The head of Louisiana’s Health Department called a four-hour meeting on Wednesday to outline changes he’s planned for the $21.4 billion agency, which include a new office focused on health and nutrition and the creation of an inspector general’s office that will be focused on rooting out fraud and waste. The Times Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Emily Woodruff sat through Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein’s “shareholder’s meeting.”:
It included some elements of federal health policy, which has shifted under U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. toward wellness and nutrition under the banner of Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA. … Greenstein said the department’s major goals include improving health outcomes, tightening oversight of public spending and modernizing how LDH operates, from aging data systems to how programs work across agency lines.
Louisiana’s new surgeon general gave her first public comments:
Dr. Evelyn Griffin outlined an agenda looking at “root causes” of health issues, and a push for stronger data systems to identify gaps in care. “We need to return the focus back to foundational elements of health, such as nutrition with whole foods, daily movement, quality, sleep and stress management,” Griffin said, adding that they should be integrated with conventional medicine and evidence-based practices.
Data center backlash
The rapid expansion of data centers is causing heartburn for communities across the country. Omari Ho-Sang, founder of All Streets, All People, in a letter to the Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate, explains her opposition to a proposed data center in Shreveport:
The questions raised about water use, electrical strain, tax incentives, environmental risk and long-term accountability were never fully answered. … Fence-line communities in the southern part of the state were promised jobs and progress. What followed was pollution, illness and abandonment. Those communities now serve as warnings — not models. North Louisiana should not repeat that history.
Opposition to data centers in Georgia has spurred bipartisan bills aimed at reigning in these facilities. Stateline’s Alander Rocha explains the serious fiscal consequences data centers pose for state budgets:
A December audit by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia examined the state’s sales and use tax exemption for data centers and concluded that the policy has cost the state at least $1.5 billion in lost revenue since its inception, including nearly $500 million in fiscal year 2025 alone. The audit found that about 70% of data center investment in Georgia would likely have occurred regardless of the tax break because of the state’s existing fiber infrastructure, low risk of natural disasters and utility reliability.
President Donald Trump and a group of northeast governors are working to shield utility customers from increased electricity costs caused by data centers.
States scramble to deploy rural health funds
The Trump administration announced last month how much each state would get from a $50 billion fund to address rural health issues, which was included in the federal budget and tax megabill. KFF’s team explains the tight timeline states must meet in order to secure future funding:
Now, the clock is ticking. Within eight months, states must submit revised budgets, begin spending, and show the money is going to good use. Federal officials will begin reviewing state progress in late summer and announce 2027 funding levels by the end of October.
While states must show they will use 2026 rural health dollars effectively, those funds have not yet been distributed:
CMS followed standard grant procedures and is requiring each state to submit revised budgets before they can draw down money, Krepich said. States have until Jan. 30 to resubmit their budgets, and CMS then has 30 days to respond, according to the standard Notice of Award. Under that timing, some states may not have cash in hand until March.
Louisiana will receive $208 million in 2026 from the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Farmers face skyrocketing health insurance costs
Agricultural workers rely on individual marketplace coverage at much higher rates (27%) than the total U.S. population (6%). More than 90% of people with this type of insurance receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Sarah Boden and Drew Hawkins of Gulf States Newsroom explain how the expiration of federal subsidies that kept ACA marketplace coverage affordable is impacting farmers:
James Davis, 55, who grows cotton, soybeans, and corn in northern Louisiana, said he didn’t know how he and his wife would afford coverage. Their share of their insurance premium quadrupled for 2026, jumping to about $2,700 a month. “You can’t afford it,” Davis said. “Bottom line. There’s nothing to discuss. You can’t afford it without the subsidies.”
Access to affordable health insurance is crucial for farmers:
A study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the average cost of a farming injury was $10,878 in medical care and $4,735 in lost work. … In a 2022 study, [Pennsylvania State University professor Florence] Becot found that more than 20% of U.S. farm households had medical debt exceeding $1,000 and that more than half were not confident they could cover the costs of a major illness or injury.
Number of the Day
10.11% – Louisiana’s combined state and average local sales tax rate, the highest in the nation. (Source: Tax Foundation)