Joshua Salomon

Join us on 7/15 for the virtual public release webinar of a new report examining challenges and solutions to better aligning investment in #TherapeuticDevelopment with #DiseaseBurden and #UnmetNeed. Register here: buff.ly/2NXP6Wo

Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act’s preventive-care mandate The challengers argued that members of the Preventive Services Task Force were improperly appointed because they were not approved by the Senate.

SCOTUS keeps ACA preventive care mandate, but only by stressing that HHS can fire USPSTF members or block or undo Task Force recommendations. That’s a win for access, but it puts evidence-based care on a political leash.

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

HHS abruptly calls off meeting of expert panel on preventive care, raising questions about its future | CNN The US Department of Health and Human Services called off an upcoming meeting of expert advisers on preventive health care, raising questions about the future of the longtime, nonpolitical advisory gr...

RFK Jr abruptly called off tomorrow's scheduled USPSTF meeting

Notice came from the immediate Office of the Secretary

"There is extraordinary concern," among those connected to the task force, "that it's about to be dismissed, like ACIP was," a source familiar tells us

www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/h...

Gilead to provide HIV prevention drug to 2 million people in lower-income countries at cost Gilead announced a deal to get its groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to lower income countries. Notably, the deal does not include PEPFAR.

Gilead announced a deal to get its groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to lower income countries. Notably, the deal does not include PEPFAR.
www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

Global Fund Secures Access to Breakthrough HIV Prevention Drug Lenacapavir for Low- and Middle-Income Countries The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) today announced it has signed an access agreement with Gilead Sciences to procure lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable for HI...

Great news - The global fund has reached an agreement w Gilead to purchase 2M doses of lenacapavir for PrEP for low and middle income countries. Access will be prioritized based HIV epidemiology, national prevention strategies, + available resources
www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/2025...

Opinion | We’ve Never Seen Health Care Cuts This Big

Republicans are poised to pass the biggest cuts in health coverage ever.

@nytopinion.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/o...

House Republicans said there wouldn’t be $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, and they passed a bill with $793 billion. The Senate then passed a bill with a trillion dollars in Medicaid cuts.

As of a couple weeks ago, fewer than one in ten people knew there were Medicaid cuts in this bill.

Folks are in for a very rude surprise.

priorities.org/news-and-pre...

Supreme Court rejects challenge to free preventive care, bolsters RFK Jr.'s power The SCOTUS decision preserves free preventive health care and sets the stage for a bigger role for RFK Jr. in determining what's covered.

BREAKING: The authority of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to indicate preventative health care insurers must cover survives a challenge to SCOTUS, but the 6-3 ruling gives the health secretary more sway over what must be covered. www.statnews.com/2025/06/27/s...

Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act’s preventive-care mandate The challengers argued that members of the Preventive Services Task Force were improperly appointed because they were not approved by the Senate.

SCOTUS keeps ACA preventive care mandate, but only by stressing that HHS can fire USPSTF members or block or undo Task Force recommendations. That’s a win for access, but it puts evidence-based care on a political leash.

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Kennedy’s New Advisers to Broaden Scrutiny of Childhood Vaccines

Just minutes into the first meeting of scientific advisers appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it was clear that the skeptical panelists intended to upend longstanding vaccine recommendations in the US, particularly those pertaining to children.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/h...

Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support

“There is more potential than ever before to end the H.I.V. epidemic... But now, H.I.V. programs across Africa are scrambling to procure drugs that the United States once supplied, replace lost nurses and lab technicians, and restart shuttered programs to prevent new infections.”

Regulators Approve a Twice-Yearly Shot to Prevent H.I.V. Infection

BREAKING: The FDA has approved a twice-yearly injection that provided a near-perfect shield against H.I.V. infection in clinical trials. But the Trump administration has gutted the programs that might have paid for it in low-income countries
(Gift article)

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...

10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects 'Big, beautiful bill' would result in 10.9 million people losing health insurance, primarily Medicaid.

#Breaking: 10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects buff.ly/DnBihzo

Trump Budget Eliminates Funding for Crucial Global Vaccination Programs

The Trump administration’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year eliminates funding for programs that provide lifesaving vaccines around the world, including immunizations for polio.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/h...

A very optimistic labradoodle wondering if more food is coming any minute now.

No creature more optimistic than Mochi thinking that maybe — just maybe — tonight will finally be the night she gets that fourth serving of dinner

#dogsofbluesky

Measles Surge in Southwest Is Now the Largest Single Outbreak Since 2000 (Gift Article) Growing case numbers suggest that the national total will surpass that seen during the last large outbreak in 2019.

The spread of measles in the Southwest now constitutes the largest single outbreak since the United States declared the disease eliminated in 2000, CDC told state officials in a meeting on Monday

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/h...

Former Trump official warns president he’s at risk of ruining his legacy on ending HIV DOGE's funding cuts threaten to undo progress toward curbing HIV, a former top Trump official warned.

One of the truly puzzling things about the #HHS budget cuts is the slashing of funding for programs aimed at stopping spread of #HIV. Brett Giroir, from the first Trump administration, finds it puzzling too. www.statnews.com/2025/04/23/t...

NIH autism study will pull from private medical records The National Institutes of Health plans to pool information from private sources like pharmacies and smartwatches.

The National Institutes of Health plans to pool information from private sources like pharmacies and smartwatches.

Use of No-Cost Preventive Services Jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood This cross-sectional study analyzes the use of 10 no-cost preventive services by individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance, which may be threatened by the upcoming Kennedy v Braidwood Supre...

Today the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the ACA's mandate to cover preventative care services with no cost sharing. A new study led by @jsalomon.bsky.social shows that nearly 1 in 3 people with private health insurance use the top 10 of these services.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The influence of epidemiological context on the success of partner notification programs: analysis of gonorrhea transmission dynamics We estimated IRR of 0.97 (95% range 0.93­-0.99) for a 10% relative increase in partner notification coverage. Our findings support prior population-level e

Work done in collaboration w/ CDC colleagues examined the impact of partner notification across epidemiological contexts to identify determinants of variation and to compare effect size to a prior observational study. 🛟🧪

w/ @jsalomon.bsky.social @yhgrad.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/jid/article/...

Tile map of US states captioned “How many privately insured individuals use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood?” Data are shown for each state including the proportion of enrollees receiving at least one free service, which ranges from around 20% to more than 30%, as well as counts of enrollees using services, which are higher than 1 million for several states including Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina, Georgia and others. The source for the estimates is Bronsard et al. JAMA Health Forum 2025; 6(4): e251559.

Across states, 20.5–38.5% of enrollees in private insurance use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood. Thirteen states have >1 million enrollees who use free services, including >3 million in Texas where the case originated.

ja.ma/3GcUZC6

Use of No-Cost Preventive Services Jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood This cross-sectional study analyzes the use of 10 no-cost preventive services by individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance, which may be threatened by the upcoming Kennedy v Braidwood Supre...

On Monday the Supreme Court hears a case that could strike down the ACA mandate that insurers cover preventive services at no cost to patients.

We found that ~40 million people with private insurance use these free services, including half of enrolled women.

JAMA Health Forum:
ja.ma/3GcUZC6

🩺📊

Tile map of US states captioned “How many privately insured individuals use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood?” Data are shown for each state including the proportion of enrollees receiving at least one free service, which ranges from around 20% to more than 30%, as well as counts of enrollees using services, which are higher than 1 million for several states including Texas, Florida, California, North Carolina, Georgia and others. The source for the estimates is Bronsard et al. JAMA Health Forum 2025; 6(4): e251559.

Across states, 20.5–38.5% of enrollees in private insurance use free preventive services jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood. Thirteen states have >1 million enrollees who use free services, including >3 million in Texas where the case originated.

ja.ma/3GcUZC6

Use of No-Cost Preventive Services Jeopardized by Kennedy v Braidwood This cross-sectional study analyzes the use of 10 no-cost preventive services by individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance, which may be threatened by the upcoming Kennedy v Braidwood Supre...

On Monday the Supreme Court hears a case that could strike down the ACA mandate that insurers cover preventive services at no cost to patients.

We found that ~40 million people with private insurance use these free services, including half of enrolled women.

JAMA Health Forum:
ja.ma/3GcUZC6

🩺📊

...when public health works it's invisible...

A Federal Lab That Tracked Rising S.T.I.s Has Been Shuttered (Gift Article) The United States can no longer keep tabs on drug-resistant gonorrhea, among other infections, scientists said.

Drug-resistant gonorrhea, a form of the widespread sexually transmitted infection, is considered an urgent health threat worldwide. The US has just lost its ability to detect it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/h...

NEW 🧵

A quick thread of charts showing how Trump’s economic agenda is going so far:

1) US consumers are reacting very very negatively.

These are the worst ratings for any US government’s economic policy since records began.

Distribution and transmission of
#tuberculosis in a high-HIV prevalence city
in Malawi: A genomic and spatial analysis 🛟🧪

journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

@uofgshw.bsky.social @jasonandrews.bsky.social @rachaelburke.bsky.social @jsalomon.bsky.social

Decoding the HHS Reorganization In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman examines the implications of Secretary Kennedy’s reorganization of HHS and why it’s a sharp break from past efforts to reorganize the department...

At some point in the future, a Democratic President and Secretary of HHS will probably try to rebuild the department following the major staffing cuts happening now. It won't be easy, and will likely require Congress.
www.kff.org/from-drew-al...