In the News
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July 2, 2025
“The frustrating truth is that billing errors are often fixable,” wrote Minal Patel, professor of health behavior and health equity. “But doing so requires time, literacy, confidence and stamina. … By investing in specialized education and integrating billing support into Community Health Worker programs, the state can lead on one of the most overlooked but solvable threats to public health: financial stress from medical billing.”
Bridge Michigan -
July 2, 2025
“Nationwide injunctions are equal-opportunity offenders, thwarting Republican and Democratic initiatives alike. Today, it’s Trump’s birthright-citizenship order and USAID spending freezes. Yesterday it was mifepristone, the cancellation of student debt and a COVID-vaccine mandate. Why should one federal judge — perhaps a very extreme judge, on either side — have the power to dictate government policy for the entire country? Good riddance,” wrote Nicholas Bagley, professor of law.
The Atlantic -
July 2, 2025
“When all the signals are pointing the same way, I think we need to take the consumer seriously. It’s just really dangerous to overlook,” said economist Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, which indicates that Americans feel bad about prices, business conditions, their incomes and job security, and the housing and stock markets.
Bloomberg -
June 25, 2025
“By exiting the I.R.A. and eliminating other regulations and laws designed to protect the climate, the United States is going to make itself and the world more vulnerable to dangerous climate change going into the future,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability, about the GOP plan to terminate billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act.
The New York Times -
June 25, 2025
“The history of Juneteenth is not just Black history, it is American history. As Americans, we should all be invested in making sure that all American history is accessible to the public,” wrote Kevin Cokley, professor of psychology. “That all Americans would learn about the history and significance of Juneteenth is not inevitable or a foregone conclusion, especially given the quiet deletion of Black history under the Trump administration.”
Detroit Free Press -
June 25, 2025
Research by Erin Bonar, professor of psychiatry, shows that 21% of people 50 and older have used cannabis in the past year to relax, improve sleep, feel good, relieve pain and improve mental health or mood. But we still have much to learn about the right dosages … as well as the efficacy of cannabis compared with other treatments, she said.
The Washington Post -
June 25, 2025
“It’s a good example of kicking people while they’re down … The last thing you want to do for someone who is in a financially precarious position is to take away their health care,” said Michael Shepherd, assistant professor of health management and policy, about proposed Medicaid cuts by House Republicans that could cause an estimated 7.6 million Americans to lose health insurance.
NBC News -
June 25, 2025
“Trump has long said ‘no’ to a nuclear Iran while at the same time has expressed that he has no desire to drag the U.S. into another war. And this strike may allow Trump to achieve those seemingly contradictory goals. If U.S. initial assessments are correct, Iran’s nuclear program will have been severely compromised. But the strikes won’t necessarily pull the U.S. into the conflict fully ― unless Iran retaliates in such a way that necessitates further U.S. action,” wrote Javed Ali, associate professor of practice of public policy.
Detroit Free Press -
June 18, 2025
“The previous Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,” said Abram Wagner, assistant professor of epidemiology. Most people on the current list “don’t have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.”
The Associated Press -
June 18, 2025
Research shows that some gorillas forage for truffles, suggesting that their diets “are remarkably diverse and that there may be cultural preferences for certain foods in certain social groups,” said Stacy Rosenbaum, assistant professor of anthropology. Truffles might have antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, so “an intriguing, if speculative, possibility is that they might have medicinal benefits.”
Scientific American
