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
15 hours ago
15 hours ago
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
Friday Mar 21, 2025
Friday Mar 21, 2025
This gory details are impossible to cover adequately, so I’m looking at broader trends as Musk's teenagers wreak havoc in the nation's institutions. It's not clear if anyone can slow them down. Democrat leadership is supine, and while federal judges are demanding some attention to legality due process, Trump is creeping ever closer to open defiance.
Here are links to all 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
O. Rose Broderick, “‘Deliberate trauma’: SAMHSA employees detail a federal agency in shambles,” STAT, Mar 12, 2025 https://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
You can also access the full archive of my weekly digests at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Saturday Mar 15, 2025
Saturday Mar 15, 2025
This week's urgent topic is the chainsaw Trump/Musk are taking to Medicaid while saying they're only trimming the fat. They're the bad cops. Democrats played the good cop routine standing by and letting it all happen while promising to "fight for" us someday in the distant future. Here are all the articles mentioned:
Nathaniel Weixel, “Republicans need to cut Medicaid to hit budget savings target, CBO finds,” The Hill, Mar 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/41Odt2Q
The CBO letter: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-03/61235-Boyle-Pallone.pdf
Andrew Solender, “House Dems go into ‘complete meltdown’ as Schumer folds,” Axios, Mar 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/3R9adKr
Josh Marshall, “Biggest federal employee union says shutdown is preferable to Elon/Trump CR,” Talking Points Memo, Mar 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bx34x0
“The Republican House Budget Resolution’s potential $880 billion in Medicaid cuts by congressional district,” Center for American Progress, Feb 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DTpgF3
Shannon Schumacher et al., “The public’s views on potential changes to Medicaid,” KFF Health News, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/4253Y0t
N. Adam Brown, “We’re getting the Medicaid message wrong—and it’s costing us,” MedPage Today, Mar 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DCOCHj
Jessie Hellmann & Sandhya Raman, “Medicaid work rules have increased coverage loss, not employment,” Roll Call, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FFYQXP
Bernard J. Wolfson, “To patients, parents, and caregivers, proposed Medicaid cuts are a personal afront,” KFF Health News/Orange County Register, Mar 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FFYEb3
Rachel Bluth, “Medicaid shortfall forces California to borrow $3.44B,” Politico, Mar 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/3FxoU7A
Hannah Schoenbaum, “Montana Legislature green lights Medicaid expansion as Congress considers program cuts,” Associated Press, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hCPcCG
Kate Giammarise & Tom Riese, “New weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy spike Pennsylvania’s Medicaid costs,” WESA-FM, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/41PDGOv
Phil Galewitz, “Medicaid advocates say critics use loaded terms to gain edge in congressional debate,” KFF Health News, Mar 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ht7NkR
Gov JB Pritzker, “Up to a million Illinoisans will lose health care coverage with slashing of Medicaid,” Chicago Tribune, Mar 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/4i9zPCU
Noah Tong, “CMS rescinds Medicaid’s health-related social needs guidance,” Fierce Healthcare, Mar 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ivScls
Maya Goldman, “Medicaid cuts put adult dental care on the chopping block,” Axios, Mar 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4it1xup
Jaymie Baxley, “NC Medicaid expansion faces uncertain future as GOP eyes federal cuts,” North Carolina Health News, Mar 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4ky2JOP
If you want my full written digest, contact me at tfrasca@yahoo.com or read it at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
Thursday Mar 06, 2025
How are the intermediaries making their trillions this week? Measles is making a comeback, and the official response is. . . Um, is there one? The Muskrats are busy with their rolling takeover of the country's finances, and if there's stuff in our food that's killing us, well, that's also too bad because we're decapitating the EPA. Meanwhile, the endless search continues for the magic tweak to our healthcare system, a.k.a. pounding out dents on a car that has no wheels.
Get my full written weekly digest now at timfrasca.substack.com and search the entire archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Here are the links to all the articles mentioned this week:
Mary Kekatos, “Measles cases reported in New Jersey, Kentucky amid ongoing outbreak in Texas,” ABC News, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/4h6FcBz
Neha Mukherjee, “RFK Jr. said measles outbreaks are ‘not unusual’ in the US. Doctors say he’s wrong,” CNN, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/41BQDN4
Andrew Joseph, “On measles outbreak, the Trump administration’s messaging strikes some as off-key,” STAT, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/41pchml
Eleanor Klibanoff, “Texas leaders quiet amid the biggest measles outbreak in decades,” Texas Tribune, Feb 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DiSdtV
Adrienne Matei, “Formerly anti-vax parents on how they changed their minds: ‘I really made a mistake,’” The Guardian, Feb 27, 2025 https://bit.ly/4inuebE
Clare Ansberry, “We don’t trust doctors like we used to,” Wall Street Journal, Feb 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/4h5XvH1
Zeynep Tufekci, “The Texas measles outbreak is even scarier than it looks,” New York Times, Feb 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/4klfXhH
Jason Gale, “As measles cases surge in Texas, WHO’s global control program risks collapse,” Bloomberg, Feb 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bourt8
Rebecca Falconer, “HPV vaccine has huge impact on cervical cancer prevention, CDC study suggests,” Axios, Feb 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/41gi5hO
Pamela Ferdinand, “Agricultural pesticide exposure linked to childhood cancers, study says,” U.S. Right To Know, Feb 16, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bmEJKj
Natasha Gilbert, “As EPA considers cancer links to nitrates in drinking water, industry downplays the risks,” U.S. Right To Know/Sierra, Jan 30, 2025 https://bit.ly/4incPjp
Yuki Noguchi, “Iowa has high cancer rates. Trump’s cuts to CDC and NIH are already hitting the state,” NPR, Feb 28, 2025 https://bit.ly/4h7eIQp
Sarah Ladd, “Kentucky legislature moves to implement Make America Healthy Again,” Kentucky Lantern, Feb 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DhnjC2
Richard K. Leuchter, “An open letter to RFK Jr: Stop the spread of private equity in healthcare,” MedPage Today, Feb 19, 2025 https://bit.ly/4kqvlsY
Joyce Frieden, “Health prices are getting more transparent, but it’s still not enough,” MedPage Today, Nov 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/41EPTqk
Julia Shapero, “Arizona advances bill to keep AI from rejecting medical claims,” The Hill, Feb 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/4h9sHFj
Brian Witte & Rodrique Ngowi, “Fired cybersecurity chief for Veterans Affairs site warns that health and financial data is at risk,” Associated Press, Feb 25, 2025 https://bit.ly/3XpikGp
Juan Cole, “Palestinian life expectancy in Gaza cut from 75.5 to 40.6 years by Israeli total war,” Informed Comment, Feb 22, 2025 https://www.juancole.com/2025/02/palestinian-expectancy-israeli.html
Friday Feb 28, 2025
Friday Feb 28, 2025
For the week ending Feb 28, 2025, we look at how the Trump/Musk tag team is dismantling federal agencies while Democrats prepare to surrender, starting with the massive cut to Medicaid. There is also news of how the new weight-loss drugs are burdening state budgets and the Pharma-Government-Pharma revolving door wind tunnel.
If you would like to receive my written digest (lots more not included in the podcast), contact me at tfrasca@yahoo.com or check out the full archive of posts at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
Here are links to all the articles mentioned this week:
Stephen Semler, “How Biden set the stage for GOP budget cuts,” Polygraph, Feb 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/3XjaaPH
Sahil Kapur, “Trump and Musk's slash-and-burn tactics are a sticking point in talks to prevent a shutdown, NBC News, Feb 26, 2025 https://bit.ly/41aWffC
Eli Hager, “Anxiety mounts among Social Security recipients as DOGE troops settle in,” ProPublica, Feb 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/3QwqHw2
Melanie Zanona, Sahil Kapur & Ben Kamisar, “House Republicans representing large shares of Medicaid, SNAP beneficiaries face tough budget test,” NBC News, Feb 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/3D7plER
Blake Jones, “Valadao treads lightly on Medicaid as Obamacare vote haunts him,” Politico, Feb 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bi7nvS
Allan Smith, Melanie Zanona & Laura Strickler, “USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them,” NBC News, Feb 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/3QAqzvB
Lizzy Lawrence, “Trump administration rehires some FDA employees it fired,” STAT, Feb 23, 2025 https://bit.ly/41yb90S
Megan Messerly & Adam Cancryn, “Trump officials defend HHS cuts as more methodical than the slashing at other agencies,” Politico, Feb 15, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hTpwTp
Usha Lee McFarling, Angus Chen & Sarah Owermohle, “Growing number of federal health agencies are combing grants for taboo words, unnerving researchers,” STAT, Feb 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/41lL6Jj
Alexander Tin, “Mental health agency loses 1 in 10 staffers to DOGE cuts, 988 hotline team impacted,” CBS News, Feb 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/4h3vBey
Annie Waldman & Duaa Eldeib, “They worked to prevent death. The Trump Administration fired them,” ProPublica, Feb 22, 2025 https://bit.ly/4klRGb9
Filip Timotija, “White House restores 9/11 health program funding after uproar,” The Hill, Feb 21, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DbahWI
David Lipschutz, “Threats to Medicare, Medicaid, and other health programs increasing, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Feb 20, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EUlD1X
Megan Molteni, Usha Lee McFarling & Angus Chen, “Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research,” STAT, Feb 19, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bfIlxq
Sarah Todd & Lizzy Lawrence, “The ‘GRAS’ loophole lets untested additives into Americans’ food. Can RFK Jr. close it?” STAT, Feb 19, 2025 https://bit.ly/4bppkJ5
Anne Hultgren, “How one foundation changed its approach to diversify grant recipient institutions,” STAT, Jan 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EVeNJH
Kelly Hooper, “Diet drug boom weighs heavily on state budgets,” Politico, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/4i6Ellg
Matt Stoller, Monopoly Roundup, BIG, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/439CJmy
Adam Feuerstein, “Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla inflicts injury on his company—and all of pharma,” STAT, Feb 24, 2025 https://bit.ly/3DaCb5c
Friday Feb 21, 2025
Friday Feb 21, 2025
The DOGEbags have declared war on the civil service and the country's scientific research infrastructure. Permanent damage to ensue. Medicaid is next--can Medicare and Social Security be far behind?
Links to the articles discussed in this episode:
Dave Muoio, “Department of Veterans Affairs lays off over 1,000 probationary employees, promises reinvestment in care,” Fierce Healthcare, Feb 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/419cCJI
Lizzy Lawrence, “FDA’s head of device safety among employees terminated in ‘challenging’ weekend,” STAT, Feb 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/42ZBF4r
Helen Branswell, “Drug inspectors, AI experts, maternal health workers: Trump’s health agency cuts are far-reaching,” STAT, Feb 17, 2025 https://bit.ly/416XooB
Matthew Herper, “FDA’s former top food official says Trump firings are ‘dismantling’ the division,” STAT, Feb 18, 2025 https://bit.ly/41lRUYj
Adam Feuerstein, “As outcry builds over Trump cuts to NIH payments, drugmakers are MIA,” STAT, Feb 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/3X7abX8
Christopher Morten et al., Gilead’s short-term win threatens the future of pharmaceutical public-private partnerships,” STAT, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/418Hiel
Robin Fields, “What a $2 million per dose gene therapy reveals about drug pricing,” ProPublica, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/3CNSBjY
Suzanne B. Robotti, “FDA clinical trial inclusivity guidelines will be back,” STAT, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/433uTdX
Stephanie Nolen, “Abandoned in the middle of clinical trials because of a Trump order,” New York Times, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hAm7IZ
Angus Chen & Jonathan Wosen, “Trump policies spark fears of brain drain, threatening to undermine U.S. dominance in biomedicine,” STAT, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/42XvcHp
Rachael Robertson, “Meet the world’s healthcare billionaires,” MedPage Today, Feb 13, 2025 https://bit.ly/418Q4J0
Maureen Tkacik, “The DOGE czar’s plan to loot Medicare,” American Prospect, Feb 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/4b8J6Z7
Chad Van Alstin, “Private equity tied to 21% of healthcare bankruptcies for second consecutive year,” Health Exec, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EFV14K
Ken Klippenstein, “Government monitoring those with ‘negative’ views of health insurance companies,” kenklippenstein.com, Jan 18, 2025 https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/government-monitoring-those-with
Jim Reed, “Rise of vaccine distrust—why more of us are questioning jabs,” BBC, Jan 15, 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jgrlxx37do
“States absorb increases for sicker Medicaid enrollees after the pandemic,” Associated Press, Feb 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/4b92OEn
Anna Claire Vollers, “State lawmakers embrace RFK Jr.’s health policies,” Stateline, Feb 12, 2025 https://bit.ly/43lQXkv
Victor Roy, Victor Amana, Joseph S. Ross & Cary P. Gross, “Shareholder payouts among large publicly traded health care companies,” JAMA Internal Medicine, Feb 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/3QtOvRg
Eric Reinhart, “Health workers face a stark choice: become collaborators or resisters,” STAT, Feb 11, 2025 https://bit.ly/4gJrRyU
J. Emory Parker, “STAT is backing up and monitoring CDC data in real time,” STAT, Feb 14, 2025 https://bit.ly/3QoHm4p
Gregg Gonsalves, “When ‘just asking questions’ about science turns into 300,000 dead,” New York Times, Feb 13, 2025 Opinion | When ‘Just Asking Questions’ About Science Turns Into 300,000 Dead
Full back archive going back to 2018: www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
To get my single payer weekly digest by email, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com