Health Equity & Access Weekly Roundup: January 9, 2026

5 Key Health Care Changes During Trump’s First Year Back in Office

During the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration enacted sweeping changes to US health policy that marked a sharp shift toward a market-driven, “America First” approach emphasizing individual responsibility and competition. Through the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and executive actions, the administration codified federal Medicaid work requirements projected to reduce spending but increase the uninsured, overhauled national vaccine policy under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr by dismantling the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and scaling back routine childhood immunizations, rolled back federal protections for LGBTQ+ health care and restricted access to gender-affirming care for minors, launched TrumpRx.gov to pursue Most Favored Nation drug pricing through direct-to-consumer discounts, and intensified enforcement of hospital price transparency rules to promote consumer-style health care shopping. Collectively, the moves represent a fundamental departure from prior policies centered on coverage expansion and federal oversight.

CDC Reduces US Childhood Immunization Schedule From 17 to 11 Diseases

Federal health officials announced sweeping changes to the US childhood immunization schedule, cutting routine vaccine coverage from 17 diseases to 11, a move experts say departs from the evidence-based process that has historically guided policy. Issued by CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the revisions maintain routine vaccination for measles, polio, and pertussis while limiting others, including RSV and influenza, to high-risk groups or shared decision-making. Public health leaders criticized the lack of transparency and the sidelining of expert review, warning the changes could increase confusion, reduce vaccine uptake, and endanger children, despite assurances that insurance coverage will remain unchanged.

Social Determinants of Health Linked to Worse Outcomes in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

A new study found that adverse social determinants of health, particularly lower area-based income and higher social deprivation, were independently associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes among patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Using data from more than 4400 adults in the Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry, researchers showed that patients living in low-income or highly deprived areas were diagnosed at younger ages, had more severe symptoms, greater left ventricular hypertrophy, and faced significantly higher risks of heart failure and arrhythmias compared with those in higher-income, less deprived areas. The findings suggest that social and environmental factors contribute meaningfully to disease severity and outcome heterogeneity in HCM, a condition traditionally viewed as primarily genetic, underscoring the need to address inequities in access and care to improve outcomes.

Telehealth for Primary and Preventive Care Among Food-Insecure Individuals

An analysis of nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data from 2020 to 2022 found that food insecurity is associated with significantly lower use of primary and preventive health care but greater reliance on telehealth among US adults. Food-insecure individuals had 7.2% fewer annual office-based and outpatient visits across four common visit types compared with food-secure individuals, yet they had a higher share of visits delivered via telehealth, particularly among those with longer travel times to a usual source of care. Greater telehealth use was also linked to lower spending, with each 1–percentage–point increase in telehealth share associated with a $117.64 reduction in expenditures per visit. The findings suggest that food insecurity remains a substantial barrier to care even after accounting for access and geography, and that expanding hybrid and telehealth-based care models, alongside food insecurity screening and support, could help reduce disparities in access and costs.

Telemedicine Utilization and Preventive Services Among a Rural Population

A large retrospective cohort study of more than 2 million rural adults found that telemedicine use was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of receiving preventive care services. Using propensity score–matched administrative claims data from 2019 to 2023, researchers showed that rural residents who used telemedicine in 2020 were about twice as likely to complete a preventive visit in 2021, and those who used telemedicine between 2021 and 2023 were nearly twice as likely to receive preventive care in 2023 compared with nonusers. The association persisted beyond the initial pandemic surge and varied by health condition, sex, and region, with stronger effects among women, patients with asthma, and residents of the West and South. The findings suggest that telemedicine may be an effective strategy to improve access to preventive services in rural populations.