Ryan Levi

Should I Trust AI to Diagnose Me? Physician and New Yorker writer Dhruv Khullar says artificial intelligence is a powerful tool to get quicker and more accurate diagnoses. But it can also be dangerous.

🩺 Is it safe to use #AI to help diagnose me? 🩺

@dhruvkhullar.bsky.social, a physician at @weillcornell.bsky.social and contributing writer at @newyorker.com, told @tradeoffs.org 3️⃣ key things he thinks every patient, nurse and doctor should know about AI.

tradeoffs.org/2025/10/30/s...

Come work with me @tradeoffs.org! We're looking for a reporter/producer who knows health policy and is passionate about audio storytelling.

Applications accepted through 10/19. More details and apply here: tradeoffs.org/reporter-pro...

Thank you, Brian, for your reporting! It really is a service.

In producing this interview, I repeatedly came back to the work of @npr.org's @brianmannadk.bsky.social, @statnews.com's @levfacher.bsky.social and @kffhealthnews.org' @aneripattani.bsky.social. If you care about addiction and recovery, you should be reading them regularly.

One Scientist's Mission to Change How We Prevent Overdoses A leading addiction expert explains how he’s driven by the memory of a friend who died, and why he believes giving data on the drug supply to people on the street is more important than using it to in...

Dasgupta's lab's analyses of the drug supply and overdose trends are followed closely by policymakers.

But he told us his most important audience — and inspiration — are the people who have died or could die of an overdose.

“Their lives are on the line.”

tradeoffs.org/2025/07/31/s...

One Scientist's Mission to Change How We Prevent Overdoses A leading addiction expert explains how he’s driven by the memory of a friend who died, and why he believes giving data on the drug supply to people on the street is more important than using it to in...

Ran away to Alaska right after this published so didn't have a chance to share it, but I really hope people will listen to @tradeoffs.org's deeply personal and practical interview with @nabarund.bsky.social, one of the nation's leading addiction and overdose experts.

tradeoffs.org/2025/07/31/s...

Yesterday, NPR featured reporting from Tradeoffs' @ryan-levi.bsky.social and @dgorenstein.bsky.social.

They spoke with one of the nation’s top street drug scientists, who makes the case that giving people on the street real-time drug data can save more lives than shaping national policy.

What It’s Like to Be Transgender in Trump’s America How the federal government has restricted health care access for transgender Americans, and how those shifts in policy and rhetoric are changing life for one Alabama family.

“I feel unsafe almost everywhere."

My latest from @tradeoffs.org: a daughter and dad in AL talk about how Trump's anti-trans policies/rhetoric have affected their lives.

Plus @oriion.bsky.social explains all the anti-trans health policies coming out of Washington.

tradeoffs.org/2025/07/17/t...

Day 1 of #AspenIdeasHealth ends with a lookback at how the ACA was made with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former HHS Secretaries Sylvia Burwell and Kathleen Sebelius.

@aspenideas.bsky.social @tradeoffs.org

A New Kind of Primary Care Comes to America A group of nurses in East Baltimore is piloting a bold plan to bring basic primary care to everybody no matter their age, income or insurance.

At #AspenIdeasHealth opening session, @agawande.bsky.social just made a pitch for community primary care as a way to improve health outcomes in the U.S.

@tradeoffs.org dove deep on the research, opportunities and challenges behind this model.

@aspenideas.bsky.social

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Looking forward to talking health policy and big ideas the next few days at @aspenideas.bsky.social.

If you're here too, don't be a stranger!

#AspenIdeasHealth

Supreme Court ruling on gender-affirming care delivers major setback for transgender rights Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors can stand after the Supreme Court ruled that it does not constitute sex-based discrimination, in a 6-3 decision.

"The ruling is the latest blow to transgender youth and their families, who have been fighting the Trump administration’s continuous attempts to restrict their access to care."

www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/s...

A press release from SAMHSA saying: "On July 17, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,” to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option. The Press 3 option was established as a pilot program in Fiscal Year 2022 under a government agreement with a third party. The Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus included a Congressional directive for $29.7 million to fund the specialized services. Federal funding in FY24 for the Press 3 services increased to $33 million. As of June 2025, more than $33 million in funds have been spent to support the subnetworks, fully expending the monies allocated for 988 Lifeline LGB+ subnetwork services. Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help."

As expected, the Trump administration has shut down the special suicide prevention and crisis lifeline option for LGBTQ+ young people, effective July 17.

It's our biggest event of the year — our annual Pride Happy Hour!

📅 Wednesday, June 18
📍 As You Are (500 8th Street SE)
⏰ 6-8 p.m.
🆓 First 15 people in the door get a free drink!

RSVP today: www.eventbrite.com/e/nlgja-dc-p...

New Studies Show How Cutting Medicaid Could Be Deadly Two new studies inject powerful evidence into the heated Medicaid debate in Washington, showing the public insurance program is saving lives.

Two new research papers add important data to the political debate over Medicaid in Washington, D.C., offering strong evidence that Medicaid, the public insurance program that covers more than 70 million low-income and disabled Americans, is saving people’s lives.

tradeoffs.org/2025/05/15/n...

The Fifth Branch: A New Podcast Series from Tradeoffs The Fifth Branch is a special series by Tradeoffs and The Marshall Project that examines what it looks like when one community dramatically changes how it responds to people in crisis. Subscribe where...

And you can learn A LOT more about the 100+ communities sending unarmed teams to mental health crises instead of law enforcement in @tradeoffs.org's series The Fifth Branch.

tradeoffs.org/thefifthbranch

They called for urgent help with a mentally ill loved one. Why California police refused Police agencies increasingly won't respond to someone in a mental health crisis unless there's a crime. So who will transport them to get help?

Lee wrote a great piece about this for @calmatters.org that I highly recommend you check out as well.

calmatters.org/health/menta...

What Happens When Cops Refuse to Respond to Mental Health Calls? Why are a handful of sheriff’s departments in California refusing to respond to some 911 calls that involve a person with mental illness?

“Mental illness is not a crime” has become a rallying cry for improving the treatment of people in crisis.

@tradeoffs.org talked with journalist Lee Romney about why a few CA sheriffs are now refusing to respond to some mental health calls.

tradeoffs.org/2025/05/15/w...

Tradeoffs Honored with National Headliner and AHCJ Awards Tradeoffs earned national recognition from the National Headliner Awards and the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism from the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ).

Tradeoffs has earned national accolades, earning a first-place National Headliner Award and three Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism.

Read more: tradeoffs.org/2025/05/06/t...

Check out the award-winning stories below 👇

‘She Didn’t Want to Die. But She Didn’t Want to Suffer.’ A handful of states allow terminally ill patients to take life-ending medications. We talk with journalist Steven Petrow about his sister’s choice to use this option.

Tradeoffs won first place from the National Headliner Awards, Digital Conversational Podcast category for “She Didn’t Want to Die. But She Didn’t Want to Suffer," by @ryan-levi.bsky.social.

tradeoffs.org/2024/02/22/m...

Miss the conversation on bias in healthcare AI?

🎥 Catch Paige Nong, @ajh.bsky.social, and @ryan-levi.bsky.social as they unpack real-world risks—and what it takes to evaluate AI tools responsibly.

See how the experts broke it down: codex.ucsf.edu/events/codex...

@tradeoffs.org

Work requirements are the one #Medicaid policy change most Republicans seem to agree on. But they do not have a great track record. State leaders say they've learned lessons, but critics worry millions of eligible people could lose coverage.

Obamacare Heads to the Supreme Court ... Again The latest threat to the Affordable Care Act could strike down a popular provision that gives 180 million Americans access to free preventive care for conditions including HIV and cancer.

ICYMI: The ACA is going back to the Supreme Court.

The case involves a provision that requires insurers to cover certain preventive care for conditions like cancer and HIV for free.

@nbagley.bsky.social breaks down the case and the implications on @tradeoffs.org ⬇️

tradeoffs.org/2025/04/17/o...

🌟Register for CODEX's April webinar!

What happens when AI tools in hospitals carry bias? And how can we prevent it?

Join top researchers to talk about bias in health AI: what it looks like, who's testing for it, and what hospitals can do.

🗓️ April 30 | 9-10 a.m. PT
🔗 codex.ucsf.edu/events/codex...

She was tracking post-Roe abortions. The government just pulled her funding. Diana Greene Foster, who was behind the landmark Turnaway Study, wanted to study the health and economic impacts of the loss of abortion access.

News: Diana Greene Foster, the MacArthur-winning author of the Turnaway Study, learned her NIH grant — funding a multi-year study on Dobbs' impact — has been pulled. She was told its bc the govt won't study "gender identity."

Her work has shaped our understanding of abortion bans' consequences.

Making Sense of Sweeping Cuts at HHS Veteran health care reporter Julie Rovner breaks down the massive cuts and reorganization at HHS and answers listeners’ questions about what to expect next.

Trying to make sense of the massive cuts at HSS?

@tradeoffs.org talked with the dean of DC health care reporters @julierovner.bsky.social to help put this moment in context and answer listener questions on how this could impact hospitals, states, research and more.

tradeoffs.org/2025/04/03/m...

Hope to see folks tonight at @nlgjadc.bsky.social's Spring Happy Hour!

RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/nlgja-dc-s...

Great reporting and analysis from @melanie-evans.bsky.social on today's @tradeoffs.org!

Medicare and Medicaid Under Dr. Oz: What to Expect A closer look at the surgeon-turned-TV-star President Trump wants in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.

I talked w/@tradeoffs.org about Dr. Oz, the surgeon-turned-TV star who's poised to lead CMS: what I learned reporting on him and what we can glean from his Senate hearing.

Come for the policy, stay to hear me laugh while trying to sound professional.
tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...

Medicare and Medicaid Under Dr. Oz: What to Expect A closer look at the surgeon-turned-TV-star President Trump wants in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.

Trump has picked Dr. Oz to lead CMS, which covers 160M people who get their health care from Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.

@tradeoffs.org took a closer look at who Oz is and what he could do with the help of @tarabannow.bsky.social and former CMS chief Tom Scully.

tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...