News & Insights

Nearly 43 million Americans owe a combined $1.57 trillion in federal student loan debt, with Black borrowers holding 186 percent more debt per capita than White borrowers. Poor health outcomes, including high blood pressure and high rates of anxiety and depression, are associated with accumulating student loan debt. In response to the economic burdens of the pandemic, the Biden administration has paused student loan payment requirements several times, yet failure to address the debilitating effects of student loan debt has many calling on lawmakers to undertake education reform, including “forgiving” student loan debt.

Some of the public health law and policy issues in the headlines in recent weeks include California’s new law requiring mental health courses be taught in schools, the challenges schools face in remaining open during the omicron surge, the addition of a common chemical to the FDAs list of hazardous chemicals, Medicaid expansion on the ballot in South Dakota, and libraries’ efforts to meet the growing social service needs of their patrons. 

The Network's Southeastern Region Director Dawn Hunter submitted a response on January 10 to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Solicitation of Written Comments on Proposed Healthy People 2030 Objectives and Request for Information on the Relationship Between Voter Participation and Health. Read the response here. The Healthy People initiative serves as key guidance to health departments and their partners in developing a robust and comprehensive agenda that improves public health and health equity in the communities they serve.

Implicit bias is when we have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge. Implicit bias is unintentional and automatic, but it affects how we process information, make decisions, and act. With respect to public health law, we must be cognizant of the myriad ways in which implicit bias can manifest at every stage from program development and enactment to enforcement issues.  

In 2010, the same year that the Network launched, the ACA was enacted and the nation took a critical step toward improving access to health care. Now, ten years later and in the wake of the pandemic, we know there is still much to be done and that we must build not only on the advances made by the ACA, but strategize and argue for systemic change on multiple levels.

Voting is a way to shape the policies that impact how we live our lives – where we can afford to live, whether our neighborhoods are safe, the quality of the school system we send our children to, whether we are paid a living wage, how tax dollars are invested in our communities, and so much more. When a group of people is systematically prevented from fully engaging in the democratic process, the end result is a system that does not reflect the diversity of the peoples and perspectives it serves. Health equity can be advanced by removing barriers to participation in the electoral process, and that starts with acknowledging that those barriers exist. Declarations of racism as a public health crisis are one way to do just that.

The Network for Public Health Law is accepting applications for the Climate Change, Health Equity, and Public Health Law Learning and Practice Collaborative (Climate LPC) – a learning and practice collaborative for partners interested in the intersection of climate change and health equity to discuss law and policy solutions to mitigate public health impacts from climate change.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed annually to promote awareness and support for the rights and wellbeing of people with disabilities. One in four adults in the United States have a disability, and solutions to advance accessibility, inclusion, and equity must account for the diversity of experiences among people with disabilities. To mark the occasion, Network attorneys highlight recent law and policy developments related to health equity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. 

Tribes, tribal organizations and Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TECs) need continuous and routine access to comprehensive and specific public health data to drive public health decision making, just as state and local health departments do, particularly during the current pandemic.  Sharing these data with tribal public health authorities is essential to address the health disparities experienced by American Indians and Alaska Natives. However, due to confusion around HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements, many health departments are unaware that they are able to share public health data with any other public health authority, including tribal organizations and TECs.  

While the impacts of the pandemic have shifted slightly over time, COVID-19 continues to disproportionately impact Hispanic, Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native populations. These disparities have also shone a light on decision-making tools incorporated into Crisis Standard of Care plans, which are intended to save the most lives through triage decisions when resources are scarce and patient populations are surging, as they have been during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is critical that triage policies incorporate equitable allocation criteria to avoid continued and exacerbation of disparities, and to begin attempts to reduce and eliminate them.

Increased fear over the safety of hospitals along with policies designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including limiting the number of guests allowed in delivery rooms, mandating inductions or caesarian sections, and separating newborns from birthing parents suspected of having COVID-19, has driven many families to make the decision to give birth at home or at a birthing center. The increased demand for out-of-hospital deliveries has quickly overwhelmed the limited number of birth centers and midwives providing home birth services in the U.S.–highlighting a gap in the country’s healthcare system. Changes in state licensure schemes and practice regulations for midwives and birthing centers could make out-of-hospital births more accessible and affordable.

Some of the public health law and policy issues in the headlines in recent weeks include concerns over threats directed at public health officials, legislative actions to limit public health authority, efforts to address food insecurity in Massachusetts, opposition to federal vaccine mandates, and the Biden administration’s plans for vaccinating children aged 5 to 11.