Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 1d

The research is clear: work requirements harm health, increase costs, and don't work. Learn more from @rwjf.org’s policy brief: www.rwjf.org/en/insights/...

Work Requirements Threaten Health and Increase Costs

Decades of research show that work requirements do not move people off assistance and into self-sufficiency; instead they drive people and families—already struggling to make ends meet—deeper into pov...

www.rwjf.org

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 1d

A new GAO report on the nation's only Medicaid work requirement program shows Georgia has spent 2X on admin fees than on actual healthcare.

The money would be much better spent on providing healthcare rather than creating barriers. www.propublica.org/article/geor...

Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Program Spent Twice as Much on Administrative Costs as on Health Care, GAO Says

Republican lawmakers cite Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage as a national model for federal Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect in 2027. A new report shows the program has spent at lea...

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Mona Shah

Dr. Avenel Joseph @draveneljoseph.bsky.social · 12d

Did you know that 40% of the childcare workforce in DC are immigrants? Many are afraid to go to work for fear of being targeted by ICE, regardless of their immigration status.

Childcare workers do so much for families. This is no way to repay them.

19thnews.org/2025/09/chil...

‘They are hunting us:’ Child care workers in D.C. go underground amid ICE crackdown

In Washington, D.C., where close to 40 percent of child care workers are immigrants, fear has taken hold amid a crime crackdown that has raised ICE presence. Many are missing work, deepening a staffin...

19thnews.org

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Reposted by Mona Shah

NPR @npr.org · 6d

Mississippi recently declared a public health emergency because its infant mortality rate has surged. And with Medicaid cuts coming, experts fear the crisis may worsen in other states.

What Mississippi's infant mortality crisis says about the risks of Medicaid cuts

Mississippi recently declared a public health emergency because its infant mortality rate has surged. And with Medicaid cuts coming, experts fear the crisis may worsen in other states.

n.pr

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Reposted by Mona Shah

FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard @fxbharvard.bsky.social · 12d

💡 We have made enormous strides in elucidating pathways by which past legacies and present realities of racial injustice shape inequities in #health and health care.

In NEJM.org, Drs. Nancy Krieger & Mary Bassett discuss duty to fund work on how structural racism harms health ➡️ tinyurl.com/3z44bnap

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Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 6d

ICE in schools creates a ripple effect.

@weareunidosus.bsky.social said it best: “This is not just a matter of immigration enforcement; it’s a public health issue, an education issue and community wellness issue.”
nonprofitquarterly.org/protecting-c...

Protecting Classrooms: What Nonprofits Need to Know About ICE in Schools - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly

As ICE enters schools under the guise of “wellness checks,” Laura Vazquez from UnidosUS discusses how nonprofits can fight back and support immigrant communities.

nonprofitquarterly.org

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 8d

NIH cuts don't just put live-saving research at risk, they cost jobs and economic loss.

SCIMaP illustrates the impact of these cuts: Communities in Texas, NC, Michigan & Florida are facing some of the largest hits.

📖Bookmark to track cuts in your area. scienceimpacts.org

#NIHCuts #Research

Reposted by Mona Shah

Edwin Park @edwincpark.bsky.social · 15d

States Are Cutting #Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit - KFF Health News

North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new ...

kffhealthnews.org

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Reposted by Mona Shah

National Collaborative for Health Equity @nche4all.bsky.social · 15d

7 Northeastern states + NYC formed the Northeast Public Health Collaborative to issue their own vaccine guidance after new federal limits. A bold move to protect access + equity in care.

Read more via the NCHE Weekly Bulletin: www.nationalcollaborative.org/weekly-bulletin/

#PublicHealth #Vaccines

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Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 9d

Check out the MASALA Study website for a comprehensive overview of the factors that lead to heart disease and a guide to prevention and treatment. #WorldHeartDay www.masalastudy.org

The MASALA Study

www.masalastudy.org

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 9d

Research has shown that heart disease hits South Asians harder & earlier. The MASALA study is finally finding answers why, proving that treatment and prevention shouldn't be one-size-fits-all, and giving hope to families like mine.
www.heart.org/en/news/2023...

Why are South Asians dying of heart disease? MASALA looks for answers.

MASALA, which stands for Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America, is a pioneering long-term study that's finding data and diversity in one of the country's fastest-growing popul...

www.heart.org

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Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 12d

Data show that equitable, inclusive policies promote health. But gaining broad public support for the policies we need requires new narratives about how all of our lives can get better when we prioritize entire communities over individual gain and invest in people over profits.
bit.ly/3VmOnW1

Tradwives don't say "call your reps"

The narrative infrastructure we need isn't just for policy campaigns

bit.ly

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 14d

The US maternal health crisis affects every community uniquely, requiring tailored solutions. Recent research from @policies4action.bsky.social sheds an important light on both the challenges and potential policy solutions. Learn more:
policiesforaction.org/blog/shining...

Shining a Light on American Indian/Alaska Native Maternal Health Equity

As part of our series on maternal health equity in the United States, we now turn to the experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) mothers—communities too often overlooked in public hea...

policiesforaction.org

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 14d

Everyone should have the safe, respectful, and dignified care and treatment they need to have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Yet American Indian and Alaska Native women are 3X as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. #MaternalHealth #HealthEquity #Research

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Reposted by Mona Shah

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities @centeronbudget.bsky.social · 22d

That wraps up our analysis of the 2024 Census data! For deeper dives into poverty, income, health coverage, and more, follow our expert analysis on these issues here and in other spaces. www.cbpp.org/blog/analyzi...

Analyzing the Census Bureau’s 2024 Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Data | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

On Tuesday, September 9, the Census Bureau released data on poverty, income, and health insurance coverage for 2024, and additional health insurance data from the American Community Survey was release...

www.cbpp.org

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Reposted by Mona Shah

Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 22d

“We’re going to teach the truth,” Prof. Leonard Bright said. “We don’t know what the consequences of that may be...But we do know that if we were to censor the truth…that’s going to damage our society. That’s going to damage our students.” 👏👏

www.texastribune.org/2025/09/15/t...

Faculty, advocacy groups fear Texas A&M firing threatens academic freedom

The firing happened over two years after Texas A&M stressed its support for academic freedom and amid a changing higher education landscape.

www.texastribune.org

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Reposted by Mona Shah

Academe @academemagazine.bsky.social · 23d

Drawing inspiration from the movement to establish mutual academic defense compacts, Shawn Gilmore highlights how #highered faculty can “act together, building new coalitions and alternative power structures that are necessary for our moment.”
@gipperfish.bsky.social

Mutual Defense Across Higher Education in the Second Trump Era

Can a new model for collective support gain traction among beleaguered higher education institutions?

www.aaup.org

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Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 19d

Medical debt impacts millions nationwide, but aggregate data hide the unique struggles of #AANHPI communities.

A new report from @communitycatalyst.org uses disaggregated data to uncover the community's challenges and outline solutions. Learn more: communitycatalyst.org/resource/the...

The Invisible Impact of Medical Debt in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Communities - Community Catalyst

Medical debt affects individuals and communities across the United States. The burden of medical debt can have profound implications for an individual’s

communitycatalyst.org

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 21d

Vaccines work. We cannot afford to go against the data or go back to a time and place like when my father was a boy.(2/2)

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 21d

In the 1940s, my father got smallpox in India, which led to severe scarring he’s carried his whole life. As the US debates ending vaccine research, programs, and mandates, I'm reminded that vaccine-preventable diseases don't just kill—they leave lasting physical and emotional scars. (1/2)

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Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 23d

Congratulations to the grantees! You play such an essential role in creating equitable health systems.

Urban Institute @urbaninstitute.bsky.social · 28d

The Local Data for Equitable Communities program, led by @rwjf.org and the Urban Institute, has awarded $50K grants to four organizations advancing community #health through #data. Meet the grantees in this new blog post. @airalliancehou.bsky.social

Four Community Organizations Recognized for Outstanding Use of Data for Community Health

The Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, is happy to announce t…

urbn.is

Mona Shah @mona-shah.bsky.social · 23d

"I am living the very definition of the American dream — working in Boston on the latest science. Now that is being taken away.”

Science, progress, and the pursuit of knowledge make the "American dream" possible. Gutting opportunities for scholars is a devastating loss for all of us.

Matthew Noe @noethematt.bsky.social · 28d

The disruption of funding for science and medicine, even if it is somehow overturn, halted, refunded... the impacts aren't going to go away for a long time.

6 months. That's all it took to upend everything.

#medlibs

magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/ear...

Early-Career Scientists Face an Uncertain Future

magazine.hms.harvard.edu

Reposted by Mona Shah

Gideon Lukens @gidlukens.bsky.social · 29d

In a troubling finding, CPS data show that the uninsured rate for Black people rose significantly in 2024, potentially reflecting the fact that Medicaid is a disproportionately important source of coverage. tinyurl.com/bdfadufc

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Reposted by Mona Shah

Hilary Wething @hilwething.bsky.social · 29d

Some big #NumbersDay releases today—Just a reminder that the Census data are incredibly valuable. We get transparent and non-politicized data to make informed decisions about what policies are delivering economic security for working people.

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Reposted by Mona Shah

New Jersey Policy Perspective @njpolicy.bsky.social · 28d

🚨 New from @ptrchn1.bsky.social 🚨

Despite being one of the wealthiest states, 1 in 8 New Jersey children live in poverty. However, New Jersey has the resources to dramatically cut child poverty through direct cash assistance to families.

Read more: www.njpp.org/publications...

Freedom from Want: An Economic Guarantee for New Jersey's Kids - New Jersey Policy Perspective

Two pathways can dramatically reduce child poverty and ensure all families in New Jersey have what they need through cash assistance programs.

www.njpp.org

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