• District of Columbia: HHS last week announced that a record 21.3 million people signed up for health plans through the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) marketplace during the latest open enrollment period. More than 5 million people were new enrollees, and almost 4.2 million people had incomes of less than 250% of the federal poverty level. According to Modern Healthcare, Medicaid eligibility redeterminations helped increase the number of enrollees in the ACA marketplace. As of Dec. 31, around 15% of people who enrolled for a health plan through the federal HealthCare.gov portal had previously been enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program. (DeSilva, Modern Healthcare, 1/24)
• New York: New York City recently issued an advisory officially labeling social media as an environmental toxin, making it the first city to do so. In the advisory, the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said that unrestricted access and use of social media is a public health hazard due to its negative impact on young people's mental health. The department recommended parents and caregivers to not give children access to a smartphone or social media until they are at least 14. It also urged federal and state policymakers to advance legislative proposals that protect young people from "predatory practices by social media companies." As concerns over the negative impacts of social media on children's health grows, other states and local governments have also taken action. For example, dozens of states filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, last year, arguing that the company knowingly implemented addictive features that negatively impact children's mental health. (Habeshian, Axios, 1/24)
• Washington: Amazon is furthering its healthcare efforts by piloting a program that integrates its Amazon Pharmacy and One Medical services. In the program, Amazon Pharmacy will provide pharmacy consultation services to One Medical providers, specifically those who are treating high-risk and complex care patients. Providers can request consultation for simple medication reviews, comprehensive reviews of medication interactions, and more. According to Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy's CMO, although the idea of getting a pharmacist consultation is quite common in inpatient settings, it is almost nonexistent in outpatient settings, even though these settings often deal with complicated medication management issues. By connecting outpatient providers with pharmaceutical expertise, they can help improve patient outcomes. "This isn't about money and this isn't about profitability; this is about ensuring great clinical outcomes," Gupta said. (Balasubramanian, Forbes, 1/22)

In Advisory Board’s annual survey of health system strategic planners, respondents ranked addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) as a top strategic priority for 2024. While increased pressure on health systems to address health equity may drive verbal commitments to SDOH, can we expect real action to follow? Discover the three key reasons why healthcare leaders are shifting how they think about SDOH to treat it as a critical business imperative.