politics
Takeaways from the DNC on the health care fights ahead
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
After another late night of waiting for Beyoncé to show up (She didn't 🙃), there were two clear priorities for Democrats at last week's national convention: Protect abortion rights and make America feel good again.
"Let's be clear about how we got here," Vice President Kamala Harris said about the repeal of Roe v. Wade. "Donald Trump hand-picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom, and now he brags about it."
Read more from STAT's Sarah Owermohle on the key health topics from the DNC and how the Trump campaign is responding.
health disparities
How has the ACA affected people with criminal involvement?
People who are incarcerated or have been tied up in the U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately have low incomes, lack access to health insurance, and have higher rates of chronic illness. A study published on Friday in JAMA Health Forum reviewed existing studies to determine whether the enactment of the ACA and expanded state Medicaid programs had any effect on this population's access to health care, insurance costs, and health and social welfare outcomes.
The evidence was mixed — researchers found that the ACA was associated with lower rates of being uninsured, but it was unclear whether more people were on private or public insurance. On access to care, studies focused mostly on substance use and mental health treatment, but the evidence was mixed on whether people had better access to that care.
Does this sound vague? To explain: This was a "scoping review," which is different from the "systemic reviews" you'll often read about in STAT. Scoping reviews are more broad and exploratory, while systemic reviews look to answer specific questions. Basically, the authors concluded there isn't enough research on this population to know for sure how they've been affected over the years, so the authors called for more research on this at-risk group.
covid-19
More free Covid tests are coming this fall
The federal government is going to distribute another round of free Covid-19 tests, starting in late September, HHS officials announced Friday during a press conference to highlight ways to protect against Covid, flu, and RSV in the coming respiratory illness season. This will be the seventh round of free tests through Covidtests.gov, where people can order up to four tests.
Covid activity in the country has been surging in recent weeks. Asked why the tests aren't available now, David Boucher from the administration for strategic preparedness and response said HHS had to be "a little bit strategic" about when to launch this round, given constraints on Covid funding. Covid infection rates typically rise to higher levels in the winter, and the department wants people to have tests on hand around the holiday season. Boucher said a separate program providing tests to schools, libraries, seniors' residences, and food banks is ongoing. HHS has distributed about 2 billion free tests in total, he said.
— Helen Branswell
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