States and health systems across the country are reacting to updated COVID-19 vaccine guidance from the Food and Drug Administration that narrowed the recommendation to only Americans 65 and older or those with high-risk health conditions.
Some Arizonans are facing practical difficulties with obtaining a prescription for the vaccine....National News
CDC Director Susan Monarez was reportedly ousted from the agency on Wednesday less than a month after being sworn in; it was the shortest tenure in the agency’s 79-year history. Her attorneys said she is challenging her removal and accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of “weaponizing public health for political gain” by...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
A new peer-reviewed study published by The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) found that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans consistently delivered higher quality care than fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A retrospective cohort study of more than 3.1 million Medicare beneficiaries...Arizona News
Last Friday, a Georgia man opened fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) building in Atlanta. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has received criticism from staff and public health officials for failing to properly protect public health employees from anti-vaccine conspiracy...National News
Leadership throughout the health agencies continues to fluctuate this week as the Senate affirms new agency heads and longtime career bureaucrats leave amid the turmoil of the Trump administration's onboarding.
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from Dr. Mehmet Oz on his vision for the Centers for Medicare and...
Sadly a young child in Pinal County died from the flu last week. In good news, the Arizona Department of Health Services is reporting that RSV cases are down by nearly half (48%) above the norm and COVID-19 confirmed cases are down by nearly 90%.
Since the start of the flu season this year, 2,794 lab-confirmed influenza cases have...
According to a study by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a national trade association and political advocacy group for health insurers, in 2021 Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees received higher quality care and have higher rates of use across a wide range of preventive services than those enrolled in fee-for-service (FFS)...
COVID-19 is back for the summer according to wastewater analysis and hospital reporting, with especially elevated levels in the Navajo Nation.
Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation (TCRHCC) has resumed requirements that staff and patients wear masks at their facilities as of July 19th. The hospital is currently out of COVID-19...Arizona News
The mobile program is designed to ensure all Arizonans, anywhere in the state, still have equitable access to free COVID-19 vaccinations by bringing a vaccine clinic to any community that requests it.
Operated in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the program is intended to fill the gap in access to...Arizona News
Emergency departments across Arizona are flooded with patients seeking care for respiratory illnesses as cases of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 have risen simultaneously.
Valleywise Health told AZCentral that the rise in patient volumes was related to the unsheltered and substance use disorder crises as unhoused...
COVID-19 cases are rising quickly across the U.S. and hospitalizations are not far behind.
The rise in cases is caused by a new, rapidly spreading dominant variant, called JN.1, which currently represents more than 60% of cases. In an interview with PBS Newshour, infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera explained that...
The joint commitment among the five founding members aims to leverage learned lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between healthcare and public health systems.
In March 2023, the Common Health Coalition (CHC) was formed by AHIP, the American Medical Association...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
The Network for Public Health Law, a legal advocacy organization for public health law and policy, published a report that analyzed specific markers of advocacy capacity for public health law in all 50 states. It notes that Arizona had the lowest public health spending in the nation.
The report, The State of State-level Public...
COVID-19 cases are beginning to subside after a summer spike, but officials are recommending that Americans receive the newly released vaccine or a dose of the newly-authorized Novovax, prior to the expected winter surge in cases.
In Arizona, cases were down 5% week over week with 3,134 new cases reported for the week beginning on...
The scope of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority was clearly illustrated this week as it authorized a new COVID-19 vaccine and was penalized for a tweet about Ivermectin by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Fifth Circuit, a notoriously conservative court comprised of Bush and Trump appointees, sided with three...
COVID-19 cases are still on the rise across the country, including in Arizona.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Data Tracker, there was a 15% increase in hospitalizations and a 20% increase in COVID-related deaths over the past week.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) COVID-19 Data...
Three new COVID variants are driving the rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, with hospitalizations from the virus reaching its highest levels since April. Public health officials are encouraging the public to take the updated bivalent COVID booster when it is released in the fall, in addition to the updated vaccine against...
The coronavirus is back with a midsummer uptick in cases for the first time since the end of the public health emergency (PHE) in May.
The last full week of July logged 9,056 COVID-19 related hospitalizations at an increase of 12% week-over-week. Deaths related to COVID-19 have remained steady since early June, with 500-600 deaths...
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary posted projections for national health expenditures (NHE) through 2031. The report projects health spending will represent 20% of the U.S. economy and spending will surpass $7 trillion annually by 2031.
The CMS release states that the NHE and health...
Beginning next week, every skilled nursing facility in the country will undergo a five-claim audit as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to get improper payments under control. Meanwhile, nursing homes are expressing concern about the effects that Medicaid redeterminations and subsequent disenrollment's could have...
