"How To Solve HHS’s Failure To Address The Climate Crisis"

For this week’s post I refer you to this article that appeared in Health Affairs this past Friday, September 9th. It is at: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/solve-hhs-s-failure-address-climate-crisis.

The essay begins with:

“From an anthropocentric perspective the climate crisis is fundamentally a threat to human health if not survival. The World Health Organization defines it as “the single biggest health threat facing humanity.” Logic dictates that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) take the lead in mitigating climate-related health harms. President Joe Biden immediately recognized this reality in a January 2021 executive order that stated because the US has a “narrow moment” to take action he directed HHS to, in sum, decrease climate-related risks among the elderly, children, and people with disabilities.

However, after two rule-making cycles, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has failed to take any regulatory action requiring Medicare and Medicaid providers to reduce their considerable carbon footprint. CMS’s last 2023 opportunity was via the hospital inpatient prospective payment rule finalized August 1.”

I would welcome any comments. I am particularly interested in any interpretations regarding how it is that HHS, likely the most powerful healthcare regulatory agency in the world, continues to refuse to address the climate crisis.