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$2 Million Settlement Resolves Covenant Health Data Breach Lawsuit
Covenant Health, St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital Nashua, N.H., and other Covenant Health facilities were named Covenant Health, St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital Nashua, N.H., and other Covenant Health facilities have agreed to pay $2 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a May 2025 security incident.
2 Central Florida restaurants shut down after health inspections last week
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down two Central Florida dining venues during the week from Oct. 25-31 after conducting health inspections.
Apple HomePod Mini 2 Review: Still Small, But With Much Larger SoundApple’s HomePod Mini 2 Is Just as Tiny, but My Tests Found Powerful Upgrades
What’s inside the 2026 HomePod, especially its audio, helps it stand apart from the old HomePod Mini, but Siri AI remains an open question.
Historic election reshapes Georgia's political future: Here's what happened
Georgia voters made history Tuesday, electing Keisha Lance Bottoms as the state's first female governor, returning Sen. Jon Ossoff to Washington and flipping several statewide offices to Democrats.
Title-chasing McIlroy says there's no risk playing in Abu Dhabi amid tensions in Middle East
Rory McIlroy has played down safety concerns about competing at the Abu Dhabi Championship this week amid tensions in the Middle East that have impacted the sports calendar in the region.
Letters: Science isn’t scary, it’s educational | Book-ban hypocrisy
Science is wonder; evolution isn’t scary Regarding the claim that the state education plan is de-emphasizing evolution (“Florida education chief defends science plan as critics say it ‘danced around’ evolution,” Oct. 28): Science is won…
Berks Nature to Launch New Mental Health Effort
During the 18th annual State of the Environment Breakfast, Berks Nature will introduce the first tool in what the nonprofit envisions as a multidisciplinary community partnership to help local youth find peace, healing, and connection in nature: a map of Reading’s 50+ parks, playgrounds, and green spaces.
Reports: CVS Health plans breakup that would separate Hartford-based Aetna from drugstore chain
The CVS Health Aetna breakup would separate its drugstore chain from Hartford-based Aetna and Caremark, creating two public companies by early 2028.
Bobby Brown Returns to CSA to Drive Defense Business Growth
The former Astrion and Cubic executive brings Navy, missile defense and space capture experience back to the company.
Signant Health unveils SignalSpace for clinical trials
Signant Health has launched Signant SignalSpace, a centralised environment for clinical trial data and workflows.
Why a Four-Hour Elon Musk Doc Sold Out the Ojai Film Festival
“It is a movie of its time in a topic that is really happening.”
Uncovering the Human Side of Muhammad Ali in Prime’s ‘The Greatest’
Actor Jaalen Best and creator Ben Watkins discuss the immense pressure of portraying the iconic boxer in the new Prime series.
IVF Patients, Doctors Navigate Fetal Personhood Laws’ Unknowns
People trying to start families and clinics trying to help them have been left confused and worried since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, triggering fetal personhood laws in several states.
Advito Announces Launch of AI-Enabled Consulting Intelligence Platform
Pilot will roll out through Q1 2027
Benefits Can Help Older Adults Stretch Their Budgets and Protect Their Health
Every year, older adults leave $58 billion in benefits unused, money that could help cover groceries and prescriptions.
Jesus de Miguel, the Spanish striker whose tragic death has shocked football
The 30-year-old striker died following an on-field collision with an opposition goalkeeper in a Spanish second division match on Monday
I moved to Europe for free health care. I miss my patient portal
“To be honest, in Malta, I pay for medical care all the time. I just pay differently,” writes Mariska Breland.
Scaled-back version of NC's rural health pilot will return in January
After an 18-month pause, the Medicaid initiative will resume with stricter eligibility requirements and a narrower focus on food assistance.
Google’s Next Big Bet Is a Business It’s Never Won
On October 28, Google told Wall Street something that publishers, small businesses and anyone who’s ever depended on search traffic have been telling
Washington voters backing initiative to keep transgender girls out of girls’ sports
Washington state voters backing initiative to ban transgender girls from girls' sports, election results show
It’s time to reunite
Election season is over. Most of us exercised our constitutional right to choose representatives for office who best reflected our values and those we believed were best prepared to lead and solve the very real challenges facing our state, nation and county. The 2026 election season was full of both extreme highs and extreme lows. […]
Democrats seize power in Texas, ending decades of GOP dominance
Texas’ governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and every other statewide candidate fell, upending the state’s political power structure in one night.
‘This might just be the biggest defeat for big money in politics’: Billionaires poured hundreds of millions into Tuesday’s races and still lost
Elon Musk’s pick lost in Texas and billionaires Vivek Ramaswamy and Rick Jackson lost their own races, though California’s wealth tax is trailing.
Colorado measure banning transgender athletes from gendered sports is too close to call
Proposition 134 would prohibit athletes it defines as male from playing on female sports teams, though it provides exceptions for athletes it defined as female who want to play on boys teams
Nebraska voters appear to say 'no' to legalizing online sports betting
Though margins were still slim late Tuesday night, Nebraska voters were on track to reject a pair of ballot measures looking to legalize and regulate online sports betting, according to unofficial results. Initiative Measures 440 and 441 would together amend the Nebraska Constitution and state law, respectively, to legalize and regulate online sports wagers. Initiative […]
Lewiston’s mayor faces runoff after a tumultuous year in city politics
Challenger Rick LaChapelle had 45.7% of votes to 35.3% for Mayor Carl Sheline, according to unofficial results.
Nebraska on track to add gender-based school sports requirements to state Constitution
Voters appeared to agree to cement sex-separate school sports requirements into the Nebraska Constitution with the approval of the Fairness for Girls ballot measure.
Democrats flip four governorships, extending the party’s inroads into red states
Republicans entered Tuesday’s midterms with a 26-24 advantage in governor’s offices across the country.
Susan Collins concedes race to Troy Jackson in stunning political upset
The election all but ends the political career of one of Maine’s most famous and scrutinized elected officials.
Issue 3 trails; voters approve other constitutional amendments
A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow cities and counties to form economic development districts to attract retail businesses and other operations was at slightly below 50% as of 11...
Issue 3 trails; voters approve other constitutional amendments
A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow cities and counties to form economic development districts to attract retail businesses and other operations was at slightly below 50% as of 11...
SC secretary of state wins 7th term leading office for business filings
South Carolina’s longtime secretary of state, Mark Hammond, won a seventh term in office.
El Camino Healthcare District’s Measure S gets the greenlight
A ballot measure to establish term limits for El Camino Healthcare District’s board members appears headed for victory.
Cannabis Legalization Prevails in Massachusetts; Repeal Question Soundly Defeated
Ten years after legalizing adult-use cannabis, the Bay State voters rejected a prohibitionist proposal, Question 8, which aimed to wipe out the industry.
‘Became a RINO’: President Donald Trump blames Abbott’s lost in Texas governor race on political life
Republican President Donald Trump released a public statement after incumbent Republican Greg Abbott conceded the Texas governor’s race to Democrat Gina Hinojosa.
The Midterm Election Was About Health Care
In the face of Trump’s destruction of public health and modern science, voters are putting candidates who support Medicare for All, doctors, and nurses into positions of power.
Iconic country music act cancels LA show just hours before showtime: 'Flew in from Oklahoma for this!'
Good ads have a new name, ‘entertainment-first’ and SharkNinja is using it for its holiday campaign
Beneath the celebs, social media rollout and creators is an ambition the ad business has chased since the jingle.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for Nov. 4, 2026, puzzle No. 772
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
UNM football is all about their business on the field as national buzz grows
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s back to the road for the 22nd-ranked University of New Mexico Lobos football team. The Lobos are in a short week, playing the Nevada Wolfpack in Reno on Friday…
US stock futures mixed as Democrats score key midterm election wins
Wall Street faces fresh uncertainty over what Democratic control of Congress could mean for taxes, government spending and regulation.
US stock futures tumble as Democrats score key midterm election wins
Wall Street faces fresh uncertainty over what Democratic control of Congress could mean for taxes, government spending and regulation.
AFGHS co-signatory countries ask health care users to help fill the financing gap
Hundreds of thousands of Ugandans living with HIV on antiretrovirals could be targeted for user fees or community health insurance schemes requiring modest premium payments, according to the April 2026 version of the country’s America First Global Health Strategy implementation narrative.1 As part of the “sustainable financing for the private not for profit sector” strategy, 491 facilities will be targeted for a phased introduction of user fees and scale up of community health insurance programs.2 In the Ugandan context, PNFP facilities include faith-based hospitals and other health facilities, US missionary organizations and centers of excellence—services that are often co-located at government facilities but run with additional financial and technical resources. 402,000 people—or about 28 percent of the total Ugandan adult PLHIV population on treatment—get ART from the private not for profit sector. The selected facilities provide the majority of ART and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services. The plan doesn’t give the total number of clients served by the 491 facilities, so it is not possible to give a precise number. But the majority of 402,000 is a figure in the hundreds of thousands—hence the estimate I’m using.3 The April draft of the Ugandan implementation plan narrative is the only one I’ve been able to review. But the government of Uganda is not alone in turning to health care users to help fill the financing gaps caused by the abrupt withdrawal of US funds. In July 2025, the Government of Liberia introduced user fees for previously free services including “registration, accommodation, patient feeding, hospitalization, and a wide range of surgical and diagnostic procedures.”4 Earlier that year, Liberia rolled out a revolving drug fund designed to stabilize drug supplies by “allowing patients to pay a small fee for standardized, quality medications,” according to a Ministry of Health press release.5 (Both of these approaches had been proposed in the National Health Policy 2022-2031; media coverage explicitly connects the launch with the US foreign aid cuts.) The health financing strategies proposed by Uganda and established in Liberia are qualitatively different from user fees officially adopted by specific health facilities to cover funding shortfalls caused by the new US approach.6 The latter is a stopgap, adhoc change. The former is a national governmental adoption of policies that pass costs on to health care users, despite evidence that such approaches can exacerbate inequities and leave deficits unfilled. Two countries does not make a pattern, but they do point to urgent questions: Have other countries, including Liberia, included user fees or community health insurance schemes in their implementation plans? If so, do any of these narratives have what Uganda’s lacks: a fall-back plan in place in case these strategies for sustainable health systems fail to deliver—as they have before? I wonder if you think about it Subscribe Predictable pitfalls Both community-based health insurance and user fees are as old as the hills. And after decades of people climbing up these hills, duking it out, climbing back down—neither strategy has shown the results the Ugandan implementation plan is counting on. This is, in fact, a hill some folks are willing to die on. (You knew I’d get there, right?) In November 2025, an African-led team of health system experts published a paper directed at low- and middle income country governments trying to figure out how to create self-sustaining health systems. The money wasn’t coming back. It had been more than nine months since the season of freezing, waivering and wood-chippering; two months since AFGHS tumbled into the world touting co-financing requirements and reductions in future US government health aid. Governments were looking for strategies for sustainable, self-financed health systems, the authors wrote. For countries considering user fees and community health insurance to fill the financing gaps, they had a simple message: Don’t. On user fees, the paper states: “Reliance on user fees is ultimately a regressive and inequitable approach. It places a disproportionate burden on the poor and undermines health system goals of equity and financial protection. […] There is overwhelming evidence that user fees mobilise very limited resources for the public health sector, making it an inefficient mechanism for revenue mobilisation.” On community health insurance: “Attempting to shift the burden of funding previously donor-funded services, such as HIV care and management, and TB treatment, onto contributory schemes would exacerbate their fragility and fail to protect the population.”7 The WHO says that community-based health insurance “cannot be expected to provide a major source of funding or coverage,” and noted that most schemes offer only moderate benefit to individuals paying into them, and exclude the poorest segment of the population.8 And yet, the US-Ugandan implementation plan says that community health insurance is “the central pillar of this [PNFP] sustainability strategy” and that this approach that will generate “pre-paid pooled funding at facility and community level [that] improves financial risk protection for households, reduces catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure, and generates structured, transparent revenue streams that can progressively absorb recurrent costs including health worker salaries.” Unfortunately, Uganda’s own history suggests the pillar might not be able to bear this weight. Ugandans Have Been to this Rodeo Before—and Some Want Their Money Back Uganda introduced its first community health insurance scheme in 1996 with support from international donors.9 Thirty years later, somewhere between 0.2 and 0.3 percent of the population is covered by CHI; just over 1 percent has any kind of health insurance.10 User fees were universally introduced in 1993 as a condition of a World Bank loan.11 They were abandoned in 2001, and in 2004—the year I moved to Uganda to watch the free HIV program get underway—a definitive study found that the fees did not improve health systems and outcomes.12 In 2004, most clinics and hospitals had ‘free’ and ‘fee for service’ options for getting care.13 The fee for service, or “cash and carry” programs had often been established in the years prior to PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. People who could afford to paid for the drugs, often at facilities in the private-not-for-profit (PNFP) sector. When free drugs arrived, some people who’d been paying kept on doing so, perhaps because of shorter wait times, greater confidentiality, convenience or other factors. But in the year that I spent visiting the same clinics around the country week after week—including a “center of excellence” that maintained separate days for cash and carry clients and those accessing free ARVs—lots of people who had been paying tried to switch to the free option. They’d paid because they had no other choice. They’d sold pieces of family land, begged family members for loans, bought pills by the week, and sometimes by the day. Or they were just cash-strapped, like most of us, and wanted the funds for other things. 14 Twenty-two years later, this hasn’t changed. Ugandans pay out of pocket for 30-40 percent of their health care costs, leading one paper to declare that “falling ill is more than a health crisis. It is a financial emergency.”15 One recent study found that up to 48.5 percent of households dealing with tuberculosis sold something, took out a loan or dug into savings to defray the costs of TB care—which is supposed to be universally free.16 The Ugandan implementation plan does anticipate challenges. It proposes a phased approach, with 187 facilities introducing user contribution systems in Year 1, 152 in Year 2, and 153 in Year 3. Willingness to pay and feasibility studies will precede roll out; fees will be tiered by region, and a waiver system is proposed to ensure that no one has to pay who is unable to. Moreover, the plan provides for quarterly reviews of epidemiological data to “ensure that user contributions do not compromise epidemic control gains, ART continuity for the client cohort, TB case management, or PMTCT services.” Alt text: A screenshot of a table included in the implementation plan narrative that is the subject of this stack. It’s got a fetching pink bar at the top. It uses the abbreviation “CHI” which is Community Health Insurance, and FBO which is Faith Based Organizations, and it details the number of facilities that will implement user fees with waivers and community health insurance schemes over the five years of the agreement. As I said in the footnote, this is a super interesting document with a lot of other rich material. Tell me what you see—and what you would have focused on. And if you’ve seen something like this, or anything else that strikes you, in another implementation plan, tell me that too. You can use the Substack message platform or try me on Signal at @endaplague_again.25 (because @mercoonfan was, weirdly, taken). But the plan doesn’t fully explain what will happen if this approach doesn’t work out. Yes, progress will be monitored, and corrective action triggered. However, there is no specified funding replacement if premium and fee revenue prove inadequate. Instead, the authors write, “Currently, COEs serve a total client cohort of over 180,000 across 28 facilities. In the initial years, the U.S. Government (USG) will provide financial support for clients; over time, user fees generated by COEs will become the primary source of funding for sustaining their services.” Failure does not really seem to be an option. Health insurance schemes are more acceptable to the Ugandan population than user fees. Members of Parliament and civil society traveled to Ethiopia to see how that country’s scheme worked. In a follow up report, a veteran civil society group recommended allowing the “health insurance ecosystem to grow organically and [to] keep reviewing the law and regulations as this growth takes root.”17 One study found that more than three-quarters of Ugandans were willing to join a health insurance program.18 However, coverage of community-based health insurance is minimal, as is coverage of any kind of insurance—including private plans.19 A national health insurance scheme bill has been stalled for several years and presently sits with President Yoweri Museveni.20 Community-based health insurance scheme that do exist are expanding in number, but losing enrollees. Between 2022 and 2026, the number of community-based health financing schemes across the country increased by 42 percent, while the number of people enrolled decreased by nearly 11 percent.21 None of this means that community-based health insurance should not happen in Uganda—or that people do not want insurance. It doesn’t even mean that user fees and waivers won’t ever work. But there is highly relevant evidence from Uganda and the surrounding region that it is quite optimistic to describe community health insurance and user fees as central supports for sustainable financing in any sector of the health system. And now for the best-case scenario In the best-case scenario22, the Ugandan approach does exactly what it sets out to do, and so does the Liberian fee structure and revolving pharmacy fund—though I’ve not confirmed that these are in the MoU. In one best-case scenario, Uganda is an outlier, and user fees and community health insurance are not recurrent pillars of self-sustaining financing in other countries’ implementation plans. In another best-case scenario, all countries that include these strategies enjoy success beyond anyone’s evidence-informed wildest dreams: reliable funding generated by health care users fees, great health care outcomes for everyone, no exacerbation of inequities, no crippling household debt. No sold land, repurposed school tuition or high-interest loans. In the best-case scenario, not one of the hundreds of thousands of Ugandans living with HIV receiving antiretrovirals from 491 PNFP facilities misses a refill or leaves care because of user fees or community health insurance premiums. This is the best-case scenario for these people for their own health, and for their families. It is also the best-case scenario if Uganda wants to stay on the path to eliminating HIV as a public health threat. According to the country’s most recent data, 96.5 percent of people living with HIV on antiretrovirals are virologically suppressed. Epidemic control depends ensuring that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of those individuals are on ART, and 95% of those individuals are virologically suppressed. Uganda is still struggling with the first “95"—a frankly abysmal 85.3 percent. If HIV epidemic control and the attendant prevention of new infections, avoidable suffering and premature death matter, the country cannot afford to lose any clients who are currently in care.23 As I write this a couple hours before the polls close for the US elections in the city I live in, I say with soul-deep sincerity: I am rooting for the best-case scenario. I think it’s safe to say that we all are.24 I think it’s also safe to say that if the US and co-signatory governments have inked plans that lead to successful expansion of community health insurance and strategic use of user fees, we all would like to know, now, so that we don’t miss the opportunity to celebrate when success happens. The implementation plan narratives have to enter the public domain. They are the fullest expression of a strategy co-created by two governments. There are assumptions and details that people living in the US and co-signatory countries need to understand that are not available in the MoUs or, to date, in the Congressional Notifications. Some of these details can help other countries that are, as I write this, still working on implementation plans. Others, like a solid count of how many other countries have plans for expanding user fees or health insurance, are important for regional and global health architecture reform initiatives. No matter how this election night turns out, there will be a slew of new Congressional member orientations, briefings and talking points papers in the next few months. Release of implementation narratives should be a bullet point in every context that AFGHS is discussed. These documents can be redacted so that procurement sensitive information isn’t disclosed. There is much more historical precedent for sharing such documents than there is for relying on user fees to fill health financing gaps. Let’s look at the information together so we can hope for the best and prepare for, you know, the other thing. Alt text: A substack first: a bicep selfie! It’s my arm - peachy-white skin, black shirt (flannel, notch neck, too hot for this appallingly balmy November weather, if you’re wondering) and a sticker that says I VOTED 2026. Beige letters on red for I voted. Beige on blue for 2026. You bet I did.25 In your wildest dreams. Subscribe 1 This is a really, really rich 95 page document. There are fascinating ideas and detailed plans in it. It is all worth reading AND I have, in this post, highlighted an instance of content that could pose challenges and certainly posits success of strategies that haven’t worked before. I would love to hear what readers’ see that’s interesting and should be lifted up as something to check for in other implementation plans. I will also shortly be adding a static page to the substack site where implementation plan documents will live. I will put the url into this footnote and it will also be there on emilybass.substack.com by the end of the week. Uganda Implementation Narrative Section 4 April 22 2026 Draft 1.51MB ∙ PDF file Download Download 2 User fees are costs charged for visits, labs, medicines or other health services, usually at the time they are provided. Community health insurance, or community-based health insurance, is what the World Health Organization calls “micro insurance,” which is health insurance targeted at low-income people. 3 As usual (by which I mean always), please prove me wrong. 4 https://smartnewsliberia.com/liberias-ministry-of-health-announces-2025-hospital-service-fees-for-public-facilities/?utm 5 https://moh.gov.lr/news/2025/grand-cape-mount-leaders-residents-embrace-new-community-pharmacy-program/?utm 6 https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/09/hiv-usaid-pepfar-africa-foreign-aid-cuts-mission-hospitals/?utm 7 https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/11/e021270 8 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/community-based-health-insurance-CBHI 9 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2827475/ 10 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10861328/#b3-jpmph-23-110 11 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC527704/ 12 Same citation as the footnote 2 - the article is called “Learning from failed health care reform in Uganda.” To which I say: If only. If. Only. 13 There is a whole taxonomy of user fees to be aware of, if not commit to memory. Out of pocket costs are everything that someone pays for themselves. In this Stack, user fees are planned and policy-supported out of pocket costs. There are also out of pocket costs that people pay to buy drugs or receive tests or health care assessments that would be free if the drugs were on the shelves, or the machines or kits were available, or the staff were on site. A user fee is usually designed to be modest, pegged to willingness to pay, and may be waiveable at the point of care for anyone who is unable to do so. The costs for things that would otherwise be free are whatever the market will bear and people either have to pay them or go without. Out of pocket costs for services and stuff that aren’t available in public facilities are different again from bribes or unofficial fees that some health workers may impose, even though most are indefatigable, tireless and tired, and devoted to their clients. 14 For the record—which really is these footnotes—I would give a whole stack of fridge magnets for a systematic analysis of the economic and social impact of the Mass Unemployment Event in AFGHS countries among the very people who used to be able to afford and cover user fees, both for themselves and vast family networks. Locally employed USAID technical staff, house cleaners, caregivers, drivers and technicians were financial anchors for cousins, friends, friends’ children, friends’ childrens’ cousins, teachers, pastors, neighbors and so many other kinds of kin. Aid recipients lost direct funding; many other people who had not been aid recipients, but parts of the elaborate care webs that function as safety nets for so many people, lost crucial support too. And that’s even before we get to the people who worked at the hotels and restaurants and bars where people employed by the US and its implementing partners used to spend disposable income. Those businesses have lost revenue; those folks have lost jobs. It will be some time coming—and someone will have to fund this work—but I do hope it happens. And I hope, as usual, to be proven wrong. 15 https://eprcug.org/blog/how-out-of-pocket-healthcare-costs-keep-driving-ugandans-into-poverty/ 16 Another straight-to-the-point journal article title. Households experiencing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis in Uganda: magnitude and cost drivers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32938411 17 https://www.cehurd.org/download/technical-policy-brief-on-community-health-insurance-scheme/?wpdmdl=13661&refresh=6ae9122f5d4ed1793659439 18 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10125197/ 19 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10861328/#b3-jpmph-23-110 20 https://ugandapost.news/uganda-to-make-health-insurance-mandatory-by-2026/ 21 https://shu.org.ug/download/235 22 With a nod, tip of the stack hat, and wag of the Mercoon tail to a deeply valued reader who told me that I have a tendency to speculate about the worst-case scenarios a little too much of the time. 23 https://news.mak.ac.ug/2026/10/uphia-2025-shows-ugandas-hiv-status-awareness-gap-despite-strong-treatment-outcomes/ As you’ll see in the next footnote, I’ve already written a subSubstack on another topic, so I will be brief with regard to the study referenced in this article. The Uganda Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment, or UPHIA, will never happen in this way again. For more than a decade, PHIAs have been supported by the US government as a way to generate accurate estimates of country progress on key HIV indicators. They are a holdover from the PEPFAR program that was laser focused on ensuring US taxpayer dollars subsidized progress in pandemic control. There may be other population-level surveys and the data may even be publicly released, as the entire set of FY2026 MER data have not. But PHIAs will never happen again. If you’re wondering whether the estimates of HIV progress at country level might get less reliable….you’re not alone. 24 Ooh baby, I hate “we” in almost all forms. But sometimes I go there, when I am looking for company, which I am. Because this Stack moves into the somewhat-uncharted territory of assessing what the implementation plan narratives may suggest about co-signatory countries’ roles and responsibilities to the people living within their borders. The MoUs, specimen and data sharing agreements were templates. Countries’ answers fit into pre-specified questions that did not include, “how are you going to fill financing gaps and stabilize your health system as this plan unfolds?” In contrast, the implementation narratives are open form—the product of co-creation between the two governments. Co-creation can mean lots of things, but nothing leads me to believe that implementation plans are ghost-written by the US government, or that contents were imposed by the US counterparts. Instead, I think the parts of the plans that read like country government initiatives are endorsed, if not initiated by, those governments. For instance, the Ugandan implementation plan narrative describes plans for revenue-generation through fees charged for equipment calibration, repair and maintenance provided through Uganda’s National Equipment Calibration Laboratory, and laboratory accreditation through the Uganda National Accreditation Service (UGANAS), targeting private sector, PNFP, research and academic clients. That’s super specific and also quite ambitious. It doesn’t read like an American idea. There’s also a provision for solar panels, and other stuff that feels country owned and driven. This is where it gets interesting. If co-creation is the case, then both the US and co-signatory governments are accountable for the contents and the outcomes. Most discourse about AFGHS to date has focused on the decisions that America has made, or demanded that other countries make. The AFGHS architects have monopolized the hot seat. As they should, in so many ways. America absolutely created the conditions under which countries needed to come up with health financing strategies to fill unanticipated, catastrophic funding gaps. And with not-too-long a lens, we can look back and see that America is also on the hook for its role in the Bretton Woods institutions that made user fees and health system fiscal austerity conditions of loans during the era of structural adjustment. But in the here and now, it is not at all clear to me that the US is requiring Uganda or any other country to implement specific approaches to sustainable financing. Instead, it is as the authors of that paper up in footnote 6 suggest: African governments have agency. As implementation plans roll out—whether or not the narratives are shared—it will be important to understand what this agency looks like and what it means for people, including the poorest of the poor. And it will be important to figure out how to talk about it safely, respectfully and critically in places other than the literal and metaphorical footnotes. 25 This week’s song is “Once upon a time” by the Moody Blues. (I know, this is gonna be a weird, largely banger-free end of 2026 playlist. HMU with requests.) AND please do watch the video and appreciate the truly amazing opening sequence—a drum kit wasteland, a coupla plastic bags, a bit of sand. Sort of like the hill where fiscal austerity policies that put costs on health care users might go to perish. But then there’s a lady with amazing hair. It’s worth it.
The Midterm Election Was About Health Care
In the face of Trump’s destruction of public health and modern science, voters are putting candidates who support Medicare for All, doctors and nurses into positions of power.
Tulsans approve hotel tax hike backed by business groups
Tulsa voters approved a measure to raise the city’s lodging tax from 5% to 9.9%. The new revenue will pay for upgrades at BOK Center and Arvest Convention Center.
Slack vs Discord; a comparison for businesses
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National City Businesses Propose Sharply Lower Tax Increase
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Democrat Jon Rosenthal appears on track to win Texas Railroad Commissioner race
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Democrats win power to push back on Trump’s health care moves
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Republicans win contested legislative races in the Fort Smith metro
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Democrats capture full control of Congress, NBC News projects, fueled by victories in deeply Republican states
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In Affluent San Francisco Suburb, Food Security and Health Care Topped Voters’ Concerns on Election Day
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Effort to ban trans girls in K-12 school sports leads Tuesday night
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Michigan approves Proposal 2, citizen-lead effort to limit corporate influence in politics
Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 during the Nov. 3 midterm election. The Associated Press called the race at 9.38 p.m on Nov.3, 80.9 % of voters cast their ballot in favor of the proposal, 19.1% with more than 24% of the vote in.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wins California governor’s race
Becerra, a longtime fixture in Democratic politics in the state, beat Republican Steve Hilton, NBC News projects.
Which sports figures won or lost in the midterm elections? Tracking 7 big names
Ex-NFL player Colin Allred returned to the U.S. House, while ex-coach Tommy Tuberville and broadcaster Michele Tafoya were also in races.
‘Lawyer up’: Democrats take the House, and warn Trump’s family businesses are first in line for subpoenas
Democrats can’t override Trump’s veto, but the incoming Oversight chair promised to probe the family’s crypto deals, and other family businesses.
Exclusive: YouTube is cooking up something new called 'Tamba,' and it looks pretty social
YouTube's latest Android app reveals a mysterious 'Tamba' project with followers, DMs, group chats, and other social features.
Canada Regulates Health-Product Claims. But What Does ‘Science-Backed’ Actually Mean?
Phrases like “science-backed” can sound reassuring, but consumers deserve to see what kind of evidence actually stands behind health-product claims.
Entertainment that Resonates with Filipino Culture
As a Filipina American, I’ve seen how many other Filipino Americans take pride in their cultural identity and aren’t afraid
Democrats win control of the House of Representatives, with a vow to combat Trump
NBC News projects that Democrats will take control of the House next year, giving them the power to investigate Trump and advance legislation to check his policies.
Political newcomer tapped by voters to lead Oklahoma Insurance Department
In a race that saw both candidates vowing to tackle the state’s soaring insurance rates, voters selected a Republican to lead the state’s Insurance Department.
Wyandotte, KCK voters deny sales tax increase for parks, health
Voters' rejection of the items means that no additional money will go toward parks, pools and services like mental health and temporary housing.
‘Money Out of Politics’ ballot measure passes, constitutional convention fails
Proposal 2 on Michigan ballots, the “Michiganders for Money Out of Politics” initiative, has passed. The initiative will alter state campaign finance law to ban campaign spending from “regulated electric and gas utilities, contractors with over $250,000 annually in government contracts, and people and organizations with substantial connections to those utilities or contractors.”
Michigan passes limits on utility money in politics, setting up likely court fight
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 Tuesday, a citizen-led measure its backers say will get “money out of politics,” setting up a likely court fight in the coming months. Th…
macOS 27.3 includes cool-looking ‘Pro’ screensaver from new touchscreen MacBook Pro
Included in today’s macOS 27.3 beta 1 is a great-looking screensaver featuring an animated version of the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display wallpaper.
Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the Georgia governor’s race, flipping the office for Democrats
NBC News projects that Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, defeated billionaire Republican Rick Jackson in the contest to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp.
‘This is not about politics. This is about people’: UN warns of impact of deadly drone strikes in Sudan
Intensifying drone attacks on civilian infrastructure across Sudan are disrupting electricity, water and fuel supplies, putting lives at risk and hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid, the UN’s top official in the country has warned.
Women Entrepreneurs Rock 12 Celebrates Revolutionary Thinking and Bold Moves
Women Entrepreneurs Rock 12 Celebrates Revolutionary Thinking, Bold Moves, and the Power of Women Supporting Women New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Brookdale Community College marks 12 years of inspiring entrepreneurs, strengthening businesses, and
Diamondbacks key free agents receive contract projections
The Diamondbacks' rotation and bullpen could look a lot different next season with several key players hitting the open market.
Jülich Hosts EVE Language Model for Earth Observation and Earth Science
Nov. 3, 2026 — The Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) has started a new collaboration with Pi School, an international centre of excellence for AI headquartered in Rome that brings together innovators, thinkers and entrepreneurs. As a result, JSC’s Helmholtz Blablador infrastructure now hosts the EVE-Instruct model, a large language model (LLM) for Earth observation (EO) and […]
Political science professor sees signs of increased competition in Indiana races
By Sydney Byerly The Indiana Citizen November 3, 2026 As election results began to come in Tuesday night, Laura Merrifield Wilson, a professor of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis, said some of Indiana's traditionally Republican districts were showing signs of increased competition, potentially reflecting a broader shift in Democratic momentum. One of the biggest
Political science professor sees signs of increased competition in Indiana races
By Sydney Byerly The Indiana Citizen November 3, 2026 As election results began to come in Tuesday night, Laura Merrifield Wilson, a professor of political science at Indiana University Indianapolis, said some of Indiana's traditionally Republican districts were showing signs of increased competition, potentially reflecting a broader shift in Democratic momentum. One of the biggest
Mobile medical clinics keep mothers and babies healthy
World Vision’s support of a mobile medical outreach clinic in Malawi ensures that more mothers and children receive the healthcare they need.
CAMC to receive $3.9 million in public funding for rural health training and worker support
CAMC will receive three awards totaling more than $3.9 million for rural provider training, fellowships and help for workers with chronic health conditions. Eligible fellows may receive up to $75,000 for a five-year work commitment.
Michigan US Senate election results: Abdul El-Sayed vs Mike Rogers
See live election results in Michigan's US Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
Michigan elections: Voters decide on Proposal 2 Money Out of Politics question
Voters on Tuesday were asked to consider a ballot proposal that would prohibit regulated utilities and large state contractors from contributing to Michigan politicians.
Dragon’s Dogma II: Dark Arisen x Delicious in Dungeon collaboration announced
Capcom has announced a collaboration with manga series Delicious in Dungeon for Dragon’s Dogma II: Dark Arisen, which brings Official Pawns and special collaboration outfits inspired by chara…
Apple Readies Launch of AI-Powered Health App
Apple’s soon-to-be-released redesigned Health app will be powered by artificial intelligence and will provide users with tailored recommendations on
Samsung's sleep apnea upgrade is rolling out to Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Ring
Coming to the Galaxy Watch 8 and 7
Unbeaten Utah Hosts BYU In A Holy War That Could Shape The Big 12 Title Race
The final month of the college football season in the Big 12 will shake loose a tight race and determine the teams that will play in the championship game.
California Prop. 44 would require clinics to spend 90% on patient care
California Proposition 44 would require community clinics to spend 90% of revenue on patient care. Here's what supporters and opponents say.
A Bull and a Male Donkey Kept Having Sex. Scientists Say Their Relationship Was About More Than Mating
This is making biologists question what they know about evolution.
Trump administration awards $233.6M for California rural health care
California receives $233.6 million in federal rural health care funding as Medicaid cuts raise concerns for Fresno and San Joaquin Valley communities.
Bengs speaks on data centers, money in politics ahead of elections
The war in Ukraine, data centers and the release of the Epstein files. All topics expectant voters wanted Brian Bengs, South Dakota’s independent candidate for U.S. senate, to comment on...
How hawkmoths turned their genitals into bat-busting weapons
In arms race with bats, hawkmoths have evolved three distinct ways to make bat-busting ultrasound using their genitalia.
Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass—Part 2: Dazzling Decorations Available December 9
The Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass—Part 2: Dazzling Decorations paid DLC arrives December 9, 2026.
2026 College Football Playoff Rankings: Miami No. 1, Notre Dame Outside Top 10
The first set of College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Tuesday, with the Miami Hurricanes sitting at No. 1.
But WHY Does Intelligent Design Predicts Ultimate Engineering?
A possible objection to Dr. Burgess’s case for ID might be that the apparent superb design of the human body is what you’d expect from evolution.
Barcelona, Atlético Skip Champions League Anthem To Honor Jesus de Miguel
Soccer teams playing in the Champions League have paid tribute to Jesus de Miguel after the Tenerife forward’s death following an on-field collision
For Accel Entertainment, Chicago licenses bolster outlook
For Accel Entertainment, it seems less is more. During Tuesday’s earnings call, Accel CEO Mark Phelan noted that the operator achieved 7% growth in its largest
macOS 27.3 adds native Markdown rendering to Quick Look
Starting with macOS 27.3, users can preview Markdown files with proper formatting directly in Quick Look. Here are the details.
Devs Are Being Forced To Delay Their Games On Steam Thanks To AI Slop
'Oh no, we are not releasing on the same day as Zelda'
The Mad Color Science Behind Rian Johnson's New Camera App
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin talks to IndieWire about designing the Chromagraph camera app and bullying the iPhone camera to behave more cinematically
Skilled Nursing Dealbook: UW Health Adds Medical Center With Nursing Facility; 126-Bed Colorado Facility Sold
Ohio-based skilled nursing facility changed hands in a $10.5 million property transfer, while a 126-bed SNF in Colorado was also sold. UW Health also