Aaron Richterman
@draaron.bsky.social
Penn HIV/ID physician-scientist — Poverty/Food Insecurity and Health — Social Protection Policies https://ldi.upenn.edu/fellows/fellows-directory/aaron-richterman-md-mph/
How do primary care patients use cash transfers to improve their health? A qualitative pilot study in a Philadelphia clinic by LDI Fellows suggests that cash payments can have a range of positive impacts on health behaviors among patients with chronic diseases.
NEW: In @theatlantic.com, LDI Fellows Aaron Richterman (@draaron.bsky.social) and Harsha Thirumurthy (@hthirumurthy.bsky.social) share four ways to design cash transfer programs that can reduce poverty and improve health in the U.S. Read more here: www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
Four Conditions Make Cash Transfers Save Lives
The success of other countries shows these programs can work in the United States.
theatlantic.com
NEW: Our latest brief covers research from LDI Senior Fellows @draaron.bsky.social @hthirumurthy.bsky.social and Jere Behrman that provides the first population-level evidence that cash transfer programs substantially reduce mortality. Read more here: https://bit.ly/47gpGkl
Cash Transfer Programs Can Help Health Outcomes
Using data from 37 low- and middle-income countries, the research provides evidence that these programs substantially reduce mortality rates population-wide.
bit.ly
Four Conditions Make Cash Transfers Save Lives The success of other countries shows these programs can work in the United States www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
Four Conditions Make Cash Transfers Save Lives
The success of other countries shows these programs can work in the United States.
theatlantic.com
Most cash-transfer programs have failed to produce health gains in the U.S.—except for SNAP, Aaron Richterman and Harsha Thirumurthy argue. They examine the conditions that make SNAP work, and how it may provide a road map for other programs:
Four Conditions Make Cash Transfers Save Lives
The success of other countries shows these programs can work in the United States.
bit.ly
Why does cash save lives in Tanzania but barely move the needly in Texas? New piece in @theatlantic.com with @hthirumurthy.bsky.social: We break down the conditions that make cash transfers improve health, and why SNAP gets closets to what works globally. www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
Four Conditions Make Cash Transfers Save Lives
The success of other countries shows these programs can work in the United States.
theatlantic.com
From research to policy impact 📊➡️🏛️ In 2024, LDI Fellows Aditi Vasan, @draaron.bsky.social & George Dalembert briefed PA lawmakers & Gov. Shapiro's office on the health benefits of tax credits—helping shape the new Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit, recently signed into law. https://bit.ly/4qvTQb8
LDI Research Shapes Pennsylvania Tax Credit
Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit (WPTC) offers a tax benefit to low-income workers.
bit.ly
🚨New Paper🚨 US doctors are paid very different amounts for treating different patients—even when providing identical services. How much less are physicians paid for treating non-White patients? In @jamahealthforum.com, we offer the 1st national estimates. (1/7) jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Payments to Physician Practices and Incentives to Serve Different Racial and Ethnic Groups
This study measures disparities across patient racial and ethnic groups in per-visit payment to physician practices from health insurers and other sources, adjusted for visit content, geographic marke...
jamanetwork.com
Philadelphia is at risk of losing vital support for people living with HIV as funding cuts ripple through programs that address not just treatment but education, housing, and food security. Check out this piece from Billy Penn on what’s at stake ➝ billypenn.com/2025/11/18/h...
Funding cuts threaten people in Philly living with HIV
Organizations that provide services like HIV education and living recommendations are being forced to cut programming after funding cuts
billypenn.com
New research finds that cash transfers may help overcome poverty-related barriers & improve perinatal HIV outcomes in Haiti ft. @draaron.bsky.social, Sindy Desire, Florence Momplaisir (@pennidfellows.bsky.social) & @hthirumurthy.bsky.social (@pennmehp.bsky.social) link.springer.com/article/10.1...
New in @thelancet.com: a follow-up to our @nature.com paper on cash transfers and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. This studies explores *why* cash transfers reduce death, tracing effects on determinants of survival. free access 🔗: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
New in @thelancet.com: a follow-up to our @nature.com paper on cash transfers and mortality in low- and middle-income countries. This studies explores *why* cash transfers reduce death, tracing effects on determinants of survival. free access 🔗: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Within a few years after giving birth, many women with HIV fall out of care. In our new paper from rural Haiti, we explore why this happens—and what might help prevent it link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Money, Medicine, and Motherhood: Developing a Cash Transfer for Pregnant Women with HIV in Rural Haiti - AIDS and Behavior
Improving perinatal engagement in HIV care is critical to prevent disease progression and transmission. In Haiti and other low-resource settings, poverty contributes substantially to poor perinatal HI...
link.springer.com
SNAP benefits may resume—but deep cuts are still coming. Court rulings may soon restart payments, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashes SNAP by $187 billion. LDI Fellows discussed how this will impact food insecurity, worsen health outcomes, and more. https://bit.ly/4hJLKbl
Deep Food Cuts are Coming for Millions of Americans
But what many lawmakers, journalists, and Americans fail to recognize is that SNAP is also a hugely successful public health operation.
ldi.upenn.edu
This is a good write up on the unfortunate and likely health consequences of upcoming SNAP cuts. Not to mention the desperation being experienced by many people now experiencing a delay in Nov benefits. ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/res...
Deep Food Cuts are Coming for Millions of Americans
But what many lawmakers, journalists, and Americans fail to recognize is that SNAP is also a hugely successful public health operation.
ldi.upenn.edu
Three major respiratory viruses COVID-19, RSV & flu still drive hospitalizations yearly. A new review of 511 studies shows current vaccines work. COVID-19 mRNA shots targeting XBB.1.5 cut hospitalizations by ~46–50%; newer KP.2-adapted vaccines reached 68% effectiveness. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Updated Evidence for Covid-19, RSV, and Influenza Vaccines for 2025–2026 | NEJM
Changes in the vaccine advisory process in the United States have disrupted immunization guidance, which reinforces the need for independent evidence review to inform decisions regarding immunizati...
nejm.org
Thank you, @cidrap.bsky.social, for covering our new @nejm.org review of Covid-19, RSV, and influenza immunizations. Check it out: cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/meta-analysis-covid-rsv-flu-vaccines-fall-provides-sea-data-showing-efficacy-safety
Meta-analysis of COVID, RSV, flu vaccines for fall provides 'sea of data' showing efficacy, safety
cidrap.umn.edu
👇🏻 our new paper on updated evidence for respiratory virus vaccines
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD@madhupai.bsky.social · 10mo agoEven as the anti-vax lobby erodes public trust, new evidence confirms that "immunizations against Covid-19, RSV, and influenza have shown consistent effectiveness & safety and are associated with a substantially reduced risk of hospitalization & severe disease" www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
“The evidence-based processes used by the ACIP were adopted to prevent exactly what happened at the first 2 meetings this year: presentation of anecdotes, selective quoting of single studies, and a lack of in-depth evaluation of some of the evidence presented.” jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
ACIP Standards for Assessing Evidence
This Viewpoint discusses Institute of Medicine (IOM) standards for clinical guideline development and measures taken by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to bring ACIP in line wi...
share.google
📢 Important update! Join the Vaccine Integrity Project live stream TOMORROW 8/19 at 2pm ET. We'll review flu, COVID & RSV vaccine data—focused on safety & efficacy during pregnancy, and for kids & the immunocompromised. Watch here:
From Data to Decisions: The Evidence Base for 2025 Fall/Winter Immunizations
Join the Vaccine Integrity Project for an expert presentation on the latest publicly available data regarding the safety and efficacy of flu, COVID-19, and RSV vaccines. In this recorded live stream, the scientific research team will highlight key findings on the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19
youtube.com
Tomorrow at 2pm the Vaccine Integrity Project through @CIDRAP will host a live webinar, From Data to Decisions: The Evidence Base for 2025 Fall/Winter Immunizations. The panel will break down evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness followed by a Q&A. youtube.com/watch?v=lSuvGl…
youtube.com
Of every 1,000 children born in Kenya, 32 don’t make it to their first birthdays. A new stumbled onto a straightforward solution: Giving $1,000 to poor families lowered infant mortality rates by nearly half, and deaths in children under 5 by 45 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/h...
A New Way to Reduce Children’s Deaths: Cash
nytimes.com
To save the lives of infants and small kids in lower resource countries, there are a handful of tools: anti-malarial drugs, bed nets and vaccines. A massive experiment in rural Kenya suggests another. n.pr/4fKcjw3
Researchers discover a secret weapon that saves babies' lives. And it's not medical
To save the lives of infants and small kids in lower resource countries, there are a handful of tools: anti-malarial drugs, bed nets and vaccines. A massive experiment in rural Kenya suggests another.
n.pr
IMPORTANT UPDATE IMPORTANT UPDATE Regarding APHU/ACLU et al. vs. NIH Lawsuit
a cartoon of a man and a dog with the words now 's the time for action written on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon of a man and a dog with the words now 's the time for action written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
I wrote a letter to my mom about Gaza. It's personal, but I wanted to share, in case it can be useful to anyone else who’s decided it’s time to have this discussion with their parents, or any parents who’ve decided it’s time to understand their children. aaronregunberg.substack.com/p/a-message-...
A message to our Jewish parents on Gaza
You taught us to say "Never Again." We need you to say it now.
aaronregunberg.substack.com
To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it—now.
A new study estimates that USAID saved 92 million lives from 2001 to 2021, and that its demolition could kill 14 million people in only five years through 2030. That would make the end of USAID by far the most impactful action Trump has taken this year. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
USAID cuts could lead to 14 million deaths over the next five years, researchers say
An analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet projects that cuts to the agency will lead to more deaths from diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
nbcnews.com
11 minutes: watch and share www.cbsnews.com/news/when-is...
"When is cancer political?" Medical researchers, patients decry Trump admin's layoffs, budget cuts
Scientists conducting medical research are facing an existential crisis: Layoffs and budget cuts pushed by President Trump that, they say, jeopardize finding a cure for cancer.
cbsnews.com
Hepatitis B can be passed from parent to baby at birth - and when that happens, the consequences can be deadly. It is unscientific and dangerous to intentionally ignore the success of U.S. vaccination programs or argue that the U.S. should not vaccinate babies for hepatitis B at birth.
