New Hampshire Public Health Association

05/29/2026

On average, the United States has a lower life expectancy than comparable countries. Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a person at a given age might live based on mortality rates. This chart collection examines how life expectancy in the U.S. compares to that of other similarly large and wealthy countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The countries included in the comparison are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased 0.6 years from 78.4 years in 2023 to 79.0 years in 2024, its highest-ever level. However, the average life expectancy in comparable countries was 82.7 years, about 3.7 years longer than in the U.S., reflecting a persistently wide difference in life expectancy between the U.S. and comparable countries.

The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy among comparable countries and spends nearly twice as much as them on healthcare per person, on average.

05/28/2026

Andes Virus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship: Current Situation: CDC

Current situation on the hantavirus outbreak that was reported May 2, 2026.

05/27/2026

After reaching a record high in 2025, Affordable Care Act enrollment is now dropping sharply across the country, and new national reporting suggests the decline may be deeper than some policymakers first expected. According to a recent report in The New York Times, millions of Americans are dropping ACA coverage following the expiration of enhanced federal tax credits that had made marketplace plans significantly more affordable in recent years. Early federal enrollment figures already showed more than one million fewer Americans signing up for 2026 coverage compared to 2025, but insurers and analysts now believe the actual losses will grow substantially as consumers struggle to afford higher monthly premiums and drop their ACA plans.

These new data paint a troubling picture. Nationally, roughly one in seven people who initially enrolled in ACA plans for 2026 failed to pay their first premiums, according to new actuarial analysis cited by The Wall Street Journal, an unusually steep drop-off compared to prior years. Analysts now estimate total ACA enrollment could decline by as much as 26 percent before the end of the year as rising premiums force families to downgrade coverage, switch to less comprehensive plans, or leave the market entirely.

New Hampshire is experiencing those same pressures. Earlier enrollment data showed the state’s ACA marketplace enrollment declining 6.1 percent, falling from 70,337 enrollees in 2025 to 66,024 in 2026, with more than 4,200 Granite Staters leaving the program year over year. And that only represents the beginning of the decline, as national nonpayment trends will also play out locally.

Analysis of 2026 ACA enrollment in New Hampshire: declines after subsidy cuts, rising premiums, and what policy changes mean for coverage ahead.

05/26/2026

Ayotte on CMC’s Nashua ER Plan: ‘It’s Dumb’

New Hampshire - Ayotte on CMC’s Nashua ER Plan: ‘It’s Dumb’ - NH Journal - Politics

05/25/2026

Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth

A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.

05/22/2026

President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a public health veteran who has led vaccination programs, a new sign of the administration’s shifting views on vaccines.

Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to lead the embattled agency came just hours after US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appearance at a congressional hearing where he made some of his most supportive comments yet on vaccination.

The measles vaccine is safe and effective “for most people” and can be safer than getting measles, Kennedy said Thursday morning under Democrats’ grilling before the House Ways and Means Committee.

He then agreed when Rep. Linda Sanchez, a Democrat from California, pressed him on whether vaccination could have saved at least one child’s life during a large Texas measles outbreak last year.

President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a public health veteran who has led vaccination programs, a new sign of the administration’s shifting views on vaccines.

05/21/2026

Su***de is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, and rates have risen 35% over 20 years.1 Across the country, almost half (45%) of individuals who die by su***de see a primary care provider in the month before their death.2 These visits offer critical opportunities to identify and support people at risk. Yet most clinics do not routinely assess su***de risk.3

The Zero Su***de framework, developed by the National Action Alliance for Su***de Prevention, is a systems-level model that highlights opportunities for prevention and offers tangible supports across care settings and care providers. It embeds evidence-based practices that help identify people at risk of su***de and engages them in supportive care to reduce risk. Evaluations suggest the framework is associated with reductions in su***de attempts.4

To date, implementation and evaluation of the Zero Su***de framework has mostly occurred in behavioral health settings rather than in primary care. Many clinics lack the training, infrastructure, and clinical support needed to implement systematic screening and follow-up at scale.5,6 As a result, real-world evidence on whether su***de prevention strategies can be successfully implemented in primary care has been limited.7

New research from Kaiser Permanente explores this issue, including questions of interest to policy audiences:

Does adding su***de screening and safety planning during regular doctor visits improve care quality and patient outcomes?
How can su***de prevention strategies be effectively implemented in primary care settings? What kinds of infrastructure and coordination supports are needed?

Overview

05/20/2026

Americans Continue to Struggle with Health Care Costs, KFF Reports

This data note reviews our recent polling data that finds that many Americans struggle to afford many aspects of health care, including disproportionate shares of uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults and those with lower incomes.

05/19/2026

Rising healthcare costs, insurance premiums now worry Americans more than any other domestic issue: poll

Rising health insurance premiums and expired Obamacare subsidies are driving healthcare affordability to the top of Americans' domestic concerns in 2026.

05/18/2026

New Hampshire is not lacking in vision when it comes to improving health.

Across the state, there is no shortage of plans, each local, data-driven, and rooted in the needs of our communities. The State Health Improvement Plan, community health improvement plans, regional planning efforts, the Age Well New Hampshire roadmap, and now the Rural Health Transformation Program all point in the same direction: toward a healthier, more equitable future.

But when we step back and look across these efforts, a different picture begins to emerge.

https://www.nhpha.org/blog/new-hampshire-has-the-health-improvement-plansnbsp-now-we-need-the-connections