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POLLING
ELECTION ISSUES: Via KFF, VERBATIM: “National exit polls from elections over the past several decades show that voters ranked health care among their top concerns, but ‘the economy’ was the number one issue in most elections. While exit polls usually ask voters to choose between health care and the economy as separate issues, KFF polling has long shown that health care costs are a key economic concern for the public. Analysis of exit poll data also show that health care has been more top-of-mind for voters immediately following periods of national debate on health care reform, such as in elections held during President Clinton’s presidency (1992-1998) and later during President Obama’s presidency (2008-2016) and the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cbyb22
FOOD + CANCER: Via Health, VERBATIM: “What you eat can influence your risk of colorectal cancer, and evidence suggests that regularly consuming processed meats like hot dogs and sausage is a risk factor. Yet a recent poll suggests that 45% of Americans are unaware of the link between these meats and an increased risk of the disease, which is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among people under 50.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sSwMV4
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
ALLINA: Via Doctors Council, VERBATIM: “After more than two years at the bargaining table, the bargaining teams for Doctors Council - SEIU and Allina Health reached a tentative agreement (TA) late Wednesday evening for a historic first union contract. The 3-year agreement, which covers over 600 Allina doctors, physicians’ assistants, and nurse practitioners who provide Primary and Urgent Care, comes four years after the group kicked off their efforts to unionize.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4m896t5
MORE: Via KMSP, a statement from Allina, QUOTE: “The tentative agreement reflects the priorities of both parties and supports Allina Health’s ability to continue caring for our community well into the future. This important step forward allows us to focus on caring for patients and supporting the teams who provide that care every day.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48p9T3b
BCBS: Via Blue Cross, VERBATIM: “Today the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota family of companies (Blue Cross) reported a combined $353 million in operating losses on $10.4 billion in fully insured premium revenue for 2025 . . . Overall, Blue Cross paid $9.8 billion for members’ medical and pharmacy services in 2025, or nearly $27 million in claims on a daily basis. This represents an increase of $1.7 billion in claims spending over the year prior.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4c5z8c2
MORE: Via Becker’s, VERBATIM: “Rising costs in specialty medications, including GLP-1s, and hospital inpatient services were noted as contributing to the loss. In MA, the plan cited pressure around reimbursement rates and high utilization trends. The company also absorbed a large surge of Medicare members after multiple carriers in Minnesota reduced benefits, narrowed service areas or exited the market entirely for 2026, which BCBSM said required operational and administrative expansion.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4c8DQpz
HCMC: Via WCCO-Radio, VERBATIM: “Healthcare providers in the Twin Cities are sounding the alarm, warning that one of Minnesota’s primary safety-net hospitals is facing a shutdown by June. The group of providers say without immediate state and federal aid, Hennepin County Medical Center won’t be able to stay open, and that is a problem for all of them to face.” QUOTE: “If HCMC closes, our patients don’t just disappear, the emergencies don’t stop,” President of the Hennepin County Association of Paramedics and EMTs Shane Hallow explains. “What happens instead is the entire system will strain under the weight.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41bGfup
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)
HEALTH HEADLINES
MEASLES: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “This week, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention posted online its first large tranche of advanced genetic data from measles viruses spreading last year. Scientists with knowledge of the operation expect the agency to post heaps more in weeks to come, revealing whether the U.S. has lost its hard-won measles elimination status. The CDC withheld the data for months as a team hit hard by mass layoffs and resignations sorted through the information.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4m4SO4i
RABIES + POX: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has temporarily paused testing for rabies and pox viruses, the family of viruses that includes smallpox and mpox, according to an update to the agency’s website on Monday . . . The C.D.C.’s rabies and pox virus teams have lost many of their members. By July, the rabies team will be down to just one person with the clinical expertise to advise state and local officials, and the pox virus team will have none.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sS316T
NUGGETS: Via Gray News, VERBATIM: “The Department of Agriculture said dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets could contain lead. The USDA’s Food and Safety Inspection Service is issuing a health alert for the Walmart Great Value Dino-Shaped chicken nuggets.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4c6Tq4Y
TICKS: Via Sanford Health, VERBATIM: “The sun’s rays are warming and the snow on the ground has all but disappeared. That means tick season is here and Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, part of the Marshfield Clinic region of Sanford Health, is beginning its second year of its Tick Inventory via Citizen Science (TICS) in Minnesota. Originally launched in 2024 in Wisconsin, TICS is an effort to identify ticks to assess risk of encountering a tickborne disease and to learn more about who is being exposed to and diagnosed with tickborne diseases.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3OhXWFK
MORE THAN A HOSPITAL: In communities across Minnesota, Essentia Health directly or indirectly supports nearly 19,000 jobs and generates $5.7 billion in labor output every year. From Deer River to Aurora and Detroit Lakes, hospitals are often the largest local employer and keep communities healthy. Learn more about Essentia Health’s economic impact here. (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
DC + HEALTH
MEDICAID: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “Last August, as part of the federal government’s crackdown on people in the country illegally, the Trump administration sent states the names of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees with orders to determine whether they were ineligible based on immigration status. But seven months later, findings from five states shared with KFF Health News show that the reviews have uncovered little evidence of a widespread problem.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sONvsn
INSULIN: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Two-year-old Bain Brandon has Type 1 diabetes and needs insulin to live. But even with health insurance, the price tag isn’t cheap . . . A bipartisan group of senators is aiming to relieve that cost burden with the INSULIN Act, a bill to cap the cost of the lifesaving drug at $35 per month for Americans with private insurance plans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4m8oKVz
GLP-1: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the second GLP-1 pill for weight loss, adding another option to a rapidly growing arsenal of obesity therapies.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v7nkPb
TARIFF: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration has prepared an order that would impose a 100% tariff on imports of patented medications and their active ingredients, according to a draft obtained by STAT.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4m73fEt
ICE IMPACT: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Since Donald Trump returned to office, thousands of kids across the country have had a parent detained by ICE . . . The kids left behind after a parent’s detention often face increased adult responsibilities, as well as the trauma of separation from a parent, said Ana Mariella Rivera, a Minneapolis-based social worker and therapist who often works with Latino clients.” QUOTE: “Time and time again, you see this adultification happening in young teenagers and young adults, even children,” she said. “That robs kids of the childhood that they should have, and the innocence and the ability to deal with age-appropriate challenges.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4m5zWlT
RESEARCH + INNOVATION
BLACK WELLNESS: Via Insight News, VERBATIM: “What would it look like if healing extended beyond the doctor’s office? For the African American Leadership Forum, that is not a rhetorical question. It is a design brief. ALF is building what it calls Black Wellness Pathways — a community-rooted framework for health equity that refuses to center the story of Black illness, and instead draws on the knowledge, wisdom, and talent already present in Minnesota’s Black communities.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47Eq2la
DEMENTIA: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Over Jessie Waks’ 17 years at Bluestone Physician Services, a Stillwater-based care provider, she has noticed a trend: The number of patients or patients’ families choosing to receive care at senior living communities has gone up. So has the number of senior living communities. Despite those increases, dementia care continues to present a considerable challenge to physicians, Waks says, including those at Bluestone, which provides primary care to patients in assisted living and group home settings and counts memory care among its key services.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dr5h00
PARK RAPIDS: Via Sanford Health, VERBATIM: “Sanford Health is now offering child and adult psychiatry services at the Sanford Health Park Rapids Clinic.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4dl0ygh
GOLF: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “As golf season approaches, preparation should start before your first tee time. Building strength off the course can improve performance and help reduce injury risk.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4c2xtDQ
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
MORNING: Via Brigham and Women’s Hospital, VERBATIM: “Millions of people start work before sunrise—but their brains aren’t ready for it. A new clinical trial has found that the wake-promoting drug solriamfetol can significantly boost alertness in early-morning shift workers struggling with shift work disorder. Participants who took the drug were able to stay awake and function better throughout full shifts, with improvements in productivity, safety, and daily performance.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Oi8ftp
MEAT: Via Karolinska Institutet, VERBATIM: “A surprising new study suggests that genetics may change how diet affects brain health—especially when it comes to Alzheimer’s risk. Researchers found that older adults carrying high-risk APOE gene variants didn’t show the expected cognitive decline if they ate relatively high amounts of meat. In fact, those with these genes who consumed the most meat had slower cognitive decline and lower dementia risk, challenging conventional dietary advice.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4v7kCsZ
STUDY: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “As lung cancer screening identifies an estimated 1.6 million suspicious lung nodules each year in the U.S. alone, physicians face a challenge. Most peripheral pulmonary lesions are benign, yet the malignant minority represent the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. A five-year, multisite study from Mayo Clinic suggests robotic-assisted bronchoscopy may provide a less invasive and more precise approach to diagnosing lung cancer.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4toke7C
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