As Congress considers $880 billion in Medicaid cuts, the health and wellbeing of our children, and our nation’s future, perilously hang in the balance.

Today’s episode explores how the proposed cuts would put young lives at risk. Defunding this critical safety net for Americans would threaten the health, development and future prosperity of the more than 37 million children who rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). It could force states to ration care; delay access to vaccinations, screenings, and other essential services; burden families with crushing medical bills; perpetuate cycles of poverty; and exacerbate children’s health disparities.

The panel also highlights how the benefits of these public health insurance programs – for families and our society – exceed the costs to government. Babies and mothers are more likely to survive. Kids are less likely to have chronic conditions, preventable disease, and mental illness as they grow older, and more likely to attend college, to work, and to pay taxes as adults. Research clearly shows that investing in our children’s health not only improves the quality of life for the kids who depend on Medicaid and CHIP but also contributes to our nation’s economic growth and prosperity.

Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health, is joined by two guests: renowned economist Janet Currie, a Princeton professor and director of the University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, whose pioneering research in the economic analysis of child development has helped to shape public policy over the past several decades; and Abuko Estrada, Vice President of Medicaid and Child Health Policy at First Focus on Children, who brings deep experience working on Medicaid and children’s health policy at the state and federal levels, inside and outside of government.

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Read related papers authored by Janet Currie:

Administrative Burdens and Child Medicaid and CHIP Enrollments | NBER

What We Say And What We Do: Why US Investments In Children’s Health Are Falling Short | Health Affairs

Read more about the impact of proposed Medicaid and CHIP cuts on children’s health, from First Focus on Children:

Prescription for Disaster: The Impact of Proposed Medicaid and CHIP Cuts on Children’s Health | First Focus on Children

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

The World Health Organization is not mincing words when it comes to climate change, calling it one of the greatest health threats for humanity.

On this episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast, we discuss the increasingly dire health impacts of global warming – from air pollution to water contamination, higher disease burdens, and a host of other outcomes that directly or indirectly endanger human health and wellbeing. Scientists warn that these consequences will only worsen over time if we don’t take immediate action, and that lower-income countries and communities that are least equipped to adapt will suffer the most.

Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health, confronts the challenges of climate change from a public health perspective with two distinguished guests: climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton professor and director of the university’s Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment; and Dr. Jeremy Hess, a professor and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at University of Washington.

The panel takes a candid look at the mechanisms by which climate change affects human health and the urgent need for mitigation. They talk about the increasing scale, frequency and intensity of extreme weather; heat-related illness; human migration; food supply threats; equity concerns; and the policy issues and implications in light of a changing administration. At the same time, they offer hope for the path forward, noting a worldwide energy revolution that will continue to drive progress, even if it’s at a slower pace.

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Watch a recent episode of RNZ’s “30 with Guyon Espiner” podcast series, where Oppenheimer discusses many aspects of global climate change.

Oppenheimer participated in a UN Climate Week symposium moderated by David Wallace-Wells, an opinion writer and columnist for The New York Times Magazine. Tipping points in the climate system was the central issue.

The panel discussed research on mortality caused by tropical cyclones in the United States. Read the paper published in Nature.

The Center for Health and the Global Environment at University of Washington developed an interactive decision tool that links heat-health risk assessment with evidence-based guidance on how to protect public health under changing climate-related environmental conditions.

This article, co-authored by Heather Howard and published by Health Affairs, examines how state health programs

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.

The 2024 elections will be among the most consequential in American history, as voters grapple with profound policy differences on everything from the economy to foreign policy, climate change, and, of course, health care.

This episode of the Princeton Pulse Podcast unpacks the health policy issues at play. Host Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health, is joined by Joanne Kenen, a contributing editor to Politico Magazine, and journalist in residence at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Institute for Policy Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Kenen is a leading health care journalist and trenchant observer at the intersection of health care policy and politics. Over the course of her career, she has covered implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Covid-19 pandemic, and much more.

Howard and Kenen discuss how the upcoming election could impact the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans. They address reproductive health care, the fate of the ACA, prescription drug costs, Medicare, and broader questions on the future of Medicaid and our health care safety net.

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Read KFF Election Coverage (KFF is an independent health policy organization.)

Read one of Kenen’s most recent articles for Politico.

Read other articles about health policy and the upcoming election:
Health Is on the Ballot in the Presidential Election (JAMA)
History Repeats—The Election Battle for Medicaid in 2024 (JAMA)

The Princeton Pulse Podcast is a production of Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW). The show is hosted by Heather Howard, a professor at Princeton University and former New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, produced by Aimee Bronfeld, and edited by Alex Brownstein. You can subscribe to The Princeton Pulse Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your favorite podcasts.