Fact Over Fiction: Medicaid, Immigration, and Health Care Access

In 2025, approximately 52 million immigrants lived in the United States, forming 16% of the population. Health insurance coverage is closely tied to immigration status – including Medicaid. Many groups of immigrants are categorically excluded from federally-funded health insurance programs. Undocumented immigrants, in particular, have long been prohibited from obtaining Medicaid. However, in the last year, inaccurate claims around Medicaid eligibility for immigrants have been used to justify policy changes proposed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). For example, one false claim was that undocumented immigrants were responsible for increased Medicaid spending. It is crucial to ground any discussions of policy proposals and their potential impacts in evidence.

Pathways to reduce child poverty: Impacts of federal tax credits

On February 5, 2026, the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (CESO) hosted a briefing on a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), “Pathways to Reduce Child Poverty: Impacts of Federal Tax Credits.” The report examines the implementation and effects on child poverty of the temporary expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Decoding the New Federal Dietary Guidelines

In a stark departure from previous recommendations, the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture jointly released 2025-2030 federal dietary guidelines last month that place an emphasis on consuming red meat, whole milk, and butter, along with fruits and vegetables. Dubbed “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in our nation’s history,” by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the updated dietary guidelines also suggest people limit—or eliminate entirely—highly processed foods, added sugars, and excess sodium. The guidelines also removed daily limits for alcohol consumption and now urge people to just “consume less alcohol.”

Football in sun and without shadow: How extreme heat puts tomorrow’s stars at risk

Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano called football, not only the most popular sport in the world, but “the music of the body, the festival of the eyes”. It is a beloved hobby of hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers worldwide. But extreme heat is putting their well-being at risk. Researchers, coaches and scientists are now racing to find solutions, ranging from early warnings and awareness campaigns to banning synthetic pitches that trap heat.

How local energy networks are saving lives across the world

This microgrid concept is finding footholds in major cities in the United States, as well as isolated communities in the Global South. Often using renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, microgrids can offer the certainty that when extreme weather events or failures in ageing infrastructure knock out a national grid, communities can still access electricity.

Roundtable: Did COP30 do enough for health?

Climate change and human health are not separate issues. The consequences of humanity’s emissions will impact the health of millions of people, regardless of future emission cuts.

We should be telling the stories of African cities

When Elaine Nsoesie realised that no book had yet explored the complex intersections of cities, health, and inequality in Africa, she decided to help fill that gap. The result, Urban Health in Africa, co-edited with Blessing Mberu, brings together African voices to examine how social, historical, and environmental forces shape public health across the continent’s cities.