New Hampshire Public Health Association

12/26/2025

Nearly 1 in 10 Adults in the U.S. Experienced a Mental Health Crisis Last Year

New study shows significant disparities in mental health among groups

A new study shows significant disparities in mental health among groups.

12/25/2025

Black women in America are being killed at rates far higher than any other group, according to Tameka Gillum,PhD, associate professor in The University of New Mexico College of Population Health (COPH). Gillum and her co-authors note this pattern represents a severe health disparity and warn that ignoring it costs lives.

Black women in America are being killed at rates far higher than any other group, according to Tameka Gillum,PhD, associate professor in The University of New Mexico College of Population Health (COPH). Gillum and her co-authors note this pattern...

12/23/2025

Simulation Shows That Bird Flu Could Become a Public Health Crisis After Only Two Days
Learn about a new simulation that shows human-to-human transmission of H5N1 will become uncontainable if we miss the narrow window.

Learn about a new simulation that shows human-to-human transmission of H5N1 will become uncontainable if we miss the narrow window.

12/22/2025

Two major improvements are coming to New Hampshire's child care scholarship program! 🎉
Starting January 1: Families applying for scholarships will get help IMMEDIATELY. No more waiting weeks for approval while trying to find a slot for your children.

Already happening (started Dec 1): Child care providers have a simpler billing system that reduces paperwork and helps them get paid more predictably. Less administrative burden means more time focusing on kids!

The scholarship program helps families earning up to $113,431 (for a family of four) afford quality child care. Currently, only about one in ten eligible children is enrolled.

12/22/2025

Parents: even if you take precautions, there’s still a chance your child could be exposed to hepatitis B. The only way to to protect them is with the hepatitis B vaccine. Learn more: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/hepatitisb.shtml

12/22/2025

After months of chaos and uncertainty, Congress goes home having allowed these tax credits to expire, triggering sharp premium hikes for millions of Americans who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. According to reporting from NBC News, when enhanced tax credits expire, many enrollees nationwide could see their monthly premium payments more than double on average — even as insurers themselves are already raising charges by about 26% in 2026.
Here in New Hampshire, the impact is already being felt. Nearly 50,000 Granite Staters used enhanced premium tax credits in 2025 to make coverage affordable. With those credits set to expire, analysts estimate that a single person in their mid-40s earning about $31,300 annually could see total premiums increase by roughly $1,344, while a New Hampshire couple in their 60s earning $90,000 could face an increase of about $14,712.

https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/look-impact-devastating-vote-hike-premiums-thousands-granite-staters-nodx

12/21/2025

Guns Marketed for Personal Safety Fuel Public Health Crisis in Black Communities

During the covid pandemic, gun marketers told many Americans they needed fi****ms to defend against criminals and protesters. Then firearm deaths mounted rapidly in racially segregated and low-income neighborhoods, according to federal data.

12/19/2025

NH Health and Human Services axes $4.3M in contracts in response to steep budget cuts

https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/12/18/nh-health-and-human-services-axes-4-3m-in-contracts-in-response-to-steep-budget-cuts/?fbclid=IwdGRleAOyqE1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeX8159l_w_tUPtRMv_6Hz2NDyBFr1jcuoqa2j3fKcBDM2pvtZ7hGJ-O_3OT4_aem_RjV-H9XwzqnACvDGyPGoiQ

In late June, when the New Hampshire Legislature passed its two-year budget, it imposed a roughly $51 million cut to the Department of Health and Human Services. This week, the department told the Executive Council it would reduce several of its contracts by millions of dollars.

12/19/2025

Doctors call Ozempic a miracle drug. Medicaid officials aren’t so sure.
States are choosing not to cover the new weight-loss drugs, sacrificing a chance to stem cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

States are choosing not to cover the new weight-loss drugs, sacrificing a chance to stem cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

12/18/2025

This wide-ranging crisis for both consumers and businesses underlines the brokenness of the U.S. health care system: When neither the people it's supposed to serve nor the people making money from it are happy, does it work at all?

"We're really at an inflection point," says Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the author of a book about the insurance industry.

"Every segment of the health insurance business right now is stressed," she adds.

These stresses became brutally visible a year ago — and persist today. Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old suspect in Thompson's killing, was in court this week for hearings ahead of his trial.

But the crisis in U.S. health care is much bigger than his case. Here are three main ways it's playing out this year, from Main Street to Wall Street

One year after UnitedHealthcare's CEO was shot and killed, the crisis in U.S. health care is intensifying — even for the companies and investors who make money from it.

12/17/2025

Flu season has barely begun and it’s already hitting hard at Fremont’s Ellis School, which was forced to close on Tuesday amid a widespread outbreak that kept nearly 30% of the student population home sick.

According to Superintendent Brian Stack, 104 of the school’s 358 students were absent on Monday.

“It is significant. Other than COVID, I can only think of a couple of other times in 20 years that we closed a school for something like this. I don’t take the decision to close lightly, but this data was compelling and needed a response,” he said Tuesday.

Flu season has barely begun and it’s already hitting hard at Fremont’s Ellis School, which was forced to close on Tuesday amid a widespread outbreak that kept nearly 30% of

12/17/2025

Nursing homes throughout the Monadnock Region and New Hampshire are facing uncertainty following the recent release of preliminary rate adjustments for Medicaid’s reimbursement of long-term care facilities. Many of the adjustments would involve steep decreases in payments starting Jan. 1.

Although each facility will be affected differently, the Medicaid rate adjustments could have a “catastrophic impact” on nursing homes managed by 603Healthcare, according to Peter Middlemass, vice president of provider relations. In addition to several other nursing homes throughout the state, 603Healthcare runs both Alpine Healthcare Center and Langdon Place in Keene.

Nursing homes throughout the Monadnock Region and New Hampshire are facing uncertainty following Medicaid’s release of preliminary rate adjustments for reimbursements.