Hello from the Common Health Coalition! The 2-4-2 Digest is a weekly snapshot for health leaders that highlights four key things to know and can be read in less than two minutes or with two swipes on your phone.

Weekly Health Insights

New CMS Innovation Center Strategy:

Last week, the CMS Innovation Center unveiled its 2025 strategy, focusing on prevention, patient empowerment, and market-driven reform to curb rising care costs and chronic diseases. The plan shares their intention to promote food-as-medicine initiatives, physical activity prescriptions, and social needs screening.

Vaccine Guidance:

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced that forthcoming guidance for fall COVID-19 vaccines may require clinical trials for updated formulations, a departure from prior seasons and recent recommendations from WHO advisors. In addition, the FDA granted full approval for Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine for adults 65+ and certain high-risk groups, but with post-marketing study requirements and narrower use than mRNA vaccines.

Syphilis Screening:

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends universal early screening for syphilis during pregnancy, as congenital syphilis rates have increased tenfold since 2015. Some states have already implemented mandatory testing at multiple pregnancy stages while others have used mobile clinics and opt-out screening. Addressing the surge requires stronger collaboration between public health and health care to embed testing and treatment into routine clinical workflows. 

Overdose Deaths:

U.S. overdose deaths dropped by 27% in 2024—the largest single-year decline in recorded history. Despite this significant progress, overdose fatalities remain staggeringly high, with 80,000 lives lost last year, and remains the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44. Experts attribute at least part of the decline to expanded access to naloxone, medication-assisted treatment, and harm reduction strategies.

Colleague Corner

In a recent Dallas Morning News commentary, Parkland Health CEO Dr. Fred Cerise explains how proposed federal changes to Medicaid financing, such as caps on provider taxes, could reduce state Medicaid funding by billions. He emphasizes that Medicaid’s complex financing structure can be easily mischaracterized, and that what may seem like technical reforms threatens access to care for millions of people.

“States must react by either raising taxes to maintain services or taking actions that will reduce access to care such as cutting Medicaid rolls, reducing services offered, or reducing provider payments. Proponents anticipate that states will not replace the provider tax revenue with state or local funds. This means there will be billions less in the Medicaid program and people will ultimately have trouble accessing lifesaving care."

– Dr. Fred Cerise, CEO, Parkland Health

Datawatch

A new Wall Street Journal analysis shows U.S. adults face significantly higher rates of preventable illness than peer nations, leading to higher death rates. Nearly half (47.7%) have hypertension, 40.3% have obesity, and 14.7% have diabetes—chronic conditions that contribute to earlier mortality and higher healthcare costs.

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Meales reports: To continue following measles updates, visit our Resources page for the latest Virtual Medical Operations Center (VMOC) Measles Briefs from Yale School of Public Health (under Situational Awareness Briefs).

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