SATURDAY: From UCare via Facebook, VERBATIM: “Now is the time to get the Flu shot. UCare is hosting a flu shot clinic from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday that is free for our members. Stop by 500 Stinson Blvd NE, Minneapolis on Saturday.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/49qJwcr MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3ZFxclB (SPONSORED: UCare)
2024 ELECTION: Via Navigator Research, VERBATIM: “The most important issues to 2024 voters in this election were inflation and the cost of living, immigration and the border, and jobs and the economy. By double digits, voters overall were most likely to rate inflation and the cost of living as one of the three most important issues for their vote this year”
READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZEp0lp
HEALTH COSTS: Via HealthDay, VERBATIM: “American seniors still pay more for health care than their counterparts in most other wealthy countries do, despite coverage by Medicare, a new study finds. They are also more likely to postpone or skip needed care because of cost concerns . . . Nearly 1 in 4 American seniors spent at least $2,000 out of pocket on health care last year, according to results from the 2024 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Older Adults.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZIoHVN
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
SATURDAY: Via Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, VERBATIM: “Overconsumption of fatty, processed foods, sweets, and alcohol may feel great in the moment, but it can leave us feeling depleted and depressed. The Sister Spokesman event on Dec. 7 will address seasonal wellness: eating smart for mind, body, and spirit, and will feature a panel of nutrition and mental health experts.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3OEPux5
NEXT WEEK: Via Medical Alley, VERBATIM: “Join us next week for the latest Medical Alley Starts: Ask Me Anything (AMA) webinar. The goal of each AMA is to provide you with an inside perspective that can help you raise capital, land new customers, and be a more successful venture.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3VpugXG
UNITEDHEALTH: From Nick Halter via Axios, VERBATIM: “UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's Wednesday morning shooting death, which New York police say was a targeted attack, left the Twin Cities community in shock and searching for answers. Thompson was in charge of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group's health insurance division, which effectively meant he led the nation's largest health insurer . . . Thompson, 50, was named CEO of UHG's healthcare division in 2021. The University of Iowa graduate had been with the company for 20 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4gggoXy
MORE: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4eZjo9W
MORE: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “The killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of the insurance division of UnitedHealth Group, provided a window into the vitriol that prominent health care leaders have been facing. Workers across health care face safety risks. People employed in the industry are about five times more likely than people in other private industries to experience workplace violence, according to federal data.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3OFFnI3
MORE: We’ve had extensive coverage of Thompson’s death beginning in Wednesday’s lunch take and continuing through today’s morning and lunch takes. You can find it all on our new Substack site. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/TheDailyAgenda
NEXTGEN: Via Senator Tina Smith, VERBATIM: “Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN) announced additional medical residency slots in five Minnesota teaching hospitals. The slots were created in the 2022 budget law supported by both Senators. The law authorized funding 1,000 new residency slots across the country over a five-year period to combat the nation’s physician shortage by training new providers. 69 of Minnesota’s 87 counties are health professional shortage areas, and nearly 30% of Minnesota physicians are within retirement range. 200 additional slots are awarded funding every year, and these five Minnesota hospitals were selected for the most recent round:
· Hennepin County Medical Center, Emergency Medicine
· CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital, Pediatrics
· Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Neurology
· University of Minnesota Medical Center, Child Neurology
· Children’s Minnesota, Pediatric Neurology”
SUPCT: Via The Wall Street Journal, VERBATIM: “Several Supreme Court justices signaled a willingness Wednesday to let states prohibit transgender teenagers from obtaining puberty blockers and other treatments, but the outcome of the case appeared uncertain after one closely watched justice, Neil Gorsuch, said nothing during more than two hours of proceedings. The court heard arguments to decide the constitutionality of a 2023 ban enacted in Tennessee. The families of three transgender teens, along with the Biden administration, argued that the measure discriminates based on sex, therefore violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CYzi6Z
CONGRESS: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “Negotiations over a large health care policy package are heating up this week as Congress hurtles toward a government funding deadline at the end of the month. Congressional Republicans on Tuesday made an offer to Democrats that included a three-year extension of pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities in Medicare, some reforms in how pharmacy middlemen operate, a Medicare pay bump for doctors, funding for community health centers, and extensions of public health programs in Medicare and Medicaid, according to a copy obtained by STAT.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49omH9k
STUDY: From Kelley Luckstein via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “A Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher will share findings from a late-breaking abstract at the 2024 Society of Urologic Oncology Annual Meeting in Dallas, Dec. 4-6. The study demonstrated a potentially effective treatment for patients with bladder cancer who no longer respond to the common therapy, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The novel treatment, cretostimogene grenadenorepvec, is an oncolytic immunotherapy, meaning it is a virus designed to selectively replicate in and break down cancer cells while simultaneously amplifying the immune response against bladder tumors.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3B59uFX
MEDIA: From Deanna Pistono via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “Every month, Rashmi Kandwal and Mary MacCarthy sit down in a recording studio in Minneapolis to discuss health conditions with three guests – a patient, a physician and someone involved in research, education, support and/or advocacy. Kandwal and MacCarthy are the executive director and a board member, respectively, of Healthcare MN, a Twin Cities-based organization focused on networking and connecting various health care innovators and professionals. Before launching the Patient Innovations podcast, Kandwal said the organization would make blog posts about founders of health care businesses. But as podcasts have become more popular, she thought it would be best to convert these posts to podcast format.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/49FhE4N
HOSPITALS: Via The New York Times, VERBATIM: “Over 500 hospitals have closed their labor and delivery departments since 2010, according to a large new study, leaving most rural hospitals and more than a third of urban hospitals without obstetric care. Those closures, the study found, were slightly offset by the opening of new units in about 130 hospitals. Even so, the share of hospitals without maternity wards increased every year, according to the study, published on Wednesday in JAMA, a prominent medical journal. Maternal deaths remained persistently high over that period, spiking during the pandemic.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Vp0pib
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
LEAD: From Duke University via Science Daily, VERBATIM: “In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline to help keep car engines healthy. However, automotive health came at the great expense of our own well-being. A new study calculates that exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood altered the balance of mental health in the U.S. population, making generations of Americans more depressed, anxious and inattentive or hyperactive. The research estimates that 151 million cases of psychiatric disorder over the past 75 years have resulted from American children's exposure to lead.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/41jkiuE
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