Health

Study Finds -   Americans born after 1970 are already dying at higher rates from heart disease, cancer, and external causes than people born before them were dying at the same ages, a pattern researchers call alarming given how many years these cohorts still have ahead. A separate nationwide deterioration in death rates began around 2010 and hit nearly every living adult at once, driven mainly by stalling progress against cardiovascular disease after decades of improvement.

Americans born in the 1950s marked the generational turning point: cohorts born before them tended to show steadily improving survival, while every generation since has fared progressively worse across most major causes of death.

Researchers warn that if current trends continue as post-1970 cohorts age further, the United States could face an unprecedented long-running stagnation, or even a sustained decline, in overall life expectancy.

The Guardian -  Three scientific papers that raised questions about vaccine safety and were used by the Trump administration to justify controversial changes to US vaccine policies have over the last two months been removed, retracted or placed under investigation by the journals that published them.

Axios - Democratic states are pushing back on the Trump administration's rules for new Medicaid work requirements, warning that a chaotic rollout in the coming months could lead to even more people losing their coverage.

The first-ever work requirements in last year's Republican tax-and-spending bill were already controversial — but now there are new clashes over the way the administration wants to implement them.

Six Democratic governors led by Oregon's Tina Kotek last week called on the administration to "stop forcing states into an unworkable rollout" of the requirements by a Jan. 1 deadline.

They asked for an extension, citing what they called shifting guidance from the federal government.

Instead, the administration on Monday released a rule that imposed a stricter-than-expected approach to granting exemptions from the work requirements.

Among other things, people with cancer or HIV may not qualify for a "medically frail" exemption — unless the condition significantly impairs the ability to work.

Without an exemption, people ages 19 to 64 would have to work or participate in 80 hours of community engagement per month to keep their Medicaid coverage.  MORE