News & Insights

In April, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $20 billion in grant awards to fund the purchase of heat pumps, which provide multiple economic, environmental, and health benefits. This federal initiative holds promising opportunities for advancing public health efforts to address the negative and disparate impacts of climate change.

Since 2019, the Network has participated in the East Side Health and Well-being Collaborative (“the Collaborative”), a dynamic and diverse coalition of two dozen organizations dedicated to advancing community health equity on St. Paul’s East Side in Minnesota. Serving as a core Partner on the Collaborative, the Network plays a pivotal role, co-founding and leading the Collaborative’s Policy Work Group; providing training on the intersection between health equity, public health, and law and policy; helping identify specific policies that support the Collaborative’s program goals; and participating in and contributing to collaborative activities. We hope by sharing the Collaborative’s unique approach and our learnings as a Partner, we can inform how the public health law field can engage in similar efforts which can positively impact the people and populations we serve, the sectors we reside in, the communities in which we live, and the systems we seek to change.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has assessed the current risk of avian flu to the general public as low. However, the CDC, in collaboration with federal, state, and local partners, continues to monitor and assess the risk to human health. This Q&A provides answers to basic questions about who is doing what in response to the outbreak of Avian Influenza in the U.S. and includes a basic overview of the current situation and overall public health risk.  

The Network is pleased to announce the appointment of Allison Winnike as Director of our Western Region Team. Allison's expertise and track record in public health emergency preparedness and response, immunization law and policy, health information technology and telemedicine are widely recognized. Her leadership in the western region will strengthen the Network’s work in advancing law and policy solutions through direct legal technical assistance and providing critical capacity building support to health agencies.

Overdose Good Samaritan laws, which generally provide limited protections from arrest or prosecution for drug-related crimes, have been passed in most states. The limited protection these laws offer is often insufficient. A recently passed law in Maine that provides immunity from all but a small number of crimes, while not perfect, is a step towards improving the effectiveness of these laws.

Thanks to recent action by the Department of Agriculture, school lunches will become more nutritious. As the new federal standards roll out, states can support students’ health by increasing access to free school breakfast and lunch. Eight states have passed Health School Meals for All policies, providing comprehensive access to free breakfast and lunch to all students, regardless of income.

Title X is a federal grant program that funds family planning and reproductive health care services in the U.S. Two states with abortion bans recently loss Title X grant funding because of the grant's requirement that pregnant patients receive counseling options that include abortion. While the federal government had the right to terminate funding, clients (who are mostly young and have low incomes) lost access to important care as a result of their states' decision to ban abortion.

On March 18, 2024, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin updating guidance on the use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and their business associates. The bulletin, which updates OCR’s December 2022 guidance on the same topic, follows renewed warnings from OCR on the dangers of online tracking technologies and comes amidst increased attention to the privacy risks that these technologies pose

Network for Public Health Law Advisory Board Welcomes New Member Amy Kincaid The Network is proud to formally announce the appointment of…

The universal themes of Spring: renewal, unity, and transformation, resonate deeply with our Network mission. Law itself can be transformative—both positively and negatively— so we were committed to joining other health advocates in signing on to an amicus brief in an important upcoming court case with the potential to negatively impact access to emergency medical care, including during pregnancy.

Syringe services programs (SSPs) are crucial legal and health intervention and multiple studies have shown the best model for SSPs is needs-based syringe distribution, in which SSP participants are provided with the quantity of supplies they need to use safely. Yet, many states require participants to return a used needle for every new needle they are given, resulting in undue health risks and other harms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in five private wells contain unhealthy levels of contaminants. Concerns over contaminated well water have only intensified given the impact on water quality from the increasing number of natural disasters due to climate change. The current state of private well water quality calls for law and policy interventions, particularly the implementation of laws governing water quality testing for private wells.