2025 Briefs

Public health brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to uphold a woman’s ability to legally enforce her right to receive Medicaid covered family planning services from the provider of her choice (March 12)
APHA, other health organizations and deans and scholars of public health brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Affordable Care Act's required no-cost coverage of certain preventive health benefits (Feb. 25)
APHA and other nonprofit organization motion for a preliminary injunction filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia related to White House Office of Management and Budget efforts to pause all federal agency grants and loans, as revealed in a memo issued January 27, 2025 (Feb. 11)
APHA complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the legality of the Department of Government Efficiency under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Jan. 20)
APHA and other nonprofit organizations' complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking a temporary restraining order related to White House Office of Management and Budget efforts to pause all federal agency grants and loans, as revealed in a memo issued January 27, 2025 (Jan. 28)
APHA and other nonprofit organizations' brief opposing the government's motion to dismiss the case and reply in support of a temporary restraining order related to White House Office of Management and Budget efforts to pause all federal agency grants and loans (Jan. 30)

2025 Comments

APHA comments on Medicaid work requirements (April 7)
APHA comments on a CMS proposed rule affecting health insurance marketplace coverage (April 7)
APHA comments to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding a proposed rule on heat exposure standards for workers (Jan. 14)
Organization comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging strengthened sodium reduction targets (Jan. 13)

2024 Briefs

Public health and other interest intervenor brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in support of EPA's clean car and trucks rule (Dec. 23)
Health organization brief to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in support of rejecting a motion to dismiss in a case regarding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's delay in finalizing rulemaking on banning menthol tobacco products (Nov. 27)
APHA, health partners and public health scholars brief to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of upholding the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act as it pertains to an Idaho law that prohibits pregnant women from receiving stabilizing emergency care (Oct. 22)
APHA, partner organizations and public health scholars brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Becerra v. Braidwood in support of the ACA's no-cost coverage of preventive health benefits (Oct. 22)
Organization brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson highlighting the health impacts experienced by unhoused persons when sleep is disrupted or takes place in unsafe conditions (April 3)
Health organization and individual health expert brief to the MT Supreme Court in support of MT youth impacted by climate change in the case Held v. Montana (March 31)
Amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by APHA, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Network for Public Health Law, the American Medical Women’s Association and 133 distinguished deans and professors in the case Idaho v. United States (March 28)

2024 Comments

Organization comments to HHS in support of a proposed rule clarifying contraception access under ACA health plans (Dec. 26)
Organization letter in support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's final rule to require automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection on light vehicles (July 23)
APHA comments to EPA regarding its draft risk evaluation on legacy uses and associated disposals (June 14)

2023 Testimony

Testimony of APHA Executive Director Dr. Georges C. Benjamin before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations related to the hearing titled Looking Back Before Moving Forward: Assessing CDC’s Failures in Fulfilling its Mission (June 7)
Statement of APHA Executive Director Dr. Georges C. Benjamin before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic round table titled Preparing For the Future By Learning From the Past: Examining COVID Policy Decisions (Feb. 28)

2023 Comments

Health organization letter to EPA regarding the agency's proposal to strengthen a 2020 air toxics regulation to prevent increased air pollution emissions (Nov. 13)
APHA comments to the Mine Safety and Health Administration regarding the proposed rule to address miners’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica (Sept. 11)
Health organization comments to EPA urging strong carbon pollution standards for power plants (Aug. 8)
Health organization comments urging U.S. EPA to adopt the strongest possible standards to curb emissions from new passenger vehicles and spur the transition to zero-emission technologies (July 5)
Health organization comments to EPA urging the strongest and most health-protective final Mercury and Air Toxics standards for power plants (June 23)
APHA comments to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s RFI on Chronic Hazards Associated With Gas Ranges and Proposed Solutions (May 4)
Organization comments to the Office of Management and Budget regarding its Initial Proposals For Updating OMB’s Race and Ethnicity Statistical Standards (April 27)
Organization comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in support of changes to ACA employer-based health plan policies to rescind the birth control coverage moral exemption and increase access to birth control (April 3)

2023 Briefs

Public health and medical organization amicus brief defending the CMS Medicare drug price negotiation plan from challenges by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Bristol Meyers Squibb (Oct. 23)
Health organization amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of upholding the Chevron deference precedent (Sept.22)
Public health and medical organization amicus brief defending the CMS Medicare drug price negotiation plan (Sept. 18)
Health organization amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the law preventing individuals who are subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms (Aug. 21)
Public health brief submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District in support of the ACA's coverage of no-cost preventive health services (June 27)
Health organization brief in support of patient access to appropriate emergency health care that is medically and scientifically sound, including abortion care, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (May 8)
APHA amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of the federal government’s requested stay of the recent ruling in the case of Braidwood v. Becerra, which would nullify no-cost coverage for certain preventive health services (April 28)
Public health amicus brief in support of EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles
Health organization amicus brief in support of EPA’s California waiver for stricter automobile emissions standards (Jan. 20)
Public health and environmental organization brief in support of EPA's 2009 endangerment finding (Jan. 17)
Public health amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on the harm done by oversupply of prescription opioids (Jan. 3)

2022 Testimony

Friends of HRSA testimony submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of $9.8 billion in funding for HRSA in FY23 (May 11)
CDC Coalition testimony submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of $11 billion in funding for CDC in FY23 (May 11)
APHA testimony submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of increased funding for CDC and HRSA in FY23 (May 11)
Testimony of Dr. Georges C. Benjamin before the House Education and Labor Committee Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions hearing on Exploring Pathways to Affordable, Universal Health Coverage (Feb. 17)

2022 Briefs

Health organization brief in support of the requirements under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act in the case State of Texas v. Becerra (Aug.16)
Health organization brief in support of the requirements under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act in the case United States v. State of Idaho (Aug. 15)
Public health amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of California's Prop 12 which restricts the sale of pork derived from the intensive confinement of sows in gestation crates (Aug. 15)
Organization brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of consideration of race in higher education admissions (July 28)
Public health amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in support of CDC's transportation mask mandate (June 7)
Public health amicus brief to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division in support of the ACA’s requirement that insurers and health plans provide preventive health services and screening and immunization without cost sharing (Feb. 7)
Brief of environmental, public health and clean energy organizations to the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to reject the coal industry's challenge to the U.S. EPA's ability to address climate change by regulating carbon emissions from power plants (Jan. 18)

2022 Comments

APHA comments to OSHA in support of the immediate need to update the OSHA lead standard (Oct. 27)
Organization comments to the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s request for information to help develop the Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity (Oct. 3)
APHA and public health deans and scholars comments to HHS regarding implementation of the ACA's Section 1557 to end discrimination in federally assisted health activities (Sept. 29)
APHA comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in support of including dental services as a medically necessary service under Medicare (September 6)
Health organization comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of the agency granting California’s three cleaner truck waivers (Aug. 2)
Comments joined by 103 other health organizations to the U.S Food and Drug Administration in support of proposed rules prohibiting menthol as a cigarette flavor and prohibiting flavored cigars (August 2)
APHA and public health scholar comments to the Internal Revenue Service regarding the agency's proposed rule to address the Affordable Care Act's so-called family glitch (June 6)
Health organization comments in support of strong EPA Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards (May 16)
APHA comments to OSHA in support of efforts to develop a permanent rule to protect workers in health care settings from aerosol transmissible infectious diseases (April 21)
APHA comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in support of transitional school meal standards and recommending updated standards on added sugar, sodium, whole grain and other items (March 24)
Health organization comments to U.S. EPA regarding the proposed rule to reduce methane emissions and emissions of other health-harming air pollutants from the oil and natural gas industry (Jan. 31)
Organization comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in support of a limit on added sugars in school meals (Jan. 31)
Organization letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act related to transportation alternatives and safety programs (Jan. 25)
APHA comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging the inclusion of voting metrics in the development of the Healthy People 2030 framework (Jan. 10)

2021 Testimony

Testimony of APHA Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD, before the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis for the hearing “Building Trust and Battling Barriers: The Urgent Need To Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy” (July 1)
Testimony of APHA Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD, before the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Health for the hearing “The Path Forward On COVID-19 Immunizations” (Feb. 26)

2021 Comments

Organization comments to U.S. Department of Homeland Security on updating the public charge rule to protect immigrant communities' use of social safety net programs like Medicaid and housing programs (Oct. 22)
Health organization letter to U.S. EPA in support of strong greenhouse emissions standards for cars (Sept. 27)
APHA comments to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau urging maintaining and strengthening policies that protect the public from industry influence on the alcohol market (Aug. 16)
Organization comments to U.S. EPA in support of the agency's proposed reconsideration of California's Advanced Clean Cars waiver (July 9)
Organization comments to U.S. EPA in support of the agency's proposed rule to phasedown the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (July 9)
Organization letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget urging that any update to the social cost of carbon used by the agency adequately accounts for the health impacts of climate change (June 21)
Organization comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation recommending the rescission of rules that undermine setting strong pollution controls on the transportation sector (June 4)
Organization comments in support of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled "Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services" (May 10)
Organization letter urging U.S. EPA to immediately revoke all food tolerances for chlorpyrifos and initiate the cancellation
process to end all uses of the pesticide (March 5)
Organization petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requesting a review of the agency's Dec. 31, 2021 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone (March 1)

2021 Briefs

Public health amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of OSHA's emergency temporary standard to protect workers from the threat posed by COVID-19 (Dec. 30)
Public health amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of CMS's vaccine mandate at Medicaid and Medicare facilities to protect patients and workers from COVID-19 (Dec. 23)
Public health amicus brief submitted to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of OSHA's emergency temporary standard to protect workers from the threat posed by COVID-19 (Nov. 30)
Public health organization and public health scholars brief to the U.S. Supreme Court opposing religious exemptions from vaccine mandates in the state of New York (Nov. 6)
Public health organization and public health scholars brief to the U.S. Supreme Court opposing religious exemptions from vaccine mandates in the state of Maine (Oct. 28)
Public health amicus brief arguing in favor of a court-ordered timeline for the Food and Drug Administration to issue a rule on menthol cigarettes in African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Human Services et al. (Sept. 24)
Public health amicus brief arguing against state-level abortion restrictions that threaten public health in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (Sept. 21)
Amicus brief arguing to uphold LA County’s ordinance prohibiting the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. County of Los Angeles (May 14)
Public health and environmental organization petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia calling for the court to review of the U.S. EPA's final "Review of the National Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards" (Feb. 11)