Population Health News, August 2026

Health Equity

Veterans and ALS risk: “Male veterans of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard had higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal nervous system disease, compared to veterans of the Army…” (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health News, August 4, 2026)

Disability and risk of alcohol use disorder: People with disabilities are less likely to drink alcohol, but are diagnosed with alcohol use disorder at three times the rate of people without a disability. (Boston University School of Public Health, July 9, 2026)

More young Black men are dying of suicide: The suicide rate for young Black men is now higher than that for young white men. (Capital B News, June 15, 2026)

Environmental and Climate Health & Justice

On-the-job deaths due to heat may be significantly undercounted: “The true death toll [due to occupational heat exposure] may be hundreds of times greater than what official records show.” The risks and deaths fall disproportionately on workers with lower incomes and on minority groups. (University of Michigan School of Public Health, April 20, 2026)

Black lung rates in Appalachia are increasing: Changes in coal mining methods that release more silica dust are part of the problem; silica dust is even more toxic than coal dust. (Kentucky Lantern, August 5, 2026)

Built Environments, Spaces, and Places

Blood lead levels are declining in kids, but disproportionately so: Kids in minoritized racial groups or low-income families still have higher levels of lead in their blood. (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, June 17, 2026)

Rural hospital closures can have disastrous results: More and more counties are losing rural hospitals. Without quick access to care, patients can die. And once a hospital is gone, it’s hard to bring it back. (Mississippi Today, July 16, 2026)

Policy and Programs

Reduced Medicare payments are hurting patients and providers: Medicare’s payments for medical imaging have decreased more than 48%, including inflation, since 2005. This reduction is associated with utilization and access gaps. Disadvantaged communities face a bigger access gap. (Radiology Business, July 28, 2026)

Medicaid work requirements do more harm than good: The requirements are also “built on invented evidence,” according to Brookings. (Brookings, August 7, 2026)

Health insurance plan costs are skyrocketing: Plans under the Affordable Care Act have increased dramatically since Congress failed to renew the Inflation Reduction Act, The impact is worst for “families earning just above 400% of the federal poverty level,” who don’t qualify for premium subsidies.  (Quartz, August 17, 2026)

Books Spotlight

In Wards of the State: Care and Custody in a Maximum-Security Prison, author Nick Iacobelli looks at how a prison’s medical unit operates as a ward of the state. He discusses how incarcerated men can become “property,” and how that can result in “dependence, refusal, and skepticism.”  (University of California Press, June 2026)

America’s health care system took a wrong turn 40 years ago, and it wasn’t by accident, according to John E. McDonough. In America’s Wrong Turn: US Healthcare in the Neoliberal Era, McDonough looks at how ideas like privatization, profit over people, and deregulation helped shape American healthcare’s high costs and poor outcomes. (Johns Hopkins University Press, published on August 11, 2026, available for pre-order).