Licensure and Credentialing
- The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council voted unanimously to give preliminary approval to remove language that requires cultural competency as part of continuing education requirements for several licensed mental health professions. This move has prompted support from those who are against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and opposition from mental health providers who say it will hurt the experience for patients, particularly those of color. However, officials with the state’s mental health licensing authority say people have misunderstood their motives, as political discussions surrounding DEI have turned a simple rule change into something more. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- The fatal drug overdose rate fell 4% nationwide from 2022 to 2023, per new CDC data — but grew notably out west and in Alaska. Overdose deaths seem to be falling as pandemic-era isolation ebbs and access to life-saving medications like Naloxone grows. The age-adjusted rate of U.S. fatal drug overdoses fell from 32.6 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 in 2023, the CDC says. The rate for synthetic opioids specifically — including fentanyl — dropped from 22.7 to 22.2. Read more here.
- Internet searches seeking help for gambling addiction have "increased substantially" as the number of states with legalized sports betting has expanded in recent years, prompting a need for more public health awareness, according to a study released. The findings "suggest that sportsbooks pose a substantial health concern," researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and Bryn Mawr College wrote in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Read more here.
Transgender Issues
- A second federal judge has blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening the federal funding of hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to teenagers. U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King in Seattle — a Joe Biden appointee — sided with the Democratic attorneys general of Washington state, Oregon, and Minnesota who had sued to restore access to health services for transgender patients 19 years and younger. Read more here.
- Kansas became the latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors after the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the Democratic governor’s veto of the measure. Kansas is the 27th state to ban or restrict such care. GOP lawmakers reversed Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto less than a month after President Donald Trump issued an order barring federal support for gender-affirming care for youth under 19. Read more here.
Federal and State Policy
- President Donald Trump endorsed a House Republican budget plan that would impose hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, a healthcare program jointly funded by federal and state money, which helps provide coverage for Americans with lower incomes, including pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities, among others. Read more here.
- President Donald Trump surprised some of his own staff when he endorsed a House budget that would gut Medicaid, hours after pledging that the safety net program “isn’t going to be touched.” The comments sent aides scrambling to figure out what Trump meant and which Medicaid cuts he would be willing to accept, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the action happening behind closed doors. The potential Medicaid reductions — an option to help pay for Trump’s wide-ranging tax, energy and border agenda — are triggering a backlash from Republican lawmakers whose constituents rely on the program. Read more here.
- A bill that could repeal voter-approved Medicaid expansion narrowly cleared its first chamber of the Idaho Legislature. After an hour and a half of debate, the Idaho House on a narrow 38-32 vote passed a Medicaid expansion reform-or-repeal bill. House Bill 138, by Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, requires Idaho to enact 11 Medicaid policy changes or repeal Medicaid expansion — a policy that lets more low-income Idahoans be eligible for the health insurance assistance program. Read more here.
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