What We’re Reading: Affordable Care, Drug Use Top 2 US Concerns; VA Electronic Records System Delayed; EPA Chemical Plant Proposal

Affordable Health Care, Drug Use, Top 2 American Concerns

Americans are more and more concerned about drug use and affordable health care, even as worries about inflation and the economy continue, according to a new Gallup survey, reported The Hill. The poll released on Thursday showed that inflation and economy are still the top 2 concerns for Americans, but health care, drug use, and Social Security worries jumped the most between 2022 and 2023.Health care affordability and availability was the 3rd highest concern in 2023, tied with crime and violence. The survey polled 1,009 U.S. adults.

VA Defers Rollout of Electronic Medical Record System to More Hospitals

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has suspended the introduction of its new electronic health records system at the hospital system set to adopt it this summer, and will extend to all future rollouts, said VA officials Thursday, according to Military.com. The training was scheduled to being April 1st, according to the Veterans Integrated Services Network Director. This announcement represents another setback to a medical records system that is used at several VA hospitals but has been afflicted by outages, frustrated users, and contributed to patient harm. The Director said that readiness assessment results of the system contributed to the hold of its continued implementation.

EPA Proposal to Tackle Health Risks Near Chemical Plants

Chemical plants across the country are proposed to measure certain hazardous compounds that go beyond their property lines and reduce them when they exceed limits, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Thursday, reported the Associated Press, which could be a meaningful step for communities facing air pollution. The EPA said the proposed rules would reduce cancer risk and other exposure for people that live near harmful emitters, and that the data would be made public, with results forcing companies to fix problems that increase emissions. The proposed measure would seek to address short-term emissions spikes when plants start up, shut down, and malfunction. If finalized, the proposal would impact around 200 chemical plants, said the agency.