Alex Garlick

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if they had actually done "HSAs and HDHP For All" with the ACA extension money, it's at least an interesting thought experiment, because those plans work for some. But this is a woefully underfunded version of that.

That would help more people than this

I'm starting to think Trump actually doesn't have concepts of a plan.

It's just culture war, all the way down. Also worth mentioning, House Republicans likely to be even more hostile to ACA subsidy extension than their Senate colleagues.

What if, hear me out, pregnancy-related medical costs were covered by a public insurance program?

carbonpenguin's comment on "Health insurance went up by x8. What are other options." Explore this conversation and more from the vermont community

Today in the absurdities of the American Health Care Market, Vermont Redditors are advising on how to reduce your taxable income to 400% of the poverty line so that your monthly insurance premium only goes up 220% instead of 800%

www.reddit.com/r/vermont/co...

I like how the Ken Burns AMERICAN REVOLUTION doc is framing Sam Adams as our "Founding Poster." Although it pains me that he would've definitely had a podcast in 1773

I renamed a text chain with my midwife and palliative care NP friends "Womb to Tomb" and it's the best thing I've done recently for my mental health.

Healthcare lobbying surged in 2025 Spending to influence Congress surged by $91 million, but $1.1 trillion in healthcare cuts passed anyway while sought-after bills languished

The lede to this story is poetry:

It’s mostly been a bad year

on Capitol Hill

for the healthcare sector.

But it’s been a good year

for healthcare lobbyists.

Vermont bids for new federal money to boost rural health system - VTDigger Vermont policymakers see the five-year grant, worth an annual $100 million-plus, as a potential lifeline in the face of looming Medicaid spending cuts, though they also caution the funds cannot replac...

I spoke with @vtdigger.bsky.social about VT's application for the mysterious "rural health fund" created by OBBBA. There's some good potential ideas in it for VT, but there's no $$ attached, so it's too soon to say if this will help with the health care affordability crisis if/when it arrives.

Not to give up trade secrets, but the key to them burying the hatchet is the viral audio they played underneath the video.

As a Bluesky "New England Politics on TikTok Correspondant", I can inform you that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (who re-opened the government) and her daughter Stefany (opposed re-opening the government, running for US House), have made amends at Thanksgiving.

Happy (belated) Small Business Saturday, Phoenix Books in Burlington, VT is carrying my book. This is an unprecedented opportunity to learn about health care affordability and a valued support local insitution on beautiful Church Street.

phoenixbooks.biz/book/9780197...

Thinking 2028, Democrats having unusually unpopular congressional leaders (among their own supporters) is probably an advantage for the gubernatorial type of candidate with a more credible outsider angle.

and beyond the impact on patients/consumers, it's dumbfounding to categorize nursing as a non-professional degree when they're categorizing chiropractors or optometrists as professionals (in terms of loan eligibility).

Nursing is no longer counted as a 'professional degree' by Trump admin The Department of Education has excluded nursing as a "professional degree" program as it implements various changes to student loans.

Trump's Department of Education is going to make health care even less affordable with this. Choking the pipeline for nurse practitioners and RNs further limits the supply of health care providers and will lead to higher prices per service.

www.newsweek.com/nursing-not-...

The answer relates to insurance coverage (residents without insurance are more likely to face crippling bills and medical debt) as well as efforts by states to enact cost containment legislation, which is what we need to be talking about to rein in the costs and not just subsidizing demand further.

If a more free market approach really helps patients/consumers, why do states where citizens spend the most of their expenditures on health care controlled by Republicans?

(figure from my book PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: academic.oup.com/book/60804)

This is crazy. Also it violates the agreement given that “Vaccines do not cause autism” no longer appears on the page. “Vaccines do not cause autism*” is not the same statement as “Vaccines do not cause autism,” regardless of whether you assess it as a whole statement or character-by-character.

same. I think Josh's point of % contested seats is a huge factor here (a point that steve rogers makes very well).

That's fair to call it an open question. I'm skeptical though, I feel like this is pretty well identified and didn't find 'em.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

100% agree that it's more bang for the buck, but we're pretty sure the reverse coattails bit doesn't work though, right?

If you are thinking about sending money to Amy McGrath or some long shot senate candidate, stop yourself and send it to your state’s legislative candidates. More bang for your buck and more likely to make a difference. A strong state legislative slate will boost the top of the ticket, too. 3/3.

Democrats will focus on the House and Senate, but to me, the state legislatures are equally important. Democrats lost an entire generation of new leaders when they got wiped out in the state legislatures in 2010 and again in 2014. The Democrats need to build the next generation in the state leg. 1/3

This is most consistent with the recent NJ and VA elections, fwiw

True. I think the point would still stand though if that happened

I think they’ve delegated that one to neil gorsuch