The DOGE Impact Tracker

Federal cuts to North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services terminated the agency’s tobacco prevention efforts, reports WBTV:

At a statewide level, many of the department’s tobacco prevention efforts have ended or been severely cut back – best practices developed out of decades of research for stopping youth from taking up smoking, protecting nonsmokers from smoking environments, and helping smokers get assistance to quit.

That includes efforts to curb youth vaping.

“It’s more than financial, it really is,” said acting public health director Dr. Kelly Kimple. “It directly affects the lives and health of the people that we serve.”

In Mecklenburg County, health director Dr. Raynard Washington said they ended tobacco awareness campaigns, stopped participation in the Youth Tobacco Survey, and lost data that helps the department identify emerging issues and target interventions.

Budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are having an impact in Wyoming’s rural Teton County, where the health department lost funding for a program that helps residents navigate Medicaid and other health care programs, reports The Sheridan Press:

It had been a normal day until Emily Rivera Garcia learned about the meeting.

With no forewarning, she could tell something was amiss. 

Rivera Garcia works for the Teton County Health Department and helps run a popular program called “Connect with Community Health Outreach Workers,” better known as “Connect with CHOW.” 

She primarily helps Spanish-speaking community members navigate Medicaid and other health care programs, such as St. John’s Health’s financial assistance program…