DOGEbags bring chaos (Do Not Resuscitate #381 Feb 14 2025)

On “Do Not Resuscitate I keep you current on the trainwreck of our national healthcare payment system, which Musk and his Hardy Boys are accelerating. This week’s topics are the DOGE invasion; Medicaid on the chopping block; the wrecking ball slamming into biomedical research; and the multiple forms of chaos reining in Washington. I am trying to focus on trends rather than chasing after specific events that change the next day, but I had to leave out a lot.

You can get my full written digest by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com and the full back archive going back to 2018 is housed at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news 

Here are links to all the articles mentioned in the podcast: 

Matt Stoller, “Monopoly round-up: On ending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” BIG, Feb 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/411t66S

Dan Diamond, Lauren Kaori Gurley, Lena H. Sun, Hannah Knowles & Emily Davies, “DOGE broadens sweep of federal agencies, gains access to health payment systems,” Washington Post, Feb 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/4gFSWCW

Eloise Goldsmith, “Medicaid work requirements could boot 36 million people off their health coverage,” Common Dreams, Feb 7, 2025 https://www.commondreams.org/news/republicans-work-requirements-36-million

Hugh Cameron, “Florida removes 1.3m people from health care plan,” Newsweek, Feb 9, 2025 https://bit.ly/41eO4k0

Anna Claire Vollers, “Health insurance for millions could vanish as states put Medicaid expansion on chopping block,” Stateline, Feb 10, 2025 https://bit.ly/3CATPir

Hafiz Rashid, “House GOP reveals plan to devastate Medicaid and food stamp programs,” Yahoo News, Feb 12, 2025 https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-reveal-budget-plan-wrecking-221353922.html

Adam Cancryn, “DOGE working with two Trump health appointees to examine Medicare and Medicaid books, Politico, Feb 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/41bilQu

Stephanie Armour, Sam Whitehead & Julie Rovner, “Washington power has shifted. Here’s how the ACA may shift, too,” KFF Health News, Nov 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/3QfpkBz

Kiera Butler, “I’m appalled at the silence from the American Medical Association,” Mother Jones, Feb 4, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hNk1pr Ukrainian hospitals https://bit.ly/3WWLcW5

Noah Tong, “‘Biggest data breach in history’: Labor unions sue Trump admin over Treasury takeover, with healthcare privacy impacts far-ranging, Fierce Healthcare, Feb 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/3QcHmo3

Jonathan Wosen, Megan Molteni, Jason Mast & Usha Lee McFarling, “NIH plans to slash support for indirect research costs, sending shockwaves through science,” STAT, Feb 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/42WO8Gl

Carrie Wolinetz, “Indirect research costs are complicated, wonky—and crucial to science,” STAT, Feb 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/41bGvKz

Scott Turner, “Katie Britt vows to work with RFK Jr. after NIH funding cuts cause concern in Alabama,” AL.com, Feb 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/40Rpa8B

Marcia Brown, “USDA pauses 2 organic programs, leaving farmers on the hook for millions,” E&E News by Politico, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/4jNBejX

Apoorva Mandavilli, “Foreign aid freeze leaves millions with HIV treatment,” New York Times, Feb 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EBs6i4

Alex Guillén & Annie Snider, “EPA puts 168 staffers on administrative leave,” Politico, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/3WVdnEQ

Jessie Hellmann and Sandhya Raman, “Community health centers caught up in funding freeze,” Roll Call, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/42TjJIK and Shannon Pettypiece & Bracey Harris, “Health clinics face cuts, closures as Trump's funding fight ripples outside of Washington,” NBC News, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EzmDsa

Anil Oza, “Researchers ‘stunned’ after HHMI abruptly cancels program to make science more inclusive,” STAT, Feb 6, 2025 https://bit.ly/4hu0x8U

Joseph Choi, “The US relies on China for key medicines. They won’t be spared from tariffs,” The Hill, Feb 8, 2025 https://bit.ly/41avitK

Dave Muoio, “Hospitals ask Trump to exempt medical, pharma products from tariffs,” Fierce Healthcare, Feb 5, 2025 https://bit.ly/41ceJhh

Amy Maxmen, “Measles outbreak mounts among children in one of Texas’ least vaccinated counties,” KFF Health News, Feb 7, 2025 https://bit.ly/3EAXI7u

Robert P. Charrow, “A bold experiment: Let’s bribe West Virginia to reduce its obesity rate,” STAT, Feb. 3, 2025 https://bit.ly/3WZrzNo

Jerome Adams, “America needs a better discourse on DEI,” STAT, Feb 4, 2025 Former surgeon general: America needs a better discourse on DEI