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POLLING
ACA: Via Newsweek, VERBATIM: “A new poll has delivered a warning to Republicans about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that could expire if Congress does not take action to extend them. The KFF poll found that 84 percent of marketplace enrollees support extending the tax credits—and that a majority would blame President Donald Trump and Republicans if they expire at the end of the year. Kiersten Pels, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), told Newsweek in response to the poll that Democrats are ‘trying to shift blame for the failures of their own law’ and the credits ‘were designed to expire’ and passed ‘without a single Republican vote’.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pVzJT3
PARTY LINES: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “Some 72% of Republican enrollees — and the same share of MAGA supporters with Obamacare coverage — favor extending the more generous assistance, which is set to lapse at year’s end, according to a new poll from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. The same is true of 95% of Democratic enrollees and 84% of independents.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pThbCQ
WHAT IF: The poll asked what respondents would do in the face of a premium increase:
MORE: Via ABC News, KFF director of survey methodology Ashley Kirzinger on the prospect of people opting out of coverage, KIRZINGER: “One of the things that the Affordable Care Act did was decrease our uninsurance rate in this country,” she said. “And so this could have major implications and major consequences as more people become uninsured for the first time in a decade.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iDjeZl
You can find more of the questions and responses from this poll HERE: https://fluence-media.co/4a386ml
THE BLAME GAME: From the KFF release on the poll, VERBATIM: “Democrats would overwhelmingly blame Republicans in Congress (46%) or President Trump (49%). Most Republicans (65%) would blame Congressional Democrats, though about a third say they would blame either Republicans in Congress (20%) or President Trump (14%). Among independents, more than four in 10 (44%) would blame the President, a third (32%) would blame Congressional Republicans, and about one in four (23%) would blame Congressional Democrats.”
MENTAL HEALTH: Via news release from NAMI, VERBATIM: “With the country’s mental health system reaching a breaking point, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) released a new poll today highlighting Americans’ concerns about the nation’s mental health system and showing their strong support for Congress to address the mental health needs of Americans. As recent federal actions cut funding from important services and support, including supportive housing, early intervention, and Medicaid coverage, the new poll finds Americans overwhelmingly oppose federal cuts for mental health-related programs and are concerned about their negative impacts.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iGddLh
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)
BUDGET FORECAST
20: That’s the number of times the phrase “health care” appears in the state’s Budget & Economic Forecast released today.
CASE IN POINT: From the first paragraph of the Executive Summary, QUOTE: “Higher health care costs and slow economic growth drive an increased structural imbalance in the FY 2028-29 planning estimates where the balance is now projected to be negative $2.960 billion.”
AND: HHS expenditures have the biggest net change from the end of the last legislative session:
AND: “Medical Assistance (MA) expenditures increased by $1.285 billion (7.3 percent) from end ofsession estimates. This is primarily explained by higher costs for basic health care services plus higher costs and enrollment in long term care waivers.”
You can read the full Budget and Economic Forecast HERE: https://fluence-media.co/48QD6Vk
A slide from the report’s accompanying presentation:
PRESENTATION: https://fluence-media.co/48mPrkc
MORE ON HEALTH: Via the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus release on the forecast, commenting on health care spending as a factor. VERBATIM: “This is notable as Minnesota has seen significant fraud in health care services. Efforts to reduce fraud and verify eligibility will be necessary to ensure these funds are available for those who actually need it.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48kCuY7
AND: Via statement from the Minnesota Hospital Association, VERBATIM: “Today’s forecast puts Minnesota at a clear crossroads. We urge state leaders to work alongside us in the coming session to strengthen — not further strain — the health care ecosystem that keeps care within reach for all Minnesotans. Alongside today’s projections, Minnesotans face another looming challenge, as federal policy changes could leave tens of thousands without affordable coverage or Medical Assistance by 2027. The effects won’t stop with those who lose coverage. Federal law requires hospitals to care for anyone who walks through their doors — regardless of ability to pay — so the strain will ripple across the statewide system of care delivery.”
HEALTH HEADLINES
DISABILITY SERVICES: Via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Human Services has issued a two-year moratorium on licensing for Home and Community-Based Services, a Medicaid program that helps people with disabilities receive care in their home or a community, such as group homes, instead of in nursing homes or hospitals. DHS will stop issuing new licenses and cancel existing applications starting in January, according to a letter from the agency’s Temporary Commissioner Shireen Gandhi to lawmakers dated Monday. The Legislature passed a law this year allowing DHS to pause licensing if it finds that new applications are growing beyond program needs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4q9N627
RURAL HEALTH: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “The Trump administration is touting its $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program as the largest-ever U.S. investment in rural health care. But the government made minimal mention of Native American tribes in sparsely populated areas and in need of significant improvements to health care access. Federally recognized tribes can’t directly apply for a share of the rural health fund — only states can. And states aren’t required to consider tribes’ needs. But state applications for the five-year payout show some states with significant Native American populations did so anyway.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ry9Ee9
HEP B: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Accusations that presenters were cherry-picking data and substituting speculation for science derailed a federal vaccine advisory panel vote on Thursday on whether to change a decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B. The committee deferred the vote to Friday because some members wanted more time to settle points of heated disagreement. The panel had postponed the vote twice before, for similar reasons.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/445S1sb
MORE: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “Researchers at the University of Minnesota are urging federal health advisors to maintain the longstanding recommendation to give the hepatitis B vaccine 24 hours after birth. Earlier this fall, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said it was considering a recommendation to delay the vaccine for babies, without substantial evidence. U of M epidemiologists and experts reviewed 400 documents over 40 years of hepatitis B implementation and found there is no benefit to delaying the vaccine.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iNMgp5
SEXUAL ASSAULT: Via Northern News Now, VERBATIM: “Carlton County residents can now receive post-sexual-assault care closer to home after Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA) expanded their program offering specialized exams to a hospital in Cloquet, Minn. Those with PAVSA say the expansion is an effort to make seeking care as easy as possible for victims.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/48IBR9M
DESPITE THE CHALLENGES OF RURAL HEALTH CARE, ESSENTIA IS RECOGNIZED FOR PROVIDING TOP CLINICAL CARE: According to the latest report from Minnesota Community Measurement, a statewide resource on health care quality, costs and equity, Essentia ranked as a high performer with 19 of 20 clinical quality metrics scoring above statewide averages. According to Dr. Maria Beaver, chief quality and patient safety officer at Essentia: “This is a testament to the amazing care provided by all our clinical care teams and all our colleagues who support them.” LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/4dCxy1D (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
DIET & EXERCISE
DIET: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Since the 1980s, federal health officials have urged Americans to opt for lower-fat dairy products, like skim milk and reduced-fat yogurt, over full-fat versions. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other leading figures in the Make America Healthy Again movement have recently suggested that they are going to ‘elevate’ whole milk and other dairy products in the upcoming government guidance on what to eat and drink for good health, called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pnnIWz
EXERCISE: Via Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, VERBATIM: “Minnesotans looking to stay active during the cold months will once again have access to indoor skating and running at U.S. Bank Stadium. Winter Warm Up, the stadium’s seasonal recreation program, returns on Tuesday, December 2, and runs through Thursday, January 22. Thirteen sessions will be offered this season.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iBrwkd
TESTING: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “When I heard about Life Time’s new system for testing VO2 max—the volume of oxygen your body is capable of using at any one time—I was curious to see where I measured. Plus, it would be good kitchen fodder and maybe even a chance to earn some cred . . . Life Time has been offering metabolic testing for almost 20 years, but it’s rolling out an upgraded program this month in select Minnesota locations that uses a cordless mask-like device called SpiroFit. Though I had never tried the old system, this new technology is supposedly more comfortable to wear, provides better accuracy, and collects more data points.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4rv0y1M
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep. Kari Rehrauer
Rep. Wayne Johnson
Rep. Julie Greene
Rep. Keith Allen
Rep. Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
HEALTH BUSINESS
ONE YEAR AGO: Via Axios, VERBATIM: “Thursday marks one year since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed while entering an investor conference in New York City. The big picture: The slaying of the Twin Cities resident on a busy street shocked the country, sparking national conversations about both security for high-profile executives and the insurance industry more broadly. While many condemned the brazen murder, the killing unleashed a wave of social media-fueled rage against health insurers.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48BIEC3
MORE: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Minutes after police approached Luigi Mangione in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, he told an officer he didn’t want to talk, according to video and testimony at a court hearing Thursday for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Although some video and accounts of police interactions with Mangione emerged earlier in this week’s hearing, Thursday’s proceedings shed new light on the lead-up to and aftermath of his Dec. 9, 2024, arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4iAhGiu
SETTLEMENT: Via news release from the Attorney General, VERBATIM: “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his office has reached a settlement with the Chapter 7 Trustee for the Bankruptcy Estate of Woodbury Dental Arts, a former Woodbury dental clinic owned and operated by Marko Kamel. As part of that settlement, Attorney General Ellison’s Office has begun accepting claims for refunds from consumers who were harmed by Woodbury Dental Arts. The settlement enables harmed consumers to obtain refunds of the fees they paid in advance for dental services that were never provided.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/48wgcBh
SEIZURES: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “At Mayo Clinic, biomedical engineer Benjamin Brinkmann, Ph.D., is developing tools and technologies that help reveal brain patterns — making epileptic seizures more predictable and, one day, preventable.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49TuApG
FRANCIS: Via Twin Cities Business, VERBATIM: “Francis Medical, a Maple Grove-based medical device company, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized clearance of Vanquish, the company’s prostate cancer treatment technology that has been in development since Francis Medical was founded in 2018. This means the company’s minimally invasive treatment, which uses the energy stored in water vapor and applies it to the prostate to ablate cancerous tissue, can now be made commercially available.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3XxU4ld
DIETICIAN LIVE: Via news release from Minneapolis-based Dietician Live, VERBATIM: “Dietitian Live, a pioneering healthcare start-up that merges medical nutrition therapy with subconscious rewiring to reverse chronic disease, today announced a healthcare breakthrough showing that the human brain is the primary driver of healing in chronic metabolic disease. Through its patent-pending Quantum Mind Architecture program, the company has demonstrated that when subconscious beliefs are rewired from fear to love, the body’s biology naturally realigns with health.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4aw4vNC
MERCY: Via Allina, VERBATIM: “Allina Health is placed to announce that Kelly Spratt, vice president of Operations at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, has accepted the position of Mercy Hospital president (both the campus in Coon Rapids and the Unity campus in Fridley.”
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
RESEARCH
RADIATION: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “GE HealthCare and Mayo Clinic today are announcing the GE HealthCare-Mayo Clinic Initiative in Radiation Therapy, known as GEMINI-RT, an ambitious new collaboration that aims to transform personalized radiation therapy and cancer care. Building on decades of collaboration and the Strategic Radiology Research Collaboration signed in 2023, GEMINI-RT plans to drive innovation in prediction, planning, automation, workflow and monitoring for radiation oncology.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pOFeTc
COFFEE: From BMJ Group via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “Researchers studying people with major psychiatric disorders found that drinking up to four cups of coffee a day is associated with longer telomeres. This suggests a potential slowing of biological aging by about five years. However, drinking five or more cups showed no benefit and may even contribute to cellular damage. Coffee’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may help explain the effect.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Mf5ms9
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