Big, beautiful budget disaster (Do Not Resuscitate #395)

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

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