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POLLING
ACA: Via KFF, VERBATIM: “Following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits for people with Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans, a new KFF follow-up survey of the same Marketplace enrollees KFF surveyed in 2025 finds half (51%) of returning enrollees say their health care costs are ‘a lot higher’ this year compared to last year, including four in 10 who specifically say their premiums are ‘a lot higher.’ In all, a large majority (80%) of these enrollees say their health care costs, which can include premiums, deductibles, co-pays, or coinsurance, are higher.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4uDZjPv
MORE: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Of the 1,117 Americans surveyed who had ACA marketplace coverage in 2025, including those who dropped coverage or changed plans, about 55% said they’re planning to deal with health care costs by cutting spending on food and other basic household needs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4sw1OBV
MORE: A couple of notable findings from the survey:
FULL SURVEY RESULTS: https://fluence-media.co/4lKpbVY
SCIENCE: Via Stagwell, VERBATIM: “The Harris Poll, a Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) agency, announced today the results from a landmark survey, ‘Science Under Siege: The Battle Between Viral Misinformation and Shared Belief in the Value of Science,’ sponsored by Bayer. The survey revealed a profound ‘misinformation paradox’ at the heart of American life: while 80% of Americans blame social media for false or misleading health and science information in the media and online, these platforms are the public’s top source for such news.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4snrQHF
CAREGIVING: Via University of Michigan, VERBATIM: “Nearly a third of Americans over age 50 provide regular care to an adult relative or friend with a health issue or disability, a new poll finds. But many of them don’t know about, or use, local resources that could help them with caregiving. And about 20% of these caregivers are like highwire acrobats working without a net, the poll reveals. They’re taking care of someone else with health needs, but without close friends or family members to pitch in if they needed help with their own health concerns. The new findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging could inform caregiver-related policy discussions at state and national levels.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41lA2Ml
GLP-1: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Nearly 1 in 5 Americans (18%) say they or someone in their immediate circle has taken weight-loss drugs in the last three months, according to the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index survey of 1,225 adults conducted March 6-9. Millions more remain interested: Of those who haven’t tried, 15% say they’re interested in a weight-loss injection and 21% in a pill. The new Wegovy pill from Novo Nordisk is still relatively unknown, with 39% saying they’re very or somewhat familiar.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bPPM0h
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)
MN HEALTH HEADLINES
FLU: In its weekly update released today, the Minnesota Department of Health reports 194 adult and two pediatric flu-associated deaths, 5,109 hospitalizations, as well as 265 school and 111 long-term care outbreaks. READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Y10bib
MNLEG: Via Senate DFL, VERBATIM: “Today, the Judiciary committee passed Senator Matt Klein’s (DFL – Mendota Heights) critical legislation to ensure pharmaceutical companies follow the law and comply with their duty to provide more affordable medications to Minnesotans. In 2024, the legislature took action to prohibit drug manufacturers from restricting access to discounted medications under the federal 340B program. However, many pharmaceutical companies have continued to ignore these requirements by denying lower-cost drugs, compromising safety net hospitals’ financial stability, and putting patient care at risk. Senator Klein’s SF3769 adds a clear enforcement mechanism for the law by empowering the Attorney General to hold bad actors accountable and classifying violations as unfair or deceptive trade practices. The legislation also repeals the sunset date from the program, originally July 1, 2027.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bkw78y
ACQUISITION: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Allina Health and Sutter Health say their proposed tie-up will bring much-needed investments to improve patient care in Minnesota while economists caution of the potential to drive up the cost of health care. Sutter, the much larger Sacramento, Calif.-based health care system, said it plans to acquire Allina and spend $2 billion on initiatives including more ambulatory care locations and specialty institutes in Minnesota and western Wisconsin to ‘improve patient access and affordability.’ Economists expressed skepticism, noting a costly potential side effect of the planned combination: higher health care prices caused by the creation of a larger system with more power to extract higher payments from insurers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cS5Csi
ICE SURGE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Hamline University creative writing professor Angela Pelster-Wiebe never expected to have to make a plan like the one she brought to her students on the first day of the semester in January. She told them a plan for what they would do in the unlikely situation of immigration enforcement officers coming into class . . . Now, nearly two months later, Pelster-Wiebe said it remains too early to talk about what happened as people process. She said she sees the ripple of anxiety and trauma in her classes still.” QUOTE: “It feels like people are emotionally unwell in a way that feels a little bit different from other years,” Pelster-Wiebe said. “Maybe I’m just making that connection because it feels like it’s a difficulty I’m still processing. But it‘s not usual for students to just start crying in class one after the other.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41hmOAi
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
HEALTH CARE: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “Democrats are laying out their plans to rebuild the health care system in the hopes of eventually regaining control of Congress and the White House. On Thursday, a dozen Senate Democrats proposed a framework for private health insurance with the goal of making it affordable, and more standardized and simple. The plan, led by Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is the second in a series.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47H0HqA
VACCINE POLICY: Via ProPublica, VERBATIM: “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who founded an antivaccine group and once likened the immunization of children to a holocaust, is transforming a government that long championed the lifesaving benefits of shots into one that spreads doubts about their safety here and abroad . . . Kennedy’s efforts to reshape vaccine policies have been well chronicled, but ProPublica wanted to take a broader look at how the changes might affect Americans’ health in the years to come. We found that long-forgotten plagues have roared back, killing and maiming children in parts of the world where access to vaccines or trust in them faltered. What seemed like subtle changes to a country’s vaccine policies had disastrous consequences years later.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4d3Jk77
COVID: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “The COVID-19 pandemic’s early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths. About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers — using a form of artificial intelligence — estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of COVID-19 deaths went uncounted in those years.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/40LULc6
Poll: Public Worries as Prescription Drug Costs Reach New High, Harming Patients and Safety-Net Hospitals: Despite bipartisan attempts to lower the cost of drugs, a growing majority of Americans are worried about being able to afford prescription drugs, and majorities across parties want the government to do more to regulate prices, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. At the same time, drug prices in Minnesota have increased, on average, more than 37% over the past five years – three times the rate of inflation on medical goods. With 30% of Minnesota’s hospitals operating in the red, immediate relief from the world’s highest drug prices is critical. Lawmakers should pass HF 3609/SF 3769 this session and stop drug companies from robbing resources from rural and safety-net hospitals that Minnesotans rely on every day. READ MORE: Public Views on Prescription Drug Costs: Regulation, Affordability and TrumpRx | KFF (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
CANCER: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Colorectal cancer cases in Minnesotans under 50 have risen by roughly 80% since the early 2000s, per federal data. Why it matters: Colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer for Americans under 50, per new research in JAMA. By the numbers: In Minnesota, colorectal cancer cases in people under 50 jumped from around 6 per 100,000 people in the early 2000s, to 10.7 in 2022— per NCI and CDC data.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4cXMSaW
MENOPAUSE: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Women who go through menopause before turning 40 have a significantly higher lifelong risk of heart attacks than women who go through the transition later, according to a new study. The study found that women who went through what is referred to as premature menopause had 40 percent more fatal and nonfatal heart attacks throughout the course of their lives than those who went through menopause after 40.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4lHe7IX
STARTUPS: Via Staples-based AscendRural, VERBATIM: “AscendRural, which funds and facilitates pilots for growth stage startups in rural communities, announces the nine companies chosen to participate in the AscendRural Senior Care Innovation Accelerator: CarePredict, care.coach, Medex Finance, Plated Foodservice, Pontosense, Total Life, Vivo, Xandar Kardian, and Zemplee. The nine startups, which hope to tackle a range of problems connected to senior living, including care delivery, health monitoring, mental health treatment, fitness instruction, and social connection, were selected for the four-week, cohort-based program from a field of 90 applicants.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47LzOSr
POLYPS: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Technology is changing how doctors detect colon cancer. New AI-enhanced imaging tools help physicians find subtle polyps that might otherwise be missed. Learn more from Dr. Michael Wallace, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4rGRTbu
EXERCISE: Via McMaster University, VERBATIM: “New strength training guidelines emphasize that doing any resistance training is what truly matters. Based on decades of research, experts say even simple routines can increase muscle, strength, and physical function. The key is not perfection but consistency. In fact, the best workout plan is the one you can maintain long term.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41kuKRe
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
MEDIC: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A medical emergency is the last thing anyone wants to think about. But when seconds count, trained EMTs and paramedics provide life-saving help. ‘Every minute that someone is down from a cardiac arrest and there is no action taken, their survival rate decreases by 10 percent,’ said North Memorial Health paramedic Alexis Lombard. She’s worked in the emergency medical services industry since 2020. And she still vividly remembers her first day on the job.” QUOTE: “As I drove to it, my heart rate outpaced the ambulance’s speed because I realized I’m not just driving to that emergency,” said Lombard. “It’s my job, my responsibility to save their life.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3Nt9nu0
CAREGIVERS: Via KTTC-TV, VERBATIM: “A group of retired and active volunteer nurses in Rochester is coming together to honor caregivers who have passed away. Assisted by the Wisconsin Nurses Honor Guard, the Rochester Nurses Honor Guard provides a ceremonial tribute during a nurse’s funeral, memorial, or in hospice. No matter the organization or facility, at no cost.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3PbS6Gf
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