Seth A. Berkowitz

Happy to be on the @peoplespharmacy.bsky.social podcast to talk about nutrition interventions to improve health. #foodismedicine

www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/sho...

But I think current practitioners keep bumping up against the limitations of the method so I advocate a different approach (building on what we know about the level and distribution of harms) that I think is more useful for improving health equity. Happy to send you a copy of the book if you’d like!

Definitely agree. Some of this is “inside baseball” between Atheen and I because he helped me with my book where I talk about a lot of these issues (esp in Chapter 2). Certainly the disparitarian approach has been useful in calling attention to problems

😭😭😭 every little bit helps!

Ah, maybe I misinterpreted their piece. Appreciate the kind words! Hope your book project is making progress!

In other words, I think comparing observed health outcomes Y between group A and group B creates problems. Would be better to compare counterfactual health outcomes YA0 (outcomes for group A under unjust exposure/policy regime) and YA1 (outcomes for group A under more just exposure/policy regime).

Focusing on injustices that harm health as the way to think about health inequity works better than measuring health (in)equity as differences/inequalities between groups, IMO.

The relates back to the idea that the way you measure health equity is to compare health outcomes in a less well off (along some dimension) group to a more well off group. This tells you whether there are ‘inequalities in health’. But I think the approach of comparing two groups doesnt work well.

I don’t think this really gets at the concern I was trying to raise (not that clearly). The part that I think goes astray is their definition of health equity “We use the term health equity to refer to the absence of inequalities in health that are preventable.”

Would be a major advance, IMO, to think about health inequity as injustice that harms health, and make counterfactual comparisons (eg, health outcome for focal group under one policy regime vs another). A lot of problems in the field stem from using a less useful conception of health equity.

Certainly agree with their points about the need for conceptual clarity and methodological rigor but the way they are thinking of health equity still seems based in a “disparitarian” idea that the way to think about health equity is as differences in health outcomes (or not) between groups.

The Future of Nutrition Interventions in Medicaid This Viewpoint describes the importance of individual-level nutrition interventions offered through Medicaid.

Great new perspective led by Kurt Hager in @jamainternalmed.com about the importance of nutrition interventions in #Medicaid

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Equal Care Health Equity, Social Democracy, and the Egalitarian State

Could I offer a (shameless) recommendation for 2026? Very much looking forward to Against Money, btw.

www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...

Really enjoyed this podcast and the associated article collection (open access):

Also, check out the rest of the great articles in the @adapubs.bsky.social Diabtes Care Special Collection relating to the symposium on How to Fix a Broken Healthcare System at the 2025 @amdiabetesassn.bsky.social ADA Scientific Sessions #diabetes

3) high U.S. healthcare spending is mostly driven by high prices, which are in turn the result of our private, multi-payer approach to healthcare finance that precludes the monopsony power needed to control prices, and 4) how we can get better even, or perhaps especially, in the current moment.

In more detail: I discuss 1) why the problems are less interrelated than they are often presented to be, 2) that the roots of poor population health lie in inequitable social policy, rather than healthcare

What’s Keeping the U.S. From Better Population Health? The “dual problem” of U.S. population health is that population health is poor, while health care spending is high. These issues are interrelated, but only

🚨📢New paper in discussing a key problems in U.S. health: high personal healthcare $$$ along with poor population health.

Big picture: what’s keeping the U.S. from better population health is us. But we can fix that!

#medsky #episky #econsky

Open access link:

diabetesjournals.org/care/article...

If you’re interested in the social policy we need to improve everyone’s health, I’ve got you covered!

www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...

Food Insecurity Interventions and Blood Pressure This randomized clinical trial compares the effectiveness of implementing food insecurity interventions based on 3 dimensions including types of food resources provided, whether to offer lifestyle cou...

Open access link to the full study:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Doctors find fresh evidence that fruits and veggies can act as powerful medicine A spate of "Food Is Medicine" studies point to benefits of prescribing healthy food to people at risk of metabolic and diet-related diseases. A JAMA Internal Medicine study found a Rx Food program led...

Happy to see @npr.org covering the Healthy Food First trial results today:

www.npr.org/2025/11/10/n...

Congrats!

Unconditional Cash Transfers and Prenatal Care Utilization in Flint, Michigan This cohort study examines prenatal care utilization before and after implementation of an unconditional cash transfer program in Flint, Michigan, compared with similar cities in Michigan.

The study itself:

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Improving Family Benefits for Better Population Health The important new study by Hanna et al1 reports on changes in prenatal care associated with the Rx Kids cash transfer program. The program provides a cash transfer ($1500 during pregnancy and $500 mon...

Grateful to be able to comment on a great new study in @jamanetworkopen.com from @monahanna.bsky.social Sumit Agarwal and H. Luke Shaefer on how the Rx Kids program in flint improve prenatal care outcomes

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Results of the Healthy Food First trial in @jamainternalmed.com today, showing that a food subsidy led to lower BP than a food box for adults with #hypertension and #foodinsecurity

#medsky #episky

Dr. Seth Berkowitz and Dr. Dawn Opel_9.14.25 Stream Dr. Seth Berkowitz and Dr. Dawn Opel_9.14.25 by Food First on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.

Happy to be on Food First Michigan talking about the health harms of #foodinsecuirty , how our weak income supports policies worsen health, and how to use public policy to improve population health

#episky #medsky #econsky

m.soundcloud.com/foodfirstmi/...

This is a really helpful and clarifying post, thank you for it!

Beyond Bidenomics | Perspectives On what is living and what is dead in economic policy.

so okay! first piece out from me at Common Wealth

"Beyond Bidenomics: On what is living and what is dead in economic policy"

the argument is that progressives should take credit for the successful parts of the pandemic policy response and build the next Thing

www.common-wealth.org/perspectives...

Projected Health System and Economic Impacts of 2025 Medicaid Policy Proposals This study uses a microsimulation model to understand broader consequences of the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill on health outcomes, health systems, and local economies.

🚨new paper!🚨
In @jamahealthforum.bsky.social with Sanjay Basu and Sadiq Patel @waymarkcare.bsky.social, estimating impacts of changes in Medicaid policy, both for those who lose care and the broader economy

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Seth Berkowitz: The Power Problem Howie and Harlan are joined by Seth Berkowitz, an internist and health equity expert, who argues that we know how to keep people healthier but are lacking the political will and commitment to do so. H...

Loved chatting with @hmkyale.bsky.social & @thehowie.bsky.social on #HealthAndVeritas podcast (@yalesom.bsky.social & @yalesph.bsky.social)! We talked Healthy Opportunities Pilots, health inequity as a power problem, & ⬆️ population health via social policy.
insights.som.yale.edu/podcasts/hea...