TOMORROW: Via UCare, VERBATIM: “With open enrollment starting this Friday, MNsure market leader UCare continues to offer Individual & Family plans shoppers affordable plans with access to most Minnesota providers and benefits that support healthy lifestyles. In 2025, UCare is adding benefits requested by members, such as a first-time $500 copay emergency room visit on Silver copay plans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4huiKnq (SPONSORED: UCare)
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POLL: Via Newsweek, VERBATIM: “Kamala Harris is pulling ahead of Donald Trump among younger voters on nearly every major issue, according to recent polling data shared with Newsweek. The poll, conducted by The Independent Center between October 18 and 22 among 1,200 likely voters aged 18 to 44, shows that Harris leads Trump on seven key issues, including the economy, healthcare, and social issues. The only issue where Trump has the lead is immigration. Harris' biggest lead was over Trump is on healthcare, where she leads him by 16 points, on 49 percent to his 33 percent.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Ap3ojb
SURVEY: Via PhRMA, VERBATIM: “Americans’ experience with the health care system continues to be defined by access and affordability challenges, and specifically, insurer- and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)-imposed hurdles. As the fifth Patient Experience Survey (PES) from PhRMA/Ipsos reports, patients demand greater urgency in making meaningful strides toward affordable, accessible health care.”
READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hswBdK
PREGNANCY: Via National Women’s Law Center, VERBATIM: “Polling that the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) conducted with Morning Consult in December 2023 shows that Black, Latina, and white women who have ever experienced pregnancy deal with a range of conditions brought on by pregnancy or childbirth and believe that many of those conditions worsened because of social and economic factors, like income, education, community, and safety.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NJMnDw
MEDS: Via Medical Economics, VERBATIM: “If it feels like the new antiobesity medicines are everywhere, you may not far off. More than three-quarters of family medicine and internal medicine physicians said they have prescribed the drugs, according to survey, ‘Physician Use and Perceptions of GLP-1 Drugs for Weight Loss.’ that online poll was posted this fall by Medical Economics and sister publication Patient Care. The survey asked physicians about their experiences, and those of their patients, using the new Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist drugs (GLP-1RAs).” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3CgQxjv
BLACK WOMEN: Via National Women’s Law Center, VERBATIM: “Polling that the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) conducted with Morning Consult examines the impact of “weathering” on Black women—'a process that encompasses the physiological effects of living in marginalized communities that bear the brunt of racial, ethnic, religious, and class discrimination.’ Weathering describes how racism, poverty, and other social and economic disadvantages puts people under chronic stress that wears down their physical health. The polling reveals that Black women believe a wide range of factors, including gender and racial discrimination, income, education, employment, community, and safety, affect their health. In fact, over half of Black women surveyed agree that weathering has had an effect on their community. The survey also finds that a majority of Black women would like to see the government do more to address these issues.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NM6zEz
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HARRIS VS TRUMP: Via CBS News, VERBATIM: “Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different stances on health care policy in America, although in the 2024 presidential election, health care has not played as prominent a role in the campaign as it did in 2016 or even in 2020. In those campaigns those on the left proposed a radical overhaul of Obamacare, while Republicans sought to repeal it.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3YsrIsv
ACA: Via USA Today, VERBATIM: “House Speaker Mike Johnson told a crowd of supporters Monday night that there will be ‘no Obamacare’ if former President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans win the upcoming election on Nov. 5. Republicans will propose ‘massive reform’ to the Affordable Care Act if they win control of both chambers in Congress and the presidency, Johnson, R-La., said at a campaign event for Republican House candidate Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania on Monday evening.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f2Wf7t
OVERDOSES: From Tim Henderson via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “The recent decline in overdose deaths hides a tremendous disparity by race: Deaths have fallen only among white people while continuing to rise among people of color, according to a new Stateline analysis of federal data. Health experts in nonwhite communities say they’re finding strategies that work in their areas, but that they still struggle for recognition and funding to address the problems, especially among Black and Native people. In all, nearly 5,000 more people of color died from overdoses in 2023 than in 2021, while deaths among white people dropped by more than 6,000, according to the analysis of provisional data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CgQLal
MINNEAPOLIS: From Macy Harder via Minnesota Monthly, VERBATIM: “On Tuesday, the City of Minneapolis unveiled its first-ever Mobile Medical Unit (MMU), a state-of-the-art vehicle that could help bridge gaps in health care access and reduce barriers in underserved communities. According to a press release from the City of Minneapolis, over $1 million from opioid settlement funds will cover the cost of the new unit, including equipping the vehicle with medical supplies and hiring staff. With a focus on substance use, the MMU could help reduce opioid overdose deaths, increase access to treatment, promote long-term recovery, and expand access to medications for opioid use disorder.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3YINnht
FALL BACK: From Deb Balzer via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Many parts of the U.S. – and the world — will soon ‘fall back’ as daylight saving time ends and clocks fall back one hour. This year, the change takes place in the U.S. at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 3. That means an extra hour of sleep – and earlier sunrises and sunsets. How does less sun affect your mood and level of energy? Dr. Jesse Bracamonte, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says sunlight can influence the levels of neurochemicals in the brain.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3C7xRms
From lunch take…
EAGAN: From Dan Niepow via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “When 3M announced two years ago that it would spin off its health care business into a separate company, many Minnesotans feared the new entity would eventually relocate out of state. An announcement from Gov. Tim Walz’s office this week indicates the new company is likely to stay put. On Wednesday, the governor’s office said that Solventum plans to invest $209 million on a new research and development facility in Eagan.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Alb1Ho
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BIRD FLU: Via NBC News, VERBATIM: “A pig in Oregon has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday. It's the first time the virus has been detected in swine in the United States. Test results are pending for two other pigs found on the farm in Crook County, Oregon, the USDA said, while two others tested negative. The pig that tested positive didn't show signs of illness.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4eqgH0Z
MORE: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin testing bulk raw milk across the country for bird flu, a significant expansion of the agency's efforts to stifle the rapid spread of the virus, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters. The move comes after livestock and veterinary groups pushed the USDA to strengthen its current surveillance approach, calling it inadequate to contain the virus, according to state records and industry documents reviewed by Reuters.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hlGEkZ
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AUTISM: Via USA Today, VERBATIM: “Four times as many children have been diagnosed with autism in the past two decades amid improved awareness and screening and evolving definitions. A new study suggests diagnoses have increased at a faster clip among younger adults over the past decade.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4frM7ol
HEART: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “For decades, people with failing heart valves who nevertheless felt all right would walk out of the cardiologist’s office with the same ‘wait and see’ treatment plan: Come back in six or 12 months. No reason to go under the knife just yet. A new clinical trial has overturned that thinking, suggesting that those patients would be much better off having their valves replaced right away with a minimally invasive procedure.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48uO94O
RESEARCH: From Terri Malloy via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Doctors at Mayo Clinic used a new catheter-based approach to draw out resistant pockets of infection that settle in the heart, known as right-sided infective endocarditis, without surgery. Unless treated quickly, the walled-off infections can grow, severely damaging heart valves and potentially affecting other organs as well. In a recent study, over 90% of the participants had their infection cleared, and they had lower in-hospital mortality compared to those whose infections remained.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3NN6fpb
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PREDICTIONS: From Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “When someone throws a ball at you, you almost immediately know to catch it -- even before you consciously realize it. In the past, people thought that in such a situation, the brain functioned like a camera: an image of the flying ball enters through your eyes and is then processed by your brain. The brain then programs an appropriate action to react to it. But doesn't that process take too long? Would you still be able to catch the ball in time? Researchers Christian Keysers, Giorgia Silani, and Valeria Gazzola show that this process in the brain works differently.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4f4s93r
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