Hello from the Common Health Coalition! The 2-4-2 Digest is a weekly snapshot for health leaders - 4 key insights in 2 minutes or with 2 swipes on your phone.

Weekly Health Insights

HIV: Florida approved $30.9 million in emergency funding to restore access to low-cost HIV medications after earlier eligibility cuts left more than 12,000 residents at risk of losing coverage. The funding extends through June 30, reinforcing the need for a longer-term solution for access.

Rural Health: The Rural Health Transformation Program grant, designed to offset Medicaid cuts, emphasizes modernization and system upgrades. In practice, this may lead some states to “right-size” services, such as reducing inpatient capacity or consolidating service lines, which could decrease local access to care.

CMS: CMS has released a $100M funding opportunity for the MAHA ELEVATE model, signaling a growing focus on upstream, preventive approaches via Medicare. Letters of intent are due April 10.

Tobacco: The Massachusetts Public Health Department reports that restricting menthol cigarette sales in MA has reduced smoking prevalence by 1.37 percentage points since 2020 and is projected to generate nearly $200M in healthcare cost savings over 10 years. 

Colleague Corner

In a recent Healthbeat interview, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, president and CEO of Trust for America’s Health, shares insights on five questions about her work in public health and highlights opportunities to strengthen partnerships between public health, health care, and the business community.

“We know that the public health system wasn’t perfect before. This is an opportunity as well to think about how we strengthen and bolster the public health system. It’s important not only to protecting health. It’s also important for strengthening our economy…working, for example, with the business community, because we know that good health is good business. Ensuring that employers understand how to protect the health of their workers.”

– J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, President and CEO, Trust for America’s Health

Data Watch

Despite highly effective hepatitis C treatments, only about one-third of diagnosed patients receive therapy within a year, and annual treatment volumes have fallen from ~186,000 courses in 2015 to ~68,500 in 2025 — well below the ~260,000 needed annually to meet national elimination targets (Kishore et al.).

Figure. Estimated Annual DAA Courses Dispensed at Retail, Specialty, and Mail-Order Pharmacies in the US, Overall and by DAA

If you find the digest useful, please share it and

encourage colleagues to consider joining the Coalition.