Good morning. I’m Vanessa G. Sánchez, a California correspondent at KFF Health News. I report on the intersection of health policies and Latino communities. Got a tip about health care affecting immigrants? Send tips to vsanchez@kff.org.
Today’s edition: Leaked footage appears to show former president Donald Trump criticizing vaccines. Organizers say language approved by a Florida panel to appear below their abortion rights ballot proposal will confuse voters. But first …
With pedestrian deaths at a 40-year high, roadway safety has become a public health priority
About every 12 minutes, someone is killed on America’s roads and countless others are injured.
More than 42,500 people died in car crashes in 2022, a death toll that rivals or surpasses those of other major public health threats, such as the flu and gun violence.
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“We have not recognized that traffic violence is a preventable public health crisis,” said Amy Cohen, a co-founder of Families for Safe Streets.
Traffic-related injuries and deaths cost the health-care system more than $55 billion in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And pedestrian deaths have spiked, reaching 7,522 in 2022, the highest level in more than four decades, according to the federal government.
“The transportation system shouldn’t hurt us, and it shouldn’t harm the environment,” said Johnathon Ehsani, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who uses policy and behavioral research to try to prevent car crashes.
Transportation experts blame traffic deaths on more reckless driving and less traffic enforcement than before the coronavirus pandemic, combined with larger and deadlier SUVs and trucks. But they primarily fault a transportation system that was designed for efficient movement and economic development — not safety.
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To reverse that, the Biden administration is looking to the “safe system approach,” a transportation strategy that has achieved piecemeal adoption across the country.
The approach puts safety at the core of road and vehicle design and transportation policies, forcing traffic to move more slowly through communities, Ehsani said.
This translates into lowering speed limits, narrowing roads and creating separate lanes for bicyclists, and more buffers for pedestrians. He said the approach also de-emphasizes cars — which make people more sedentary and cause air pollution — and boosts public transportation.
The Biden administration in 2021 injected more than $20 billion in funding for transportation safety programs through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Some states and localities are also taking steps.
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New York and Michigan adopted laws this spring allowing local jurisdictions to lower speed limits, and voters in Los Angeles approved a resident-sponsored ballot initiative to redesign streets, invest more in public transportation, add bike lanes and widen sidewalks to protect pedestrians.
But in a country where cars are inextricably linked to the culture and economy, political resistance remains entrenched.
Stuck in the middle are people whose lives and health have been devastated. I visited a Latino working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles where I met María Rivas Cruz, who in February 2023 was struck along with her fiancé, Raymond Olivares, by a driver going 70 in a 40-mph zone.
Rivas Cruz was severely injured. Olivares died at the scene.
Residents had pleaded for years for lower speed limits, safety islands and more marked crosswalks. After the crash, the county installed protective steel posts midway across the street, which Rivas Cruz called a “band-aid.”
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“There’s so much death going on,” said Rivas Cruz, who now at age 28 walks with a cane and lives with chronic pain. “The representatives have failed us.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism.
Election watch
Trump echoes Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism in leaked call
Newly released footage appears to show Trump sharing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s long-held vaccine skepticism, telling him that they could do something “big” together, The Post’s Mariana Alfaro and Lauren Weber report.
Trump’s comments came during a Sunday phone call with Kennedy, video of which was posted online by the independent presidential candidate’s son. The remarks echo Trump’s history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, though their exact meaning wasn’t immediately clear.
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A closer look: In the video, Trump said “something’s wrong with that whole system” while speaking of vaccines. “When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby,” he said at one point, suggesting babies can later “change radically.”
David Gorski, a Wayne State University professor and managing editor of Science-Based Medicine, refuted Trump’s claims, noting that vaccines aren’t as large as he portrayed and there isn’t any evidence linking childhood immunizations to autism.
Why it matters: Trump didn’t act on his anti-vaccine sentiments during his first term; in fact, his administration worked to speed the development of coronavirus shots. But “this time around, who knows?” Gorski said. “If he’s elected, he very well might appoint someone you know like that” to run the Food and Drug Administration or the CDC. “You could imagine the CDC starting to backtrack on the vaccines it recommends.”
Reproductive wars
DeSantis-stacked panel approves ‘dirty trick’ language for abortion referendum
A Florida panel has approved language that will appear beneath an abortion rights ballot proposal in November that states the referendum will “negatively impact the state budget,” a move that reproductive rights proponents call “a dirty trick,” The Post’s Lori Rozsa reports.
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The financial impact language says public funds may be required to pay for abortions, and that possible lawsuits could be costly. The statement concludes that “costs cannot be estimated with precision,” but asserts that if the amendment passes, it could be bad for growth in the state.
Key context: Last fall, the panel approved language saying the impact was “indeterminate.” Since then, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R) have added members who voted to change the financial statement that will be on the ballot.
“They’re trying to cause confusion and hide the real issue: Amendment 4 is about ending Florida’s extreme abortion ban which outlaws abortion before many women even realize they are pregnant,” Lauren Brenzel, campaigns director for Yes on 4, said in a statement.
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Meanwhile …
Organizers of a proposal to restore abortion rights in Arkansas are suing the state for unlawfully rejecting their petitions to put the question on the November ballot, Andrew Demillo reports for the Associated Press.
Arkansans for Limited Government asked the state’s Supreme Court to order Secretary of State John Thurston (R) to count the signatures, which would have been enough to qualify for the ballot had they been certified. Last week, Thurston said the group did not submit required information related to the paid canvassers it used, which the abortion rights advocates dispute.
Agency alert
988 hotline continues to grow in second year, but challenges remain
Two years since the national suicide hotline was first implemented, mental health counselors have answered more than 10 million calls, texts and chats with people in crisis, The Post’s Sabrina Malhi reports, citing senior Biden administration officials.
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Almost 1.2 million of the calls were handled by the Veterans Crisis Line, which is dedicated to service members and their families, according to a news release.
Key context: The Department of Health and Human Services has invested almost $1.5 billion in the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, as part of the administration’s larger push to address a growing mental health crisis. The program expanded in 2023 to include Spanish speakers, tailored services for LGBTQ+ youths and young adults, and videophones for American Sign Language users.
Yes, but: Despite the progress made, the program’s implementation has encountered delays, according to Axios’s Maya Goldman. Challenges include a lack of funding and coordination issues with state regulations. Only 10 states have added surcharges to cellphone bills to support the 988 program. All states have such surcharges for 911 services.
Now in its second year, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline continues to help millions of people.@POTUS remains committed to transforming our behavioral health system & reducing rates of suicide across the country.
To those who are struggling: we hear you & we are here to help. pic.twitter.com/2Ovsjojksl
— Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) July 16, 2024In other health news
- On the move: The American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living has tapped Clif Porter as its new president and chief executive officer. Porter currently oversees the organization’s legislative agenda and advocacy efforts as its senior vice president of government relations.
- HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra tested positive for the coronavirus yesterday after experiencing mild symptoms. He is fully vaccinated and will continue working remotely.
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued guidance finalizing outreach and education requirements for the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which will allow drug plan enrollees to pay their out-of-pocket costs in monthly installments next year.
- The Health Resources and Services Administration is investing $2.5 million to help develop a multistate social worker licensure compact aimed at increasing behavioral health access and better facilitating telehealth services.
Health reads
Health advocates target Philip Morris’s U.S. launch of heated tobacco (By Emma Rumney | Reuters)
Sugar rush
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