General Mental Health
- Last month, the state health department announced $13 million in funding to open four new community mental health crisis facilities in Lenoir, New Hanover, and Pitt counties by the end of the year. This is one of many new mental health initiative announcements from the state Department of Health and Human Services that have come as a result of a $835 million investment for behavioral health needs included in the 2023 state budget. This influx of cash was made possible due to a $1.4 billion sign-on bonus delivered by the federal government after North Carolina expanded Medicaid. Read more here.
- An increasing number of criminal defendants are being declared incapable to proceed in North Carolina and wait an average of 173 days — nearly six months — before being admitted to one of three state psychiatric hospitals for capacity restoration treatment, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis
- President Donald Trump confirmed that new 25% tariffs will go into effect March 4th against two of the U.S.'s largest trading partners. Writing on Truth Social, Trump once again cited street drugs "pouring into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels" as a primary reason for the policy. However, federal data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show Canada plays almost no role in the smuggling of fentanyl or other deadly street drugs into the U.S. Despite that fact, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in December to step up efforts to secure the northern border. Read more here.
Research
- Risk of suicidality wasn't higher for type 2 diabetes patients starting on GLP-1 receptor agonists than for those on two other popular classes of diabetes drugs, a U.K. cohort study found. In fully adjusted models, new initiators of GLP-1 agents didn't have a significantly higher risk for suicidality -- a composite of suicidal ideation, hospital admission for self-harm, and death from suicide -- compared with DPP-4 inhibitor users (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.85-1.23) or SGLT2 inhibitor users (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.73-1.12) over less than two years of follow-up. Read more here.
- A joint research study conducted by the UAB and the UB has analyzed the relation between the genetic risk of having schizophrenia and mild subclinical traits in people of the general population. According to the study, the way the genetic risk of having this disorder affects these subclinical traits is different in men and women. The research, published in Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, highlights the importance of considering gender differences in this relation. Read more here.
Federal Policy and State Policy
- The Republican House budget resolution currently under consideration instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion in costs through 2034. Based on previous proposals from House Budget Committee Republican leadership, these cuts are widely anticipated to come from the Medicaid program. Read more here.
- Republicans in Congress see a way around the $880 billion budget shortfall they need to fill to extend President Donald Trump’s tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. States aren’t going to like it. To qualify for federal Medicaid dollars, states must also kick in their own matching funds. GOP lawmakers want to stop states from taxing insurers and health care providers to raise that money, a maneuver that would leave states with a $612 billion hole in their budgets over the next decade. Read more here.
- Most President Trump voters say they oppose any cuts to Medicaid as Republican lawmakers wrestle with how to reach up to $2 trillion in budget cuts through their reconciliation bill, a poll released found. The poll from Hart Research conducted for the nonprofit Families Over Billionaires, which advocates in opposition to tax cuts for the wealthy, found 71% of voters who backed Trump said cutting Medicaid would be unacceptable. Voters overall were even more opposed to it, with 82% saying so. Read more here.
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