Do Not Resuscitate: How We Spend Trillions to Enrich Intermediaries Instead of Making Ourselves Healthier
How we enrich financial intermediaries instead of using healthcare spending for healthcare and how to see through the propaganda we’re subjected to daily to make us think this is normal via a weekly summary of news coverage in mainstream and specialty media.
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Episodes
Thursday Jun 05, 2025
Thursday Jun 05, 2025
Do Not Resuscitate asks, Why do we spend trillions and get lousy healthcare? This week's edition discusses the GOP spin that we're hearing about how they're not really wrecking the federal regulatory, research, and safety net infrastructure but merely "saving" the system from deadbeats. It's not greedy disdain for the vulnerable, oh no! Also, how they're using solid criticisms of our scientific establishment's shortcomings to repoliticize toward their own biases while some surprising fightback emerges from, of all places, the VA.
Here are links to all the articles mentioned:
Gregory Svirnovskiy, “Dr. Oz pushes back on criticism that GOP is cutting Medicaid,” Politico, May 30, 2025
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/30/dr-oz-claim-gop-cutting-medicaid-00375618
Elizabeth Crisp, “Johnson: ‘States are not properly administering’ SNAP payments,” The Hill, May 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kXCvVj
Glenn Kessler, “Are 4.8 million people on Medicaid ‘cheating the system’?” Washington Post, May 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Hrezex
Rachel M. Werner & Amanda Kreider, “Long-term care in the U.S. faces two existential threats: an immigration crackdown and Medicaid cuts,” STAT, May 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/3ZO0jCK
Bill Haskell, “Cuts to Medicaid and maybe Medicare,” Angry Bear, May 22, 2025
https://angrybearblog.com/2025/05/cuts-to-medicaid-and-maybe-medicare
John Wilkerson, “ACA reforms in the GOP’s tax bill were little-noticed. That might change,” STAT, May 30, 2025
https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/30/aca-reforms-gop-tax-bill-could-drive-enrollment-down-trump-voters/
Robert Kuttner, “Ten sneaky sleeper provisions in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill,” American Prospect, May 23, 2025
https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-05-23-ten-sneaky-sleeper-provisions-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/
Greg Leiserson, “The GOP plan to cut the EITC via administrative burdens,” Can We Still Govern? May 19, 2025
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-gop-plan-to-cut-the-eitc-via
Wendell Potter, “The GOP’s health care math: Pay more, get less,” Health Care Un-covered, Jun 2, 2025 https://bit.ly/4knF6b7
Wendell Potter & Rachel Madley, “What MAHA and public health experts actually agree on,” Health Care Un-covered, May 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jDYzmC
Beth Mole, “RFK Jr.’s fluoride ban would ruin 25 million kids’ teeth, cost $9.8 billion,” Ars Technica, May 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/3HH8fPT
Anil Oza & Megan Molteni, “Scientists protest White House plan to put political appointees in charge of grant-making,” STAT, May 23, 2025
https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/23/nih-research-threatened-trump-schedule-f-plan-reclassifies-scientists-as-political-appointees/
Aatish Bhatia, Irineo Cabreros, Asmaa Elkeurti & Ethan Singer, “Trump has cut science funding to its lowest level in decades,” New York Times, May 22, 2025 https://archive.ph/3KWw1
Colette Delawalla & 4 others [opinion], “Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it,” Guardian, May 29, 2025
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/29/trump-american-science?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Aaron Glantz, “US veterans agency orders scientists not to publish in journals without clearance,” Guardian, Jun 1, 2025
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/01/us-veterans-affairs-agency-doctors-scientists-research
See the full archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Thursday May 22, 2025
Thursday May 22, 2025
This week’s summary of how we spend trillions on health to enrich intermediaries is longer than usual, and even so it just scratches the surface. The main stories: the budget reconciliation process is advancing with the expecting horrors contained therein, and the chainsaw applied to the research apparatus continues. Some mild resistance is heard from GOP ranks given their recent success with low-income voters. Will it amount to anything? Lots of side issues, mostly grim but with a few cheery distractions. Here are the links to all the articles mentioned:
Kevin Freking & Lisa Mascaro, “What’s in Trump’s big bill? Trillions in tax cuts, changes to Medicaid and more,” Associated Press, May 14, 2025
Ben Leonard & Meredith Lee Hill, “‘First time we were hearing of them,’” The GOP megabill is packed with surprises for some Republicans,” Politico, May 14, 2025
Andrew Perez, “Republicans’ health care plan: Dr AI will see you now,” Rolling Stone, May 15, 2025
Matt Bruenig, “Medicaid work requirements are cruel and pointless,” New York Times, May 16, 2025
Barbara Rodriguez, “No proof of work could mean no Medicaid—and women stand to lose the most,” KFF Health News, May 15, 2025
Rhiannon Euhus, Elizabeth Williams, Alice Burns & Robin Rudowitz, “State-level context for federal Medicaid cuts of $625 billion and enrollment declines of 10.3 million,” KFF Health News, May 16, 2025
Phil Galewitz, “The GOP’s trying again to cut Medicaid. It’s only gotten harder since 2017,” KFF Health News/ABC News, May 14, 2025
John Kitzhaber, “Democrats should push for change in the system. Oregon offers a model,” Washington Post, May 12, 2025
Paul Josephson, “Bobby Kennedy Jr. makes eugenics great again at Health and Human Services,” Common Dreams, May 17, 2025
Jacqueline H. Wolf, “RFK Jr. promotes public health malpractice,” Urgent Care, May 12, 2025
Gina Kolata, “Baby is healed with the world’s first personalized gene-editing treatment,” New York Times, May 15, 2025
Wendell Potter & Joey Rettino, “Big shifts: CVS is pulling the plug on ACA coverage—and 1 million Americans will pay the price,” Health Care Un-covered, May 15, 2025
Emmanuel Felton, “Trump DEI policies threaten millions in scholarships raised by Black doctors,” Washington Post, May 13, 2025
Nathan Tankus, “Everything about the Trump Administration’s impoundment putsch you were too afraid to ask,” Notes on the Crisis, Jan 30, 2025
Heather Richards, “GAO rejects DOGE attempt to land at congressional watchdog agency,” Politico, May 16, 2025
Janet Lorin, “Harvard to fund $250 million for research after Trump scraps federal money,” Bloomberg, May 14, 2025
Elizabeth Cooney, “Scientists are pushing to get their grants reinstated — and some are winning,” STAT, May 19, 2025
Michelle Diament, “Trump Administration shuts out advocates, researchers in probe targeting autism,” Disability Scoop, May 1, 2025
Andrew Joseph, “Europe unveils $565 million package to retain scientists, and attract new ones,” STAT, May 5, 2025
Sarah Shulman, “On my tombstone, it won’t say ‘generated high net returns’: Blackstone's Jon Gray makes historic gift to Israel,” CTech, May 11, 2025
Lubna Masarwa, “Israeli doctor compared killing Palestinians in Gaza to ‘eliminating cockroaches,’” Middle East Eye, May 19, 2025
Julia Belluz, “What Kennedy gets right about the chemicals in our food,” New York Times, May 12, 2025
If you would like to get my full written digest, go to my substack or write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
Friday May 16, 2025
Friday May 16, 2025
Trump's base is notoriously reluctant to endorse evolutionary theory, but it turns out they like the idea when it comes to providing healthcare for U.S. citizens. It's survival of the fittest out there, so if you're not sturdy enough to withstand infectious diseases or too fat, maybe you should just step aside and let others take your place. Do Not Resuscitate #394 highlights the ongoing destruction of our national healthcare and research infrastructure while the GOP-led Congress mostly cheers the end of its own Article I prerogatives.
Here are all the links to the articles discussed:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Mehmet Oz, Brooke Rollins & Scott Turner, “Trump leadership: If you want welfare and can work, you must,” New York Times, May 14, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/opinion/trump-welfare-medicaid-requirements.html
Sam Whitehead, Phil Galewitz & Katheryn Houghton, “States push Medicaid work rules, but few programs help enrollees find job,” KFF Health News/NPR, Apr 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/3SDtggI
Janie Har, “Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies,” Associated Press, May 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GXtfSn
Annie Waldman, “Trump’s NIH axed research grants even after a judge blocked the cuts,” ProPublica, May 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kqS8Et
Jericka Duncan, “West Virginia coal miners lose black lung screenings after Trump slashes worker safety agency NIOSH,” CBS News, May 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GS4SFL
John Raby, “Judge orders restoration of jobs in health program for West Virginia coal miners,” Associated Press, May 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/45iEEGe
Alice Miranda Ollstein & Sophie Gardner, “RFK Jr., DOGE gutted legally required offices. Courts may undo it all,” Politico, May 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GS6nDB
Sandee LaMotte, “Generations of Americans gave Harvard biological samples that may soon be lost due to Trump funding cuts,” CNN, May 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/3S3UqgH
Alexander Tin, “HHS revokes some layoff notices, including to 9/11 program,” CBS News, May 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Fbg0wI
Various authors, “The first 100 days of the second Trump administration have brought a number of healthcare reversals. Here are 10 of them,” MedPage Today, Apr 29, 2025 https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/115344
Gregg Gonsalves, “Inside the bloodbath at the NIH,” The Nation, May 8, 2025 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/nih-cuts-destruction/
Walker Bragman, “Trump’s new surgeon general pick took social Darwinist view of pandemic,” Important Context, May 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/4j5DBNk
Sophie Gardner, “The MAGA backlash to Trump’s MAHA surgeon general pick,” Politico, May 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/3F8ECq4
Paul Offit, “RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine beliefs are a religious conviction,” Beyond the Noise, May 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/4312YLx
Angus Chen & Jason Mast, “Despite its cancer-fighting mission, NCI starts to feel Trump administration budget ax,” STAT, May 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/45bhd1x
Angus Liu, “Trump signs executive order to boost US drug manufacturing amid threat of tariffs,” Fierce Healthcare, May 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/44Hl2vw
Rachel Cohrs Zhang, “GOP eyes Pharma tax hike, nixing drug price deal for Trump bill,” Bloomberg, May 8, 2025 https://archive.ph/59Pwg#selection-1205.0-1747.254
Tina Reed & Maya Goldman, “Trump’s executive order to lower drug prices may not do much of that,” Axios, May 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/43wkUh5
Jeremy Faust, “Vinay Prasad speaks to CBER staff: Which Prasad showed up?” MedPage Today, May 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/4dfZiZI
Bram Sable-Smith, “As Republicans eye sweeping Medicaid cuts, Missouri offers a preview,” KFF Health News/States Newsroom, May 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/43fpdft
Patricia Kime, “VA secretary defends staffing cuts, contract cancellations in heated Senate hearing,” Military.com, May 06, 2025 https://bit.ly/437Ws4c
Defend Public Health, “A message of concern from health professionals,” May, 2025 https://bit.ly/3YMDuiv
You can get my full written digest at timfrasca.substack.com
Friday May 09, 2025
Friday May 09, 2025
Trump and his team have instituted a radical overhaul of healthcare funding, regulatory oversight, and research by sidestepping normal procedure and even court orders while promoting the “unitary executive,” the theory that presidents are essentially monarchs, Congress is decorative, and judges shouldn’t interfere. I look at the systematic wrecking of health-related Federal operations while Trump's (and RFK Jr's) cronies clean up.
Here are the links to all the articles mentioned:
Dave Muoio, Noah Tong, Emma Beavins, Anastassia Gliadkovskaya & Paige Minemyer, “Trump’s first 100 days: A pulse check on healthcare,” Fierce Healthcare, Apr 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/43nbDry
Mackenzie Bean, “DOGE has access to 19 HHS systems,” Becker’s Hospital Review, Apr 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/4d7Zj1L
Apoorva Mandavilli & Roni Caryn Rabin, “Trump budget cuts funding for chronic disease prevention,” New York Times, May 2, 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/health/trump-budget-cdc-chronic-conditions.html
Thomas Farley, “The cruelty of the OMB budget proposal: An advocacy guide for public health,” Healthscaping, May 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/42Q0Gi8
Sherry Glied & Richard G. Frank, “Trump Administration’s HHS cuts: Creating waste and inefficiency, not eliminating them,” Health Affairs, Apr 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iWJn3E
Arthur Allen, “Trump team’s $500 million bet on old vaccine technology puzzles scientists,” KFF Health News, May 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GJ5m0J
Rachana Pradhan, “Trump restores Title X funding for two anti-abortion states, wipes it out elsewhere,” KFF Health News, Apr 30, 2025
Donald G. McNeil Jr., “RFK Jr.’s view of autism is wrong—but profitable, Washington Post, May 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RWUXB0
Peter Lurie, “What does the future of food safety look like?” MedPage Today, May 2, 2025 https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/115396?trw=no
Barbara Rodriguez, “With Medicaid cuts, Republicans target men in the name of protecting women,” The 19th, May 2, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iSZ0Jk
Stephan D. Fihn, David Atkins, Timothy O’Leary, “Veterans affairs research under threat,” JAMA Internal Medicine, Mar 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kftk2e
Multiple authors, “International doctors forgo U.S. medical meetings citing detention fears,” MedPage Today, Apr 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GN5FYn
Taylor Nichols, “The healthcare workforce is traumatized,” MedPage Today, Apr 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jDUnEi
Wendell Potter, “A playbook to protect insurers’ Medicaid ATM,” Health Care Un-covered, May 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lXIQkK
Wendell Potter, “Medicare scramble: Wall Street wants insurers to dump costly seniors,” Health Care Un-covered, May 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4dbQi87
Department of Justice, “The United States files False Claims Act complaint against three national health insurance companies and three brokers alleging unlawful kickbacks and discrimination against disabled Americans,” May 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/4m8dbx1 (Full complaint: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1398796/dl )
Read my full digest at timfrasca.substack.com
Friday May 02, 2025
Friday May 02, 2025
Republicans have a problem: destroying the federal safety net will harm their own voters. Their approach is to promise not to do what they're doing, then deny that they did it. How is that going to work?
Here are the links to all the articles mentioned:
Lena H. Sun, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Rachel Roubein, Joel Achenbach & Lauren Weber, “Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts,” Washington Post, Apr 16, 2025 https://archive.ph/HWsAg
Caitlin Yilek, “House Republicans face dilemma over Medicaid cuts as they vow to protect benefits,” CBS News, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RFOFpf
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld & Stephen Henriques, “The GOP’s proposed cuts to FEMA and Medicaid reveal the paradox of red state dependence,” Fortune, Apr 28, 2025 https://fortune.com/article/gop-fema-medicaid-cuts-reveal-red-state-federal-funds-dependence/
Sara Rosenbaum & Alexander Somodevilla, “‘Limit Save Grow’ Medicaid work mandate legislation: The worst way to operationalize a bad policy,” Health Affairs, Apr 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Sej5yX
Anonymous, “The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster,” Can We Still Govern? Apr 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EOQZr5
Megan Molteni, J. Emory Parker & Jonathan Wosen, “NIH grants plummeted $2.3 billion in Trump’s first months, as federal-academia partnership crumbles,” STAT, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/42AQIB8
Caitlin Owens, “MAGA world signals it will protect Medicaid,” Axios, Apr 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Sfufn7
Peter Lurie, Aaron Kesselheim & Joshua Sharfstein, “It’s not hard to see through RFK Jr.’s ‘radical transparency’ pledge,” Washington Post, Apr 24, 2025 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/24/robert-kennedy-hhs-transparency/
Alexander Tin, “FDA head falsely claims no scientists laid off, as agency shutters food safety labs,” CBS News, Apr 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/43bOlF6
Tina Reed, “Key FDA drug data goes missing amid DOGE cuts,” Axios, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lVXPvr
Allison DeAngelis, Jason Mast & Elaine Chen, “With the FDA in turmoil, the ‘revolving door’ with industry is spinning faster,” STAT, Apr 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Z00udJ
O. Rose Broderick, “No new autism registry, HHS says, walking back NIH director’s claim,” STAT, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jWRSwD
Elizabeth Cooney, “Women’s Health Initiative, known for hormone therapy trials, to lose federal funding,” STAT, Apr 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EHfCGb and Rob Stein, “In a reversal, the Trump administration restores funding for women's health study,” NPR, Apr 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RJmiXa
John Quackenbush, “Government word search is killing my cutting-edge research,” STAT, Apr 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/43jsScr
Rachel Frazin, “Republican senator asks Kennedy to restore HHS staff that worked on coal miner health,” The Hill, Apr 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cXjQG7
Helen Branswell, “U.S. health officials inject new uncertainty into approval process for Covid boosters,” STAT, Apr 27, 2025 https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/27/fda-covid-vaccine-approval-process-novavax-pfizer-moderna/
Rachael Robertson, “Anti-vaxxers say bioweapon caused measles outbreak,” MedPage Today, Apr 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GLO2bc
Alice Miranda Ollstein, “Clinics begin closing as Trump admin continues freeze on family planning funds,” Politico, Apr 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/4388XxY
Jeff Beach, “North Dakota’s pesticide protection law a first for the US,” North Dakota Monitor, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/42ARmP4
Dan Ruetenik, “Trump’s surgeon general nominee, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, faces scrutiny over credentials,” CBS News, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GukD5x
Lauren Gardner & David Lim, “Once all-powerful, pharma’s allies in Washington are fleeting,” Politico, Apr 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iD7GDD
N. Adam Brown, “What UnitedHealth’s stock drop reveals about Medicare Advantage,” MedPage Today, Apr 29, 2025 https://bit.ly/42WYWT8
Friday Apr 25, 2025
Friday Apr 25, 2025
The news for the week ending April 25, 2025, brings the shape of Trump 2.0 into better focus as a radical destruction of the regulatory apparatus along with rampant looting by courtiers, hangers-on, favorites, and of course billionaires. RFK Jr's reign at HHS is an administrative mess with plenty of crackpot empowerment tossed in. Here are links to all the articles mentioned in this episode:
Carl Campanile, “RFK Jr. declares autism in America an ‘epidemic’ that dwarfs deadly COVID-19 outbreak,” NY Post, Apr 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jrWNWy
Isabel van Brugen, “RFK Jr scrambles to defuse outrage over his autism claims,” Daily Beast, Apr 18 2025 https://bit.ly/4ivh7Fc
Alexander Tin, “RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans,” CBS News, Apr 22, 2025 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-autism-study-medical-records/
Alice Kuo & Emily Hotez, “We need a new kind of autism research—work that’ll actually help autistic people,” Houston Chronicle, Apr 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/42psJos
Stephanie Armour, “RFK Jr struggles to navigate frustrated supporters and a demanding boss,” KFF Health News, Apr 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/442oGzD
Nathaniel Weixel, “HHS officials did not know how many people have been fired,” The Hill, Apr 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jEEGMU
Alec MacGillis, “Trump’s war on measurement means losing data on drug use, maternal deaths, and more,” ProPublica, Apr 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/44BQdYP
Dan Diamond, Carolyn Y. Johnson & Hannah Natanson, “DOGE begins to freeze health-care payments for extra review,” Washington Post, Apr 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EkiMzy
Catherine Offord, “Trump administration targets academic journals with attorney letter, proposed funding cuts,” Science, Apr 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Gpouk7
Hannah Natanson, Rachel Roubein & Dan Diamond, “ICE, DOGE seek sensitive Medicare data as immigration crackdown intensifies,” Washington Post, Apr 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lJWfNd
Amy Maxmen, “Trump’s immigration tactics obstruct efforts to avert bird flu pandemic,” KFF Health News/ABC News, Apr 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/42tofgD
Carolyn Y. Johnson, “Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards,” Washington Post, Apr 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/3S4ofNU
Kristina Fiore & Greg Laub, “Top scientists warn of ‘climate of fear’ under Trump, urge the public to act,” MedPage Today, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/42teu23
Jon Garelick, “RFK Jr., America’s Lysenko,” Boston Globe, April 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lL57lC
Suzy Khimm, “A deadly E. coli outbreak hit 15 states, but the FDA chose not to publicize it,” NBC News, Apr 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iwtUai
Jessie Hellmann, “Hawley’s change of heart reflects evolving politics of Medicaid,” Roll Call, Apr 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/42H5gOq
Jonathan Weil, “Hospital chains’ Medicaid profits are a juicy target for GOP budget hawks,” Wall Street Journal, Apr 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/4joicQg
The full archive is housed at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Subscribe to get the full digest at www.timfrasca.substack.com
Friday Apr 18, 2025
Friday Apr 18, 2025
RFK Jr & MAHA are a bundle of contradictions. They dismantle our healthcare administrative and regulatory apparatus while claiming to care about chronic disease. But is there a logic to their illogic? What if they're not so concerned with chronic disease but with the chronically diseased themselves? It's an eerie thought as they systematically undo protections for the disabled, the vulnerable, and the sick.
Here are links to all the articles mentioned:
Julia Doubleday, “RFK Jr.’s ‘MAHA’ movement doesn’t want to eliminate chronic illness. They want to eliminate the chronically ill,” The Gauntlet, Apr 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Y3YDEy?
Alexander Tin, “CDC faces backlash for cutting sickle cell, adult disability programs,” CBS News, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Y4kpI5
Lauren Weber, “RFK Jr: If you eat doughnuts or smoke, should society pay for your health care?” Washington Post, Apr 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/43UxCHi
Kristina Fiore, “CDC’s Office of Smoking and Health eliminated,” MedPage Today, Apr 4, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cE1XMz
Adam Cancryn & Lauren Gardner, “The FDA fired its tobacco enforcers. Now it wants them back, Politico, Apr 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/3GaXgO9
Ian Ingram, “Groups demand RFK Jr ‘immediately’ restore CDC’s axed blood division,” MedPage Today, Apr 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lwMlOU
Alexander Tin, “RFK Jr aides accused of censoring NIH's top ultra-processed food scientist,” CBS News, Apr 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jfm7PB
Helen Branswell, “Closure of CDC hepatitis lab imperils U.S. outbreak response, prevention,” STAT, Apr 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RYwfjm
Yuki Noguchi, “Coal miners' health care hit hard in job cuts to CDC,” NPR, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RYkbP7
John Ketwig, “Veterans VA healthcare is threatened,” Counterpunch, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cFbjHU
Rachana Pradhan, “RFK Jr’s purge of FOIA staff at FDA spares people working on COVID vaccine lawsuits,” KFF Health News, Apr 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iiEodi
“Marks says he was forced out of FDA for trying to protect vaccine safety data,” Associated Press, Apr 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RQ8Kce
Henry Culvyhouse, “West Virginia’s Republicans said they wouldn’t cut Medicaid. Then they voted to cut Medicaid,” Mountain State Spotlight, Apr 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Gca0nw
Evan Bush, “One of the country’s leading Alzheimer's projects is in jeopardy,” NBC News, Apr 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EqLrCS
Adam Cancryn, “RFK Jr. vowed to upend American health care. It’s happening faster than expected,” Politico, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jwtQZ1
Georges C. Benjamin, “Secretary Kennedy and his policies are a danger to the public’s health,” American Public Health Association, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/3Y5kKKG
Jonaki Mehta, “Trump administration freezes more than $2.2 billion after Harvard rejects its demands,” NPR, Apr 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/3G8rscA
Autism Self Advocacy Network, “ASAN appalled by hiring of quack David Geier for HHS study,” Mar 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/42gmwes
Kelly Hooper & Daniel Payne, “The surprising pair fighting Medicaid cuts,” Politico, Apr 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/42hF2mP
Ed Silverman, “Arkansas adopts first-in-the-nation law forcing companies to choose between running a PBM or pharmacies,” STAT, Apr 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cGWWCW
Erik Gunn, “Bill to make Medicaid eligibility harder paused after flurry of opposition,” Wisconsin Examiner, Apr 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RRUPT3
Arek Sarkissian, “Hope Florida’s mysterious $10M came from settlement with state’s largest Medicaid operator,” Politico, Apr 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/44rxsY0
Read my full digest at www.timfrasca.substack.com
The archive of 390 issues dating back to 2017 is housed at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Part of the Trumpian assault is their habit of looking us straight in the eye and saying they are not doing what they are doing. This is “gaslighting,” of course, but I think a better parallel is the cruder, Orwellian variety. In 1984 O'Brien beats Winston Smith until he sees how many fingers O'Briens says he is holding up rather than what Smith sees. Eventually, he sees the number he is told. This week’s Do Not Resuscitate has multiple examples. It's a new variation on how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier.
Here are the links to all the articles mentioned:
Rebecca Pifer, “Trump’s CMS dramatically raises payments to Medicare Advantage plans,” Healthcare Dive, Apr 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/3XS8iOp
Arielle Zionts, “Rural hospitals questions whether they can afford Medicare Advantage contracts,” KFF Health News/States Newsroom, Apr 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jqVeI1
Nathaniel Weixel, “How Kennedy’s cuts to HHS could curb ‘MAHA’ agenda,” The Hill, Apr 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3G1Q8nf
Drew Altman, “Decoding the HHS reorganization,” KFF Health News, Apr 01, 2025 https://bit.ly/4joJZj8
Suzanne Gordon, “How vets will fare in Missouri in DOGE’s VA,” VA Champion/St Louis Post Dispatch, Mar 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/42EBQl2
Wendell Potter, “Report shows how UnitedHealth Group is enriching itself at the expense of our nation’s veterans,” Health Care Un-covered, Mar 18, 2025 https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com/p/report-shows-how-unitedhealth-group
Brenda Goodman, “A city responding to a lead crisis in schools reached out to the CDC for help. The agency’s lead experts were just fired,” CNN, Apr 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lqid7U
Alexander Tin, “RFK Jr. cuts CDC labs investigating outbreaks of STDs and hepatitis,” CBS News, Apr 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/42Dm1ey
Brett Kelman, “Trump says he’ll stop health care fraudsters. Last time, he let them walk,” KFF Health News/CBS News, Apr 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/4icBSFj
Megan Molteni & Ed Silverman, “Federal advisory panel on ethical, legal issues in human health research disbanded,” STAT, Apr 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/3G1Abxk
Jeremy Faust, “Patient safety network abruptly cut by Trump Administration,” MedPage Today, Apr 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EhoL87
Carla K. Johnson, “Trump administration cancels at least 68 grants focused on LGBTQ health questions,” Associated Press, Mar 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4i5Zv2p
Hayley Smith, “‘Inbox from hell’: Environmental groups outraged after EPA says polluters can email for exemptions,” Los Angeles Times, Mar 29, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EhFmZt
Tara Bannow, “Largest U.S. pension fund claims UnitedHealth cheated investors by concealing Medicare Advantage scheme,” STAT, Mar 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cn4Hh6
Wendell Potter, “Not just Democrats anymore. Republicans mounting a crackdown on big health insurers,” Health Care Un-covered, Apr 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/42xq7Uu
Alexander Tin, “RFK Jr.'s layoffs expected to gut worker safety agency NIOSH, officials say,” CBS News, Mar 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/3YqyKyC
Jie Jenny Zou, “Trump’s federal cuts push New York mental health programs to brink of collapse,” New York Focus, Mar 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/3G3ktBT
Lizzy Lawrence, “Makary’s first speech to FDA staff focuses on challenging norms, fighting chronic disease, STAT, Apr 2, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RLMvUM
Kelly Hooper, “Means defends HHS cuts, calls bureaucracy an ‘utter failure,’” Politico, Apr 2, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FWG5zB
David Lim, “The health industry is starting to express alarm about RFK Jr.,” Politico, Apr 1, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ln3dri
Tim Henderson, “Some measles response plans crash to a halt after Trump cuts,” Stateline, Apr 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/4j4oWTp
You can find the full written digest at my substack and consult the full archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Friday Apr 04, 2025
Friday Apr 04, 2025
Kennedy-Bhattacharya-Makary-Monarez gallop forward as Injury, Ignorance, Poison, and Disease. Hear how they lay waste to healthcare, research, environment, and of course our mental health, such as it is. Here are links to all the articles mentioned:
Malcolm Ferguson, RFK Jr launches bloodbath at health department in mass layoffs,” New Republic, Apr 1, 2025 https://newrepublic.com/post/193418/rfk-jr-health-department-layoffs-hhs
Adam Cancryn et al., “RFK Jr.’s massive cuts stun staff, leave senior employees scrambling,” Politico, Mar 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FTfjIs
Shannon Bond & Jenna McLaughlin, “Federal workers ordered back to office find shortages of desks, Wi-Fi and toilet paper,” KVPR/NPR, Mar 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RyNvLW
Tina Reed, “RFK Jr.’s emerging vision for HHS: More centralized power,” Axios, Mar 31, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lgOIVR
Adam Feuerstein, “FDA’s ‘key man’ Peter Marks is out. Biotech investors will now deal with the consequences,” STAT, Mar 30, 2025 bit.ly/4jfpQfh
Tim Craig, “Veterans crisis line operators say they feel battered by Trump, DOGE,” Washington Post, Mar 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RxWkpk
Joyce Frieden, “Public health, environmental experts decry EPA rule rollbacks,” MedPage Today, Mar 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RypbK8
Judy George, “Who is David Geier, the man leading federal autism-vaccine study?” MedPage Today, March 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/3R23RwC
Sophie Gardner & Alice Miranda Ollstein, “Trump Administration shuttering long Covid office,” Politico, Mar 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iMUblL
Annie Waldman & Sharon Lerner, “NIH ends future funding to study the health effects of climate change,” ProPublica, Mar 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/4i2o2FA
Angus Chen, “Cancer research, long protected, feels ‘devastating’ effects under Trump,” STAT, March 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FSdCuZ
Jason Karlawish, “Cuts to Medicaid will set the U.S. back 35 years in dementia care,” STAT, March 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/42uyzEY and Greg Sergant, “Oops: Trump-Musk cuts just wrecked an NIH org championed by GOPers,” New Republic, Feb 19, 2025 https://newrepublic.com/article/191702/trump-musk-national-institutes-health-wrecked
Lia DeGroot, “Targeting FDA user fees would leave agency gutted, experts say,” Roll Call, Mar 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/4lcYw35
Amudalat Ajasa, “EPA knew it wrongfully canceled dozens of environmental grants, documents show,” Washington Post, Mar 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/41WjLPj
Megan Molteni & Jason Mast, “NIH is removing some outside scientific advisers who evaluate agency research,” STAT, Mar 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/41UTP6E
Ron Lieber, “The big secret about Medicaid: It’s a middle-class benefit,” New York Times, Mar 21, 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/your-money/medicaid-trump-long-term-care.html
Wendell Potter, “Maybe the DOJ will be tougher on health insurers than Wall Street thought,” Healthcare Un-covered, Mar 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/4i3ajyq
Amanda Seitz, “Trump nominates Republican once accused of mishandling taxpayer funds as HHS watchdog,” Associated Press, Mar 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ja3PP4
Hiroko Tabuchi, “She lobbied for a carcinogen. Now she’s at the EPA. approving new chemicals,” New York Times, Feb 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/42sNlvS
Christina Jewett, “He fought claims of harm from infant formula. Now he regulates it,” New York Times, Mar 4, 2025 https://bit.ly/4cgE39x
Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Brett Murphy & Le Van, “Trump halted an Agent Orange cleanup. That puts hundreds of thousands at risk for poisoning,” ProPublica, Mar 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/42sZrVN
Art Cullen, “Just let the bird flu run its course, these crazy cats say,” Storm Lake Times-Pilot [Iowa], Mar 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/43EZyPk
You can find the entire archive of my 388 weekly digests at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news.
Friday Mar 28, 2025
Friday Mar 28, 2025
In this episode of Do Not Resuscitate (Single Payer Links), we review the various ways Trump is wrecking government-funded healthcare: direct cuts, privatization, bureaucratic obstacles, and dumping the burdens onto states. Meanwhile, the commercial entities making bank on our health are untouched.
Here are the links to the articles mentioned:
Frank Thorp V, Sahil Kapur & Ryan Nobles, “Chuck Schumer postpones book events due to ‘security concerns’ amid Democratic backlash over shutdown fight,” NBC News, Mar 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bXN2wa
Jeff Stein, “Funding bill grants Trump, Musk more control over federal spending,” Washington Post, Mar 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/41XbHfS
“Trump’s War on Healthcare: Public Health Watch,” Protect Our Care, Mar 17, 2025 https://www.protectourcare.org/trumps-war-on-health-care-public-health-watch-2/
Sarah Wetter & Lawrence O. Gostin, “Are President Trump’s executive orders on health legal?” MedPage Today, Mar 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kyjqtl
Rose Broderick, “‘Deliberate trauma’: SAMHSA employees detail a federal agency in shambles,”STAT, Mar 12, 2025https://bit.ly/4im2FA3
Vittoria Elliott, “‘It’s a heist’: Real federal auditors are horrified by DOGE,” Wired, Mar 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kycY5L
Jeffrey Okoro, “I’m head of an NGO in Kenya. The shutoff of USAID support has been devastating,” STAT, Mar 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DMRAZU
Arthur Caplan & Lisa Kearns, “Who will volunteer for clinical trials now?” MedPage Today, Mar 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DSvOE3
Arielle Kane, “My firing represents the death of public service,” MedPage Today, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/41X1HU7
Sharon Lerner, “Industry-backed bills would bar use of science behind many environmental protections,” MedPage Today, Mar 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/42dtT69
Jonel Aleccia, “RFK Jr. and influencers bash seed oils, baffling nutrition scientists,” Associated Press, Mar 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/43WhLaZ
“RFK Jr. says federal vaccine advisers are beholden to industry. The evidence does not support him,” Science, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iohFgP
John Wilkerson, “CDC’s reported study on vaccines and autism could test RFK Jr.’s pledges to a key senator,” STAT, Mar 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iBcVUR
Pooja Salhotra, “With crumbling public health infrastructure, rural Texas scrambles to respond to measles,” Texas Tribune, Mar 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/3E3BStg
Pamela Ferdinand, “Glyphosate poses widespread risks to female fertility and reproductive health, researchers say,” U.S. Right To Know, Mar 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FDm9BH
Michael Waterbury, “Health plans need to take accountability for a broken system,” STAT, March 4, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hH7m6j
Ruth Rosenthal & Casey Chiappetta, “Medical debt reforms fall short without addressing consumer debt litigation,” Pew Charitable Trust, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/4iEMEVN
Lisa Bohman Egbert, “Why I closed my OB-GYN practice in Ohio after 27 years,” STAT, Mar 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ifTa5x
Noam N. Levey, “Republicans once wanted government out of healthcare. Trump voters are different,” KFF Health News, Mar 2, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ifYplL
Yuki Noguchi, “She got her dream job at CDC back. But she's already moving on,” NPR, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3RhMLuA
Matt Parr, “Stephen Feinberg’s Cerberus owned military contractor that paid millions to settle government fraud suits,” Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Dec 4, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ihN3h0
Maureen Tkacik & Teri Buhl, “A hospital empire is closing its doors—but the stock is on a tear,” American Prospect, Mar 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hnIG2J
Get my Do Not Resuscitate weekly news digest on how ongoing national campaign to enrich intermediaries and waste trillions at www.timfrasca.substack.com