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Aspirus Merrill Hospital celebrates 100 years while investing in local health care
The hospital's $40 million renovation and expansion project, expected to be completed in early 2027, is modernizing and enhancing patient care spaces throughout the facility.
Antibiotic resistance threatens national security. We can fight it.
There are two steps the U.S. could take to preserve the lifesaving drugs that underlie most health care.
The Midterm Election Was About Health Care
In the face of Trump’s destruction of public health and modern science, voters are putting candidates who support Medicare for All, doctors and nurses into positions of power.
Why Youth Are Turning to AI for Mental Health Advice
Hannah Simon — a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the medical director of the Brandt Behavioral Health Treatment Center and Retreat at Rutgers, which provides evidence-based behavioral health care and outpatient services to New Jersey youth and young adults — discusses the increased use of chatbots for mental health advice and best practices for using it as an educational tool.
Leading the Health Care Workforce Through Change: Leadership, Policy, and Innovation in Action
On Sept. 17, human resources (HR) and employee relations leaders from seven essential hospitals gathered in Washington, D.C., for “Leading the Health Care Workforce Through Change: Leadership, Policy, and Innovation in Action.” Hosted by America’s Essential Hospitals and Essential Hospitals Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the convening focused on strategies for […]
Global sexual health: Why communal knowledge about pleasure and well-being matters
For decades, discussions and decisions about access to contraception, abortion, maternal health care, HIV prevention and treatment, comprehensive sexuality education, gender equity and protection from ...
Baptist Health Care President Mark Faulkner to retire in 2027
Baptist Health Care President and CEO Mark Faulkner announced this week that is retiring on June 30, 2027 after 14 years. He has been with Baptist for 34 years in total.
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System Honors Physicians, Installs New Medical Staff Leaders - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
Nov. 2, 2026 – Sarasota Memorial Health Care System honored two longtime physicians for outstanding service and announced its 2026-2027 chiefs of staff for the SMH-Sarasota and SMH-Venice campuses. John […]
Community power-building is challenging health inequities in Fresno
Fresno Building Healthy Communities (Fresno BHC) began with a realization that the challenges residents brought to local advocates could not be addressed in isolation. What started as an informal coalition focused primarily on health care access grew as its members recognized how closely health is connected to housing, food, transportation, land use and other conditions … Continue reading Community power-building is challenging health inequities in Fresno
Healthcare dispute strikes fear, confusion among southern Illinois retirees
About 5,000 Illinois retirees face health care disruptions as BJC HealthCare drops Aetna Medicare Advantage plans.
Census Bureau Proposal Threatens Our Public Health and Health Care System
The proposed changes would exclude noncitizens without lawful permanent residency – including many who are lawfully present.
Tampa General Hospital and Health Care District of Palm Beach County to Open Lakeside Cancer Center in September 2027 - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County recently announced the upcoming expansion of cancer care for rural and western Palm Beach County communities. Anticipated […]
The economics of the U.S. health care system are broken
“The economics of the U.S. health care system are broken,” writes Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Ascendiun.
Pike County, Illinois, loses employee health coverage after HOPE Trust termination
The executive board of the Health Options for Public Entities Trust has voted to involuntarily terminate Pike County, Illinois, health care plan.
Health care access, ‘woke ideologies’ and property taxes: A pulse of Fort Bend County voter priorities
Over 271,000 Fort Bend County residents cast a ballot in early voting from Oct. 19 through Oct. 30.
Traditional Korean paper becomes breathable patch for future wearable health care
Wearable health-monitoring devices are becoming increasingly important for personalized health care, but conventional patches often rely on substrates that restrict airflow, trap sweat and cause skin ...
Business luncheon explores economy
At a Dorset luncheon, state chamber leaders said health care, housing, taxes and permitting challenges are delaying hiring and investment.
IN THE NEWS: This Health Care Election Unleashes a Democratic Tidal Wave Across the Nation
“This has very much been a health care election. Health care is a top economic worry of voters…Reversing Medicaid cuts and restoring ACA subsidies are top priorities for Democrats.” —...
CVS Health plans to split into two publicly traded companies
CVS Pharmacy would operate 9,000 retail pharmacies; Aetna, CVS Caremark would remain with health care solutions company | Anadolu
I moved to Europe for free health care. I miss my patient portal
“To be honest, in Malta, I pay for medical care all the time. I just pay differently,” writes Mariska Breland.
Minnesota is telling more people to seek mental health care. Who will help them?
Along with recruiting more therapists & psychiatrists, it's critical to retain the clinicians already working in the mental health care field.
Why 2026 Is a Health Care Election
_Ypsilanti, Michigan_THE MIDTERM ELECTION IS ABOUT a lot of things: gas prices and groceries, the spread of corruption, and the future of democracy. And yet, as much as any single issue, it’s about health care. You can tell by listening to all the Democrats talking about high deductibles, drug costs, and insurance companies as they campaign around the country. Or you can tell by reading all the public-opinion surveys in which voters consistently rank health care as one of their top concerns. But if you really want to know why this is a health care election, your best source isn’t the politicians or the pollsters. It’s the people on the front lines. One of them is Raymond Rion, a family medicine physician and executive director of Packard Health, a small network of clinics spanning Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti on the western outskirts of the Detroit metro area. Packard is what’s known as a Federally Qualified Health Center, where anybody can get care regardless of income or insurance status. And like similar safety-net providers all over America, for the past decade it has benefited directly from the Affordable Care Act. “We almost went bankrupt in 2011,” Rion told me in a conversation last week, recalling how in the old days staff at Packard would work the phones furiously to get supplies and find specialists who would take referrals. Now many more patients have either Medicaid or private coverage they’ve purchased through HealthCare.gov, the online marketplace that the law created, so that the proportion of uninsured patients has fallen from around one in three to one in ten. It’s a lot easier to find referrals for these insured patients, though thanks to the infusion of paying customers Packard can do much more on its own. In particular, Rion said, the organization has opened two new branches, started a pharmacy, begun offering prenatal services, and vastly expanded behavioral health care by bringing on a half-dozen new doctors, nurses, and case workers. Now a retrenchment is underway. Coverage options on the HealthCare.gov marketplace got more expensive because Donald Trump and the Republicans refused to renew temporary subsidies that had been reducing the price of insurance. On top of that, the first cuts to Medicaid as part of last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” are starting to take effect. Rion told me Packard has already laid off a provider in anticipation of less revenue next year.1 Patient volume is down, he went on to explain, in part because uninsured patients sometimes avoid care altogether out of fear a single visit will lead to more treatments with more bills. And postponing care in that way can have serious medical consequences, as his colleague Ron Romero told me. “So you have somebody with diabetes, their chronic condition isn’t getting cared for,” said Romero, who like Rion is a family physician. “Their sugars rise, and they end up having other medical problems. Their kidneys start to get damaged. They start to have eye damage. They increase risk for heart attacks and strokes. . . . They end up in the emergency room.” And things are likely to get worse. Partly that’s because next year most of the remaining Medicaid cuts will take full effect, throwing more people off coverage. And partly it’s because forces that have nothing to do with Trump or Republican actions are making medical care more expensive for everyone, including those with employer insurance and Medicare. That will lead to still more people delaying or skipping care, ending up in the emergency rooms, and putting yet more cost pressure on providers. Rion wasn’t taking a position on the election or political parties, he made clear. He was just describing the reality he sees around him: “The whole system is being pressured. Nobody is immune to this stuff.” He’s right. And here’s the thing: This has all happened before. We know happens next.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wins reelection after strengthening protections for trans health care
The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Minogue after a first term that included stronger safeguards for abortion and gender-affirming care.
38% of Retirees Say Health Care Has Cost More Than They Expected. Here's What a 65-Year-Old Should Budget Instead
Medicare looks like a safety net until the bills arrive, and most new retirees discover the gaps only after they have already retired. A breakdown of what a 65-year-old actually owes in 2026 reveals a number that surprises even people who thought they had planned ahead.
Health Brief: Health care’s election night watch list
The health care stakes in the fight for Congress, key governor’s races and ballot measures
Grant for increased access to healthcare worth up to $12.5 million
A $2.5 million grant to Ute Pass Regional Ambulance District is intended to increase health care services in Teller County.
North Texas voters raise concerns about healthcare, Medicare and insurance costs ahead of midterms
North Texans say rising medical costs, insurance premiums and gaps in care for seniors are among the health care concerns they want elected officials to address ahead of the midterm elections.
Rivera-Mariani coauthors study on fungal exposure and asthma health care
Félix Rivera-Mariani, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the senior co-author of a new study published in the journal Aerobiology…
The health care affordability midterms, and billing urgent care as ER
Health care affordability is a major issue for voters, and a new kind of medical clinic sticks some patients with big bills.
Mental Health Care Was Never Built for Everyone
Companies aren't slowing down to ask if AI is ready for mental health; they're racing to build it in. Encoding the same unexamined standards into these tools means repeating the systemic issues marginalized groups have lived with for far too long.
CVS to break up $117B business, separating pharmacies from insurance
The split comes amid growing scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators of vertically integrated health care companies such as CVS.
MU Health Care, Ambetter Health strike deal to expand in-network access
The agreement expands options for patients seeking high-quality care while allowing them to maximize their in-network health plan benefits.
Columbia County students explore health care careers
EVANS, Ga (WJBF)- More than 400 high school students are getting a closer look at what a future in health care could look like. The Columbia County school district is connecting students with local…
Six Key Charts Show That Health Care Is The Most Pressing Issue For Americans Headed To The Ballot Box
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Declining influenza vaccinations continue among health care workers
Despite often caring for patients at higher risk of severe outcomes from respiratory virus infection, health care workers in Oregon continue to lag in rates of vaccination against the potentially
AFGHS co-signatory countries ask health care users to help fill the financing gap
Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans living with HIV on antiretrovirals could be targeted for user fees or community health insurance schemes requiring modest premium payments, according to the April 2026 version of the country’s America First Global Health Strategy implementation narrative.1 As part of the “sustainable financing for the private not for profit sector” strategy, 491 facilities will be targeted for a phased introduction of user fees and scale up of community health insurance programs.2 In the Ugandan context, PNFP facilities include faith-based hospitals and other health facilities, US missionary organizations and centers of excellence—services that are often co-located at government facilities but run with additional financial and technical resources. 402,000 people—or about 28 percent of the total Ugandan adult PLHIV population on treatment—get ART from the private not for profit sector. The selected facilities provide the majority of ART and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services. The plan doesn’t give the total number of clients served by the 491 facilities, so it is not possible to give a precise number. But the majority of 402,000 is a figure in the hundreds of thousands—hence the estimate I’m using.3 The April draft of the Ugandan implementation plan narrative is the only one I’ve been able to review. But the government of Uganda is not alone in turning to health care users to help fill the financing gaps caused by the abrupt withdrawal of US funds. In July 2025, the Government of Liberia introduced user fees for previously free services including “registration, accommodation, patient feeding, hospitalization, and a wide range of surgical and diagnostic procedures.”4 Earlier that year, Liberia rolled out a revolving drug fund designed to stabilize drug supplies by “allowing patients to pay a small fee for standardized, quality medications,” according to a Ministry of Health press release.5 (Both of these approaches had been proposed in the National Health Policy 2022-2031; media coverage explicitly connects the launch with the US foreign aid cuts.) The health financing strategies proposed by Uganda and established in Liberia are qualitatively different from user fees officially adopted by specific health facilities to cover funding shortfalls caused by the new US approach.6 The latter is a stopgap, adhoc change. The former is a national governmental adoption of policies that pass costs on to health care users, despite evidence that such approaches can exacerbate inequities and leave deficits unfilled. Two countries does not make a pattern, but they do point to urgent questions: Have other countries, including Liberia, included user fees or community health insurance schemes in their implementation plans? If so, do any of these narratives have what Uganda’s lacks: a fall-back plan in place in case these strategies for sustainable health systems fail to deliver—as they have before? I wonder if you think about it Subscribe Predictable pitfalls Both community-based health insurance and user fees are as old as the hills. And after decades of people climbing up these hills, duking it out, climbing back down—neither strategy has shown the results the Ugandan implementation plan is counting on. This is, in fact, a hill some folks are willing to die on. (You knew I’d get there, right?) In November 2025, an African-led team of health system experts published a paper directed at low- and middle income country governments trying to figure out how to create self-sustaining health systems. The money wasn’t coming back. It had been more than nine months since the season of freezing, waivering and wood-chippering; two months since AFGHS tumbled into the world touting co-financing requirements and reductions in future US government health aid. Governments were looking for strategies for sustainable, self-financed health systems, the authors wrote. For countries considering user fees and community health insurance to fill the financing gaps, they had a simple message: Don’t. On user fees, the paper states: “Reliance on user fees is ultimately a regressive and inequitable approach. It places a disproportionate burden on the poor and undermines health system goals of equity and financial protection. […] There is overwhelming evidence that user fees mobilise very limited resources for the public health sector, making it an inefficient mechanism for revenue mobilisation.” On community health insurance: “Attempting to shift the burden of funding previously donor-funded services, such as HIV care and management, and TB treatment, onto contributory schemes would exacerbate their fragility and fail to protect the population.”7 The WHO says that community-based health insurance “cannot be expected to provide a major source of funding or coverage,” and noted that most schemes offer only moderate benefit to individuals paying into them, and exclude the poorest segment of the population.8 And yet, the US-Ugandan implementation plan says that community health insurance is “the central pillar of this [PNFP] sustainability strategy” and that this approach that will generate “pre-paid pooled funding at facility and community level [that] improves financial risk protection for households, reduces catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure, and generates structured, transparent revenue streams that can progressively absorb recurrent costs including health worker salaries.” Unfortunately, Uganda’s own history suggests the pillar might not be able to bear this weight. Ugandans Have Been to this Rodeo Before—and Some Want Their Money Back Uganda introduced its first community health insurance scheme in 1996 with support from international donors.9 Thirty years later, somewhere between 0.2 and 0.3 percent of the population is covered by CHI; just over 1 percent has any kind of health insurance.10 User fees were universally introduced in 1993 as a condition of a World Bank loan.11 They were abandoned in 2001, and in 2004—the year I moved to Uganda to watch the free HIV program get underway—a definitive study found that the fees did not improve health systems and outcomes.12 In 2004, most clinics and hospitals had ‘free’ and ‘fee for service’ options for getting care.13 The fee for service, or “cash and carry” programs had often been established in the years prior to PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. People who could afford to paid for the drugs, often at facilities in the private-not-for-profit (PNFP) sector. When free drugs arrived, some people who’d been paying kept on doing so, perhaps because of shorter wait times, greater confidentiality, convenience or other factors. But in the year that I spent visiting the same clinics around the country week after week—including a “center of excellence” that maintained separate days for cash and carry clients and those accessing free ARVs—lots of people who had been paying tried to switch to the free option. They’d paid because they had no other choice. They’d sold pieces of family land, begged family members for loans, bought pills by the week, and sometimes by the day. Or they were just cash-strapped, like most of us, and wanted the funds for other things. 14 Twenty-two years later, this hasn’t changed. Ugandans pay out of pocket for 30-40 percent of their health care costs, leading one paper to declare that “falling ill is more than a health crisis. It is a financial emergency.”15 One recent study found that up to 48.5 percent of households dealing with tuberculosis sold something, took out a loan or dug into savings to defray the costs of TB care—which is supposed to be universally free.16 The Ugandan implementation plan does anticipate challenges. It proposes a phased approach, with 187 facilities introducing user contribution systems in Year 1, 152 in Year 2, and 153 in Year 3. Willingness to pay and feasibility studies will precede roll out; fees will be tiered by region, and a waiver system is proposed to ensure that no one has to pay who is unable to. Moreover, the plan provides for quarterly reviews of epidemiological data to “ensure that user contributions do not compromise epidemic control gains, ART continuity for the client cohort, TB case management, or PMTCT services.” Alt text: A screenshot of a table included in the implementation plan narrative that is the subject of this stack. It’s got a fetching pink bar at the top. It uses the abbreviation “CHI” which is Community Health Insurance, and FBO which is Faith Based Organizations, and it details the number of facilities that will implement user fees with waivers and community health insurance schemes over the five years of the agreement. As I said in the footnote, this is a super interesting document with a lot of other rich material. Tell me what you see—and what you would have focused on. And if you’ve seen something like this, or anything else that strikes you, in another implementation plan, tell me that too. You can use the Substack message platform or try me on Signal at @endaplague_again.25 (because @mercoonfan was, weirdly, taken). But the plan doesn’t fully explain what will happen if this approach doesn’t work out. Yes, progress will be monitored, and corrective action triggered. However, there is no specified funding replacement if premium and fee revenue prove inadequate. Instead, the authors write, “Currently, COEs serve a total client cohort of over 180,000 across 28 facilities. In the initial years, the U.S. Government (USG) will provide financial support for clients; over time, user fees generated by COEs will become the primary source of funding for sustaining their services.” Failure does not really seem to be an option. Health insurance schemes are more acceptable to the Ugandan population than user fees. Members of Parliament and civil society traveled to Ethiopia to see how that country’s scheme worked. In a follow up report, a veteran civil society group recommended allowing the “health insurance ecosystem to grow organically and [to] keep reviewing the law and regulations as this growth takes root.”17 One study found that more than three-quarters of Ugandans were willing to join a health insurance program.18 However, coverage of community-based health insurance is minimal, as is coverage of any kind of insurance—including private plans.19 A national health insurance scheme bill has been stalled for several years and presently sits with President Yoweri Museveni.20 Community-based health insurance scheme that do exist are expanding in number, but losing enrollees. Between 2022 and 2026, the number of community-based health financing schemes across the country increased by 42 percent, while the number of people enrolled decreased by nearly 11 percent.21 None of this means that community-based health insurance should not happen in Uganda—or that people do not want insurance. It doesn’t even mean that user fees and waivers won’t ever work. But there is highly relevant evidence from Uganda and the surrounding region that it is quite optimistic to describe community health insurance and user fees as central supports for sustainable financing in any sector of the health system. And now for the best-case scenario In the best-case scenario22, the Ugandan approach does exactly what it sets out to do, and so does the Liberian fee structure and revolving pharmacy fund—though I’ve not confirmed that these are in the MoU. In one best-case scenario, Uganda is an outlier, and user fees and community health insurance are not recurrent pillars of self-sustaining financing in other countries’ implementation plans. In another best-case scenario, all countries that include these strategies enjoy success beyond anyone’s evidence-informed wildest dreams: reliable funding generated by health care users fees, great health care outcomes for everyone, no exacerbation of inequities, no crippling household debt. No sold land, repurposed school tuition or high-interest loans. In the best-case scenario, not one of the hundreds of thousands of Ugandans living with HIV receiving antiretrovirals from 491 PNFP facilities misses a refill or leaves care because of user fees or community health insurance premiums. This is the best-case scenario for these people for their own health, and for their families. It is also the best-case scenario if Uganda wants to stay on the path to eliminating HIV as a public health threat. According to the country’s most recent data, 96.5 percent of people living with HIV on antiretrovirals are virologically suppressed. Epidemic control depends ensuring that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of those individuals are on ART, and 95% of those individuals are virologically suppressed. Uganda is still struggling with the first “95"—a frankly abysmal 85.3 percent. If HIV epidemic control and the attendant prevention of new infections, avoidable suffering and premature death matter, the country cannot afford to lose any clients who are currently in care.23 As I write this a couple hours before the polls close for the US elections in the city I live in, I say with soul-deep sincerity: I am rooting for the best-case scenario. I think it’s safe to say that we all are.24 I think it’s also safe to say that if the US and co-signatory governments have inked plans that lead to successful expansion of community health insurance and strategic use of user fees, we all would like to know, now, so that we don’t miss the opportunity to celebrate when success happens. The implementation plan narratives have to enter the public domain. They are the fullest expression of a strategy co-created by two governments. There are assumptions and details that people living in the US and co-signatory countries need to understand that are not available in the MoUs or, to date, in the Congressional Notifications. Some of these details can help other countries that are, as I write this, still working on implementation plans. Others, like a solid count of how many other countries have plans for expanding user fees or health insurance, are important for regional and global health architecture reform initiatives. No matter how this election night turns out, there will be a slew of new Congressional member orientations, briefings and talking points papers in the next few months. Release of implementation narratives should be a bullet point in every context that AFGHS is discussed. These documents can be redacted so that procurement sensitive information isn’t disclosed. There is much more historical precedent for sharing such documents than there is for relying on user fees to fill health financing gaps. Let’s look at the information together so we can hope for the best and prepare for, you know, the other thing. Alt text: A substack first: a bicep selfie! It’s my arm - peachy-white skin, black shirt (flannel, notch neck, too hot for this appallingly balmy November weather, if you’re wondering) and a sticker that says I VOTED 2026. Beige letters on red for I voted. Beige on blue for 2026. You bet I did.25 In your wildest dreams. Subscribe 1 This is a really, really rich 95 page document. There are fascinating ideas and detailed plans in it. It is all worth reading AND I have, in this post, highlighted an instance of content that could pose challenges and certainly posits success of strategies that haven’t worked before. I would love to hear what readers’ see that’s interesting and should be lifted up as something to check for in other implementation plans. I will also shortly be adding a static page to the substack site where implementation plan documents will live. I will put the url into this footnote and it will also be there on emilybass.substack.com by the end of the week. Uganda Implementation Narrative Section 4 April 22 2026 Draft 1.51MB ∙ PDF file Download Download 2 User fees are costs charged for visits, labs, medicines or other health services, usually at the time they are provided. Community health insurance, or community-based health insurance, is what the World Health Organization calls “micro insurance,” which is health insurance targeted at low-income people. 3 As usual (by which I mean always), please prove me wrong. 4 https://smartnewsliberia.com/liberias-ministry-of-health-announces-2025-hospital-service-fees-for-public-facilities/?utm 5 https://moh.gov.lr/news/2025/grand-cape-mount-leaders-residents-embrace-new-community-pharmacy-program/?utm 6 https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/09/hiv-usaid-pepfar-africa-foreign-aid-cuts-mission-hospitals/?utm 7 https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/11/e021270 8 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/community-based-health-insurance-CBHI 9 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2827475/ 10 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10861328/#b3-jpmph-23-110 11 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC527704/ 12 Same citation as the footnote 2 - the article is called “Learning from failed health care reform in Uganda.” To which I say: If only. If. Only. 13 There is a whole taxonomy of user fees to be aware of, if not commit to memory. Out of pocket costs are everything that someone pays for themselves. In this Stack, user fees are planned and policy-supported out of pocket costs. There are also out of pocket costs that people pay to buy drugs or receive tests or health care assessments that would be free if the drugs were on the shelves, or the machines or kits were available, or the staff were on site. A user fee is usually designed to be modest, pegged to willingness to pay, and may be waiveable at the point of care for anyone who is unable to do so. The costs for things that would otherwise be free are whatever the market will bear and people either have to pay them or go without. Out of pocket costs for services and stuff that aren’t available in public facilities are different again from bribes or unofficial fees that some health workers may impose, even though most are indefatigable, tireless and tired, and devoted to their clients. 14 For the record—which really is these footnotes—I would give a whole stack of fridge magnets for a systematic analysis of the economic and social impact of the Mass Unemployment Event in AFGHS countries among the very people who used to be able to afford and cover user fees, both for themselves and vast family networks. Locally employed USAID technical staff, house cleaners, caregivers, drivers and technicians were financial anchors for cousins, friends, friends’ children, friends’ childrens’ cousins, teachers, pastors, neighbors and so many other kinds of kin. Aid recipients lost direct funding; many other people who had not been aid recipients, but parts of the elaborate care webs that function as safety nets for so many people, lost crucial support too. And that’s even before we get to the people who worked at the hotels and restaurants and bars where people employed by the US and its implementing partners used to spend disposable income. Those businesses have lost revenue; those folks have lost jobs. It will be some time coming—and someone will have to fund this work—but I do hope it happens. And I hope, as usual, to be proven wrong. 15 https://eprcug.org/blog/how-out-of-pocket-healthcare-costs-keep-driving-ugandans-into-poverty/ 16 Another straight-to-the-point journal article title. Households experiencing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis in Uganda: magnitude and cost drivers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32938411 17 https://www.cehurd.org/download/technical-policy-brief-on-community-health-insurance-scheme/?wpdmdl=13661&refresh=6ae9122f5d4ed1793659439 18 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10125197/ 19 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10861328/#b3-jpmph-23-110 20 https://ugandapost.news/uganda-to-make-health-insurance-mandatory-by-2026/ 21 https://shu.org.ug/download/235 22 With a nod, tip of the stack hat, and wag of the Mercoon tail to a deeply valued reader who told me that I have a tendency to speculate about the worst-case scenarios a little too much of the time. 23 https://news.mak.ac.ug/2026/10/uphia-2025-shows-ugandas-hiv-status-awareness-gap-despite-strong-treatment-outcomes/ As you’ll see in the next footnote, I’ve already written a subSubstack on another topic, so I will be brief with regard to the study referenced in this article. The Uganda Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment, or UPHIA, will never happen in this way again. For more than a decade, PHIAs have been supported by the US government as a way to generate accurate estimates of country progress on key HIV indicators. They are a holdover from the PEPFAR program that was laser focused on ensuring US taxpayer dollars subsidized progress in pandemic control. There may be other population-level surveys and the data may even be publicly released, as the entire set of FY2026 MER data have not. But PHIAs will never happen again. If you’re wondering whether the estimates of HIV progress at country level might get less reliable….you’re not alone. 24 Ooh baby, I hate “we” in almost all forms. But sometimes I go there, when I am looking for company, which I am. Because this Stack moves into the somewhat-uncharted territory of assessing what the implementation plan narratives may suggest about co-signatory countries’ roles and responsibilities to the people living within their borders. The MoUs, specimen and data sharing agreements were templates. Countries’ answers fit into pre-specified questions that did not include, “how are you going to fill financing gaps and stabilize your health system as this plan unfolds?” In contrast, the implementation narratives are open form—the product of co-creation between the two governments. Co-creation can mean lots of things, but nothing leads me to believe that implementation plans are ghost-written by the US government, or that contents were imposed by the US counterparts. Instead, I think the parts of the plans that read like country government initiatives are endorsed, if not initiated by, those governments. For instance, the Ugandan implementation plan narrative describes plans for revenue-generation through fees charged for equipment calibration, repair and maintenance provided through Uganda’s National Equipment Calibration Laboratory, and laboratory accreditation through the Uganda National Accreditation Service (UGANAS), targeting private sector, PNFP, research and academic clients. That’s super specific and also quite ambitious. It doesn’t read like an American idea. There’s also a provision for solar panels, and other stuff that feels country owned and driven. This is where it gets interesting. If co-creation is the case, then both the US and co-signatory governments are accountable for the contents and the outcomes. Most discourse about AFGHS to date has focused on the decisions that America has made, or demanded that other countries make. The AFGHS architects have monopolized the hot seat. As they should, in so many ways. America absolutely created the conditions under which countries needed to come up with health financing strategies to fill unanticipated, catastrophic funding gaps. And with not-too-long a lens, we can look back and see that America is also on the hook for its role in the Bretton Woods institutions that made user fees and health system fiscal austerity conditions of loans during the era of structural adjustment. But in the here and now, it is not at all clear to me that the US is requiring Uganda or any other country to implement specific approaches to sustainable financing. Instead, it is as the authors of that paper up in footnote 6 suggest: African governments have agency. As implementation plans roll out—whether or not the narratives are shared—it will be important to understand what this agency looks like and what it means for people, including the poorest of the poor. And it will be important to figure out how to talk about it safely, respectfully and critically in places other than the literal and metaphorical footnotes. 25 This week’s song is “Once upon a time” by the Moody Blues. (I know, this is gonna be a weird, largely banger-free end of 2026 playlist. HMU with requests.) AND please do watch the video and appreciate the truly amazing opening sequence—a drum kit wasteland, a coupla plastic bags, a bit of sand. Sort of like the hill where fiscal austerity policies that put costs on health care users might go to perish. But then there’s a lady with amazing hair. It’s worth it.
Lobo football to health care leadership, Brad Cook finds purpose in building better systems
For Brad Cook, leadership began long before he entered the healthcare industry. As a student at The University of New Mexico, Cook received a full ride scholarship to serve as the head equipment manager for the Lobo football team. This experience gave...
Pensacola-based Baptist Health Care announces CEO's 2027 retirement and successor
Mark Faulkner, who has led the health system for 14 years, is stepping down at the end of June, with chief operating officer Brett Aldridge becoming the fifth CEO in the organization's 75-year history.
In Affluent San Francisco Suburb, Food Security and Health Care Topped Voters’ Concerns on Election Day
In affluent Fremont, California, hundreds of people each week get food support at the Tri-City Volunteers Food Bank.
What do the midterms mean for health care?
STAT unpacks what the midterms mean for health policy, MAHA, and health insurance.
National award recognizes ETSU Health ALS Clinic as model for collaborative care
The ETSU Health Gary E. Shealy Memorial ALS Clinic has been recognized as an exemplary model of what happens when health care professionals across disciplines work together to improve patient
Democrats' big challenge on health care costs
Voters won't wait until the next election cycle for things to get cheaper.
Health Care in the 2026 Midterm Election
This dashboard focuses on KFF’s analysis of the role health care costs and other health policy issues played in voters’ decisions in the 2026 midterm elections, including in key Senate races. It examines the role of rising health costs on voters’ decisions, views on the Trump administration’s health care policies, and opinions on the government’s role in health care amid discussions of Medicare for All.
Augusta Health Automates Document Routing With Forward Advantage AI
AI is making contributions in many health care settings by creating doctors' notes, but an equally urgent task in many organizations is processing, storing, and
Reaching Across the Aisle to Lower Health Care Costs
Following a panel organized by Penn LDI and Penn Washington, two health policy experts share how both aisles of Congress can reduce health care costs.
Among Democrats’ first affordability targets: Health care
The incoming congressional majority will work to restore federal Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid funding early next year, officials say.
WATCH: Conversations on finding common ground on health care affordability
On November 10 at 8:00am ET, tune in to conversations on the policies and bipartisan solutions aimed at lowering health care costs and expanding access to affordable coverage.
What the midterms could mean for the future of health AI
The midterms highlighted the negative sentiment around AI across the U.S. How will those attitudes trickle down to legislating AI use in health care?
Keith Gaskin: Faith, politics and the trap of moral disqualification
Scroll through social media during any campaign season, and you won’t just see debates over tax rates, health care or foreign policy. You will see sweeping verdicts on souls.
Yes, Congress cut Medicaid. And they cut it deeply. (Opinion)
Our elected leaders are free to make their case to voters that the government should spend less on health care. But the one thing they cannot credibly argue is that the cuts they voted for are not happening.
Keeping Hawai‘i Healthy 2026
Hawaiʻi’s health care systems are proudly rooted in traditions of providing quality care and cutting-edge treatments for their patients across all islands.
A prison sentence is not a death sentence — fix the correctional health care crisis now
No state, including Arizona, likes having a judge tell it how to run its prisons. But they all have a choice: live up to their constitutional responsibilities and provide adequate medical care on t…
Single-payer health care system proponents were thrown a big bone this election
Sen. Bernie Sanders is likely to lead the Senate’s health committee next year, which could grant him a chance to fundamentally alter how the FDA interacts with the companies it regulates. Read more:
Keeping Hawai‘i Healthy 2026
Hawaiʻi’s health care systems are proudly rooted in traditions of providing quality care and cutting-edge treatments for their patients across all islands.
Florida’s 27th District candidates offer competing approaches to housing, immigration and health care
Both Republican Maria Elvira Salazar and Democrat Eliott Rodriguez have made lowering housing costs a priority.
Montgomery leaders approve resolution to form new health care authority
The Montgomery City Council announced Tuesday night that it voted 6-3 to approve a resolution authorizing the establishment of the Health Care Authority of Montgomery.
Federal funding headed to Emmett: Here's how local providers plan to use millions for rural health care
New rural health funding is making its way to Emmett, where local health care leaders say the investment will help replace aging equipment, improve technology and support access to care close to home.
What State Street Health Care SPDR (XLV) Bought: Eli Lilly Leads on Nov. 3
The fund added $330.3 million in net purchases, lifting all 60 of its positions with no sells.
Tampa General Hospital and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County Share Updates on Partnership to Enhance Rural Health Care - Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report
Stacey Brandt, Gina All, Tammy Jackson Moore, John Couris, Darcy Davis, Ron Doncaster November 2, 2026 – Tampa General Hospital and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County hosted […]
People on the move in Indian Country
November’s People on the Move highlights appointments and honors across Native business, finance, health care, education and tribal enterprises.
Health care on the ballot; Botox billing doctor gets 15 years; Medicare prior auth pilot curbs services
The top news stories in medicine today: At least 125 health professionals are on today's ballots as California votes on a clinic spending rule; a California doctor gets 15 years for $45 million in Medicare Botox billing; Medicare's prior authorization pilot curbs targeted services.
Democrats win power to push back on Trump’s health care moves
Democrats win Senate control, and with it the power to push back on Trump’s health care moves.
Assessing Urgent Referral Trends From Primary Health Care Centres to Emergency Departments in the United Arab Emirates: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Background Efficient referral pathways between primary health care centres (PHCs) and emergency departments (EDs) are important for appropriate healthcare utilization and resource allocation....
A Path Forward for Health Care in the Imperial Valley
Written by Sergio Uriarte. Last Updated November 2, 2026 in Healthcare. I grew up in the town of Imperial. While my career in medicine led to a prolonged residence in North Carolina and a recent return to San Diego, my ties to
US SECTORS CALL: Technology & Health Care
Momentum returned to the AI trade early last week. Anthropic’s IPO filing on Monday revealed a far more profitable business than investors had expected, and the AI trade rallied. SK Hynix added to it with blockbuster results overnight Tuesday. Then the trade unraveled. Alphabet’s earnings disappointed on Wednesday,
agilon health to Host Virtual Investor Event "Driving Performance At Scale: The agilon Framework" on November 17, 2026
WESTERVILLE, Ohio, November 05, 2026--agilon health, inc. (NYSE: AGL), the trusted partner empowering physicians to transform health care in our communities, today announced that it will host a virtual investor event on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at 2:00 PM ET.
$10,000 in Vanguard's Health Care ETF in 2004 Grew to $93,915, and It Still Charges 0.09%
A single health care ETF launched two decades ago at rock-bottom cost has quietly compounded into a sum that surprises most investors, but whether its three closest rivals can match it depends entirely on what kind of risk you are willing to carry.
Rural Utah gets federal funding for health care
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services says all of its first-year Rural Health Transformation Program funding has now been awarded.
BMP hospital ruling raises wider questions about speaking up in health care
By William Crooks Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered safer work organization at Cowansville’s Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital after finding inadequate control of psychosocial risks and insufficient protection of meal and rest breaks. Separately, research involving Université de Sherbrooke researchers found fear of reprisal among more than half of part…
Democratic doctors and scientists ride the blue wave
The clinicians and researchers who will take office are ready to tackle the U.S. health care system.
Political analyst says Senate-elect Jackson should follow Collins’ lead on constituent services
Political analyst Dan Shea, a Colby government professor, said as voters look to Jackson to tackle major issues like health care and the cost of living, Jackson’s transition also will hinge on mastering what experts call the “bread and butter” of Washington politics: constituent services.
Gifford Health Care raises rates and reduces hours on its employee daycare center
Gifford Medical Center faces a difficult tradeoff as it prepares to hike daycare rates to close a budget deficit.
Sabra Health Care: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
Lease resets on its skilled nursing properties could lift cash rents, but the portfolio shift toward senior housing brings operating risk.
Democratic doctors and scientists ride the blue wave
The clinicians and researchers who will take office are ready to tackle the U.S. health care system.
Walking more shows sharper links to lower health care costs as adults age
More than 60 years after "I look up as I walk," known worldwide as "Sukiyaki," became Japan's most famous song about walking, a new study finds that as walkers look up, their predicted health care costs ...
Busing health care: Mobile health clinics will treat LCPS students, staff
A lack of health insurance or transportation, or the inability to get time off from work, can keep low-income Loudoun County Public Schools parents from getting their children dental, medical
38% of Retirees Say Health Care Has Cost More Than They Expected. Here’s What a 65-Year-Old Should Budget Instead
Medicare looks like a safety net until the bills arrive, and most new retirees discover the gaps only after they have already retired. A breakdown of what a 65-year-old actually owes in 2026 reveals a number that surprises even people who thought they had planned ahead.
Health care professionals at G.I. Regional Medical Center report being assaulted by patient
GRAND ISLAND - Two health care professionals at Grand Island Regional Medical Center reported at 9:32 p.m. Nov...
Marni von Wilpert flips California House seat, bringing a personal health care fight to Congress
The bisexual lawmaker from California flipped a Republican-held seat amid an overwhelming blue wave.
Health expo offers hands-on look at health care jobs for local students
Hundreds of Columbia County high school students will get a hands-on look at careers in health care during the Columbia County School District Health Careers Expo.
A looming deadline to fund the government will shape Congress’ unusual lame duck session
Before Democrats take control, Congress must fund expiring health care programs, confirm HHS nominees
The Waiting Begins
Millions of Americans headed to the polls Tuesday for a midterm election that could shape the future of health care and artificial intelligence in the U.S. and will determine how much Democrats can try to constrain President Donald Trump during his last two years in office. The political contest has ...
Marked Tree man accused of assaulting health care workers, spitting on them
A 61-year-old Marked Tree man allegedly struck a nurse, bent another nurse’s hand backward, and spit on hospital employees during an Oct. 20 incident, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Traditional mulberry paper used to develop breathable health patch
Wearable health-monitoring devices are becoming increasingly important for personalized health care, but conventional patches often rely on substrates that restrict airflow, trap sweat, and cause skin discomfort during prolonged use.
Northwest Michigan Health Pathways Connects High School Students to Health Careers
Nine ninth-and 10th-grade students from Hart, Manistee, Mason County Central, and Shelby high schools are exploring careers in healthcare through the Northwest Michigan Health Pathways program.
Midterm Voters Give Democrats a Big Advantage to Handle Health Care
KFF's analysis of the 2026 Voter Poll by SSRS shows midterm voters gave Democrats a 19-percentage-point advantage on which party is better able to handle health care.
Health Care: Don’t Just Fix What They Broke
The new Congress must not only repair what Trump has wrought but focus on immediate relief for the already insured.
TDMHSAS Announces Expansion of Rural Mental Health Projects with New Grant
TDMHSAS and its contracted community mental health partners are excited to expand mental health and wellness services across rural Tennessee with a new federal grant. The department is receiving $10 million over the next five years through the Promoting Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care program.
Goldman Sachs’s Asad Hader on health care's post-election boost
Asad Haider, Goldman Sachs head of U.S. Healthcare Equity Research, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss S&P health care sector gains.
Trump administration awards $233.6M for California rural health care
California receives $233.6 million in federal rural health care funding as Medicaid cuts raise concerns for Fresno and San Joaquin Valley communities.
Nurses need more visible roles in the modern 'One Health' governance
Nurses may be one of the most important parts of the health care workforce – yet their contribution is overlooked, according to a new paper examining the profession's place in the growing 'One Health' movement to connect human, animal and environmental health.
Gifford Health Care raises rates and reduces hours on its employee daycare center
“We're entering a period of hard trade-offs in healthcare, and this is one of them,” the hospital CEO said, as the organization navigates the joint pressures of workforce retention and keeping expenses low.
Thousands of Georgians face health care premium sticker shock during open enrollment
State data shows health insurance premiums have jumped between 15% and nearly 29%, according to Liz Coyle of the consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch.
New law boosting mental health care for 911 dispatchers seen as landmark in public safety circles
Newly approved state legislation that classifies emergency dispatchers as first responders is a milestone for mental health care, according to public safety officials in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The bill widens access to wellness services and provides coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder related to routine, but often disturbing, calls that
Declining influenza vaccinations continue among health care workers
Despite often caring for patients at higher risk of severe outcomes from respiratory virus infection, health care workers in Oregon continue to lag in rates of vaccination against the potentially
How Democrats’ Big Win Could Reshape Health Care
Democrats scored huge margins in Congress and made big gains at the state level. What does it mean for health policy in the final two years of the Trump administration and beyond?
Baptist Health Care President Mark Faulkner to retire in 2027
Baptist Health Care President and CEO Mark Faulkner announced this week that is retiring on June 30, 2027 after 14 years.
Local students learn lifesaving and health care skills at Pali Momi Career Fair
Knowing CPR can mean the difference between life and death, and local students had the opportunity to put those lifesaving skills into practice during a hands-on health care career fair at Pali Momi Medical Center.
The Midterm Election Was About Health Care
In the face of Trump’s destruction of public health and modern science, voters are putting candidates who support Medicare for All, doctors, and nurses into positions of power.