their rent — and they’re choosing rent. It’s everything Democrats warned would happen when Republicans cut Medicaid and let Obamacare subsidies lapse last year. But those same voters aren’t pinning the blame on Republicans alone. Those are among the findings from a pair of focus groups that Democratic-aligned firm Navigator Research conducted last week with people who have either experienced premium increases or have gone uninsured.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mY6Sx4
MISINFORMATION: Via UofM CIDRAP, VERBATIM: “About a quarter of people worldwide say they believe that raw milk is healthier than pasteurized milk, that use of acetaminophen during pregnancy causes autism, and that vaccines are used for population control. These are a few of the harmful health claims that were surveyed in the 5th annual Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and Health . . . The Trust Barometer queried people across 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico: Roughly 1,000 people per country were surveyed, for a total of 16,009 respondents.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sXS2rP
MORE: Via Edelman, from the survey:
You can find the full survey results HERE: https://fluence-media.co/48x4sQ2
VACCINES: Via Scientific American, VERBATIM: “Americans trust vaccines scientists as much as they do other scientists, a new U.S. survey finds, despite a decline in vaccination rates and a proliferation of attacks on vaccines in both the wake of the COVID pandemic and the rise of figures such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic. The results come as the Trump administration is reportedly pivoting away from attacks on vaccines, following other polling that has found broad voter support for immunization.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48o6phG
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
MEDICAID SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OF US: Medicaid keeps Minnesota’s hospitals strong and ensures communities across the state have access to care. Policymakers must protect Medicaid so every Minnesotan — regardless of income or health status — can get the care they need, when they need it. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3FtrCuH (SPONSORED: Minnesota Hospital Association)
MINNESOTA HEALTH HEADLINES
BOATING: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Minnesota’s waters reached historic lows last year, as in the lowest number of boating crashes and fatalities. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recorded 35 nonfatal boating incidents in 2025, the lowest number on record since the agency started keeping track in 1970. Boating fatalities were also at an all-time low at seven. The year before, the agency reported 50 nonfatal boating incidents and nine fatalities.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QARBGk
ADDICTION: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Massive cuts to Medicaid set to go into effect in 2027 under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act have put Minnesota’s addiction treatment providers in a watchful state of heightened anxiety. The public insurance covers about half of all substance use treatments statewide. But two of the state’s most recognized providers – Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and The Retreat – don’t rely on Medicaid, making them far less vulnerable. Still, leaders at both organizations are worried, citing concerns about access to care for substance use disorder and the well-being of the recovery community at large.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/42AABTe
ALZHEIMER’S: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Subtle biological changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease may begin as early as the late 50s — decades before memory loss or other symptoms appear — according to new research from Mayo Clinic. The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, maps when key brain and blood-based changes tend to accelerate across the lifespan, offering new insight into when detection and prevention efforts could have the greatest impact.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/491yYS9
340B HOSPITAL MARKUPS HURT PATIENTS: Minnesota’s latest 340B report shows covered entities generated $1.34 billion IN PROFIT in 2024, including an estimated $261 million from Medicaid prescriptions. Independent research finds the program raises costs for patients, taxpayers, and employers statewide. Minnesota should sunset the 340B mandate and Congress should fix the federal 340B program, so it actually helps patients. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/46Bh9IA (SPONSORED: PhRMA)
DC + HEALTH
DRUG TESTS: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “A simple strip of treated paper that can swiftly signal whether a street drug contains deadly fentanyl or other contaminants is a common overdose prevention tool, distributed widely on college campuses and at music festivals and community clinics. The federal government has championed test strips since 2021 and has paid to supply them to states, a position the Trump administration publicly embraced as recently as July. But on Friday afternoon, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration sent a letter to state health departments and grant recipients across the country, saying that the government would no longer pay for the strips because they are ‘intended for use by people using drugs.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49eqZRI
VACCINE: Via The Hill, VERBATIM: “The decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending giving infants a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours after birth is likely to lead to hundreds of more infections, worse health outcomes and millions of dollars in higher costs, according to new research published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. The CDC in December approved the change to longstanding practice following a vote by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory panel.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QAL52m
RURAL HEALTH: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “When Congress approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, it cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade. Now, [community health clinic nurse Tory Starr] hopes the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which was part of the same bill, will help keep his patients covered. Yet, small community health care providers, such as Open Door, may find they are sharing the billions with an army of corporate giants before it reaches their patients.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4vWfY1p
SUPCT: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “The Supreme Court appeared divided on Monday during arguments in a dispute that could determine the fate of thousands of lawsuits that claim a widely used weedkiller causes cancer. The case is the latest turn in a yearslong legal battle over safety concerns with the weedkiller Roundup. Developed by Monsanto in the 1970s, the herbicide is the focus of the lawsuits, which allege that it causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QsPVPf
PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES CONTINUE TO SOAR: While Minnesota’s safety-net hospitals navigate bleak financial outlooks, drug manufacturers continue to raise drug prices at rates that far outpace inflation, rising 23% in the last year alone. By strengthening the 340B drug pricing program, local hospitals can weather these soaring prices and continue to deliver the care and treatments that Minnesotans need. NEW: Minnesota Prescription Drug Price Transparency, Report to the Minnesota Legislature, March 2026 (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
TUMORS: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a blood-based method that may help detect germ cell tumors, the most common type of testicular cancer, including cases that do not show up on standard blood tests, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Testicular cancer most often affects adolescents and young adults, and it is highly treatable, especially when found early. However, diagnosis can be challenging when tumors do not produce enough of the usual blood-based substances — called tumor markers — to show up on standard tests, which can make diagnosis harder.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4mTSupo
BREAST CANCER: Via Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, VERBATIM: “A daily vitamin D supplement may quietly supercharge chemotherapy. In a small study, women who took low doses alongside treatment were far more likely to see their cancer vanish than those who didn’t. Since vitamin D also supports immune function—and many patients are deficient—it could be playing a bigger role than expected. Scientists say this affordable approach deserves much deeper investigation.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49fLD3X
WEIGHT LOSS: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “A Mayo Clinic study found that both metabolic and bariatric surgery and GLP-1 medications improve cardiovascular health in people with obesity, but surgery was associated with significantly greater reductions in long-term cardiovascular risk.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4n2uGzY
ENZYME: Via University of Utah, VERBATIM: “Researchers have found an enzyme that can turn fragile drug molecules into durable ring shapes. This could help medications like Ozempic last longer and work more effectively. The process is simpler and more precise than traditional methods, even for complex drugs. It may open the door to stronger, longer-lasting treatments.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ngcq6l
TRANSITIONS: Via Real Time, VERBATIM: “Smoother patient transitions from hospitals to continuing care facilities and better patient outcomes are now possible thanks to a collaboration between Real Time Medical Systems (Real Time), the industry-leading post-acute analytics solution for post-hospital care, and Allina Health, a large nonprofit health system serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. This month, the organizations launched Real Time’s AI-driven platform within several skilled nursing facilities to enhance care coordination and ensure smoother transitions through real-time, actionable insights.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3QNqaZR
GOLDEN VALLEY: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A new mental health provider has officially launched in the Twin Cities west metro, bringing a unique model of ‘intermediate care’ to Minnesotans facing acute mental health crises. Compass Health Center celebrated its grand opening in Golden Valley, marking the organization’s first foray into the Minnesota market. The facility, which has been operational for about six weeks, aims to address a critical gap in the traditional healthcare landscape: the space between once-a-week therapy and inpatient hospitalization.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4vVH9t5
OUTDOORS: Via Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, VERBATIM: “As temperatures climb and daylight stretches longer, fitness communities of color across the Twin Cities are hitting their stride, gathering on riverbanks, neighborhood trails and community spaces to move, heal and connect.” SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/4w2U8JM
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
MEDIA: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “’The Pitt’ is the newest hit TV show on HBO, and after just wrapping up a harrowing second season, fans of the medical drama set at an emergency room in Pittsburgh, PA are wondering, ‘how realistic is this?’” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3OyUeYF
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