Joseph Burns

Drug Courts Save Lives. That May Not Save Them From Trump. An Alabama man’s recovery story shows what the program can do—and what could be lost.

This is a story about one particular program

But it’s also a story about the mindless approach that the Trump administration has taken to attacking agencies on which we all rely

www.thebulwark.com/p/drug-treat...

Great photo. Looks like the beaver is saying, "Look what a great job my mates and I did."

I have so much respect for Greta Thunberg because she easily could have coasted on speaking gigs and Davos appearances for the rest of her life

States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit - KFF Health News North Carolina and Idaho are cutting their Medicaid programs to bridge budget gaps, raising fears that providers will stop taking patients and that hospitals will close even before the brunt of a new ...

BREAKING: States Are Cutting Medicaid Provider Payments Long Before Trump Cuts Hit.

Heartbreaking.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Poll: Public trust in US health agencies down, only 39% trust RFK Jr

Poll: Public trust in US health agencies down, ONLY 39% trust RFK Jr!

www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-healt...

Sign up for The Patient Revolution Town Hall on issues of trust in health care. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/sign-up-fo...

The number of kids who died from flu in the 2024-25 season is still rising. #CDC was informed of another 5 deaths, bringing the season total to 275 so far. Deaths occurred in Jan & May.
The only time more peds deaths from flu were reported was in the 2009 pandemic. www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv...

Reporting on 'sweeps' and the criminalization of homelessness: How to handle the story This webinar will equip reporters to cover the Trump administration's criminalization of homelessness in their own cities and towns.

Journalists, don't miss this AHCJ webinar on Tuesday (Aug. 19 at 2 pm EDT) on how to report on the criminalization of homelessness. healthjournalism.org/event/report...

Nearly two dozen people in Florida are ill after drinking raw milk from the same farm | CNN Nearly two dozen people have developed food poisoning in Florida after consuming tainted raw milk from the same farm, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Nearly two dozen people developed food poisoning in Florida after consuming tainted raw milk from the same farm, state health department says (from @reportergoodman.bsky.social) www.cnn.com/2025/08/05/h...

The GOP bill would cut $1 trillion from health care. This would kick 10.9 million people off their health insurance.

That, plus the expiration of the APTCs (and the other half of the ACA rule), lead to 16 million people losing health insurance, pushing the uninsurance rate up 4 percentage points.

#UNH shares pulling back this morning, after HSBC cut the stock to a sell, and a Guardian piece alleging the company paid nursing homes to keep patients from being transfered to hospitals. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Uruguay's ex-President José Mujica, nicknamed 'world's poorest president,' dies at 89 José Mujica, the charismatic former guerrilla fighter who later went on to lead Uruguay and became known as "the world's poorest president" for his austere lifestyle, has died at 89.

José Mujica, the charismatic former guerrilla fighter who later went on to lead Uruguay and became known as "the world's poorest president" for his austere lifestyle, has died at 89.

Kicking moms and babies off of their health insurance (during Women’s Health Week, no less) is a low blow.

Section 44142 of House GOP Medicaid cuts REQUIRES states (so much for federalism) to charge cost-sharing of up to $35 to adults between 100-138% FPL.

Allows providers to turn folks away if they can't pay

Research is clear that even small copays for low-income folks result in missing needed care

Republicans have floated the idea of a per capita cap on federal funding for the ACA Medicaid expansion.

How much a per capita cap would shift costs to states and result in cuts to Medicaid benefits would depend crucially on where the cap is set and how fast it grows over time.

One of the arguments for scaling back the ACA Medicaid expansion is that enrollees are "able-bodied" and don't need health care.

44% of Medicaid expansion enrollees have a chronic condition.

www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

Fired, rehired, and fired again: Some federal workers find they're suddenly uninsured Commerce Department employees caught up in a legal battle over their mass firings are now learning that their health care coverage was cut off weeks ago, even though they were paying their premiums.

Commerce Department employees caught up in a legal battle over their mass firings are now learning that their health care coverage was cut off weeks ago, even though they were paying their premiums.

“That they should be the ones to welcome Pope Francis’s coffin in the basilica is because these people are those who represented the focus of his mission,” said Father Giulio Albanese, head of missionary cooperation and communications for the Vicariate of Rome. “They are those who live on the peripheries, geographical and existential peripheries.”

The final honor guard for Pope Francis included migrants, prisoners, transgender people, the homeless and others selected by the Vicariate of Rome as a symbol of the late pope’s mission of inclusion and outreach.

Read more from the funeral: wapo.st/3YdDGqM

Steven King- RFK Jr wants to cut Meals on Wheels to elderly and disabled persons. Another example of this administration’s unthinking cruelty. Pass it on, and possibly they will be embarrassed into continuing the program.

The Latest Supreme Court case targeting the ACA comes from a longtime anti-gay activist Steven Hotze has spent years trying to dismantle Obamacare and fight LGBTQ rights.

Please, pull up a chair and let me tell you the batshit backstory of the guy bringing today's Supreme Court challenge to Obamacare: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

This must-read article from @msjpauly.bsky.social is excellent in how it explains the issues behind the case SCOTUS heard yesterday in Kennedy v. #Braidwood

The Latest Supreme Court case targeting the ACA comes from a longtime anti-gay activist Steven Hotze has spent years trying to dismantle Obamacare and fight LGBTQ rights.

“The people who are going to be hurt most are the people who can’t just pull out a credit card and pay full cost for a service, or pay a $50 co-pay or an $80 co-pay.”

Supreme Court appears willing to save ACA preventive services task force Following oral arguments Monday, legal onlookers are giving the edge to the federal government in a lawsuit against employer Braidwood Management as the company tries to overturn a provision requir | ...

Solid reporting from Noah Tong at Fierce Healthcare on a complex case: Kennedy v. Braidwood. www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/supre...

Great explainer from @citizencohn.bsky.social on how RFK has yet to give an unambiguous endorsement of vaccines during the largest single outbreak of measles in decades.

Inside U.S. health agencies, workers confront chaos and questions as operations come unglued The Trump administration’s remaking of HHS — in a matter of weeks — is sparking basic questions about how parts of the agency and those it oversees can continue to function.

At NIH, scientists are bartering over lab supplies. In FDA, staff fear drug reviews and inspections will fall behind. CDC groups focused on alcohol, tobacco and HIV are gone.

3 months into the Trump Admin, are America's health agencies in crisis?

www.statnews.com/2025/04/11/h...

Pie Charts Galore! Medicaid, CHIP, ACA & Medicare enrollment by Congressional District Over the past couple of months I've compiled a master spreadsheet breaking out enrollment in ACA plans (Qualified Health Plans & Basic Health Plans), Medicaid/CHIP coverage (both traditional & via ACA...

📣 TO ANYONE PARTICIPATING IN A #HANDSOFF PROTEST:

If the GOP's plan to GUT MEDICAID & the ACA are your concern, a reminder that I've compiled pie charts breaking out enrollment in Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare & ACA plans for the entire populations of ALL 436 HOUSE DISTRICTS.

ACASignups.net/piecharts

A recession with job losses, combined with Medicaid cuts, combined with an end to enhanced ACA premium aid, would be quite a triple whammy for health coverage.

Putting $880 Billion in Potential Federal Medicaid Cuts in Context of State Budgets and Coverage | KFF This brief explores the magnitude of federal funding cuts under the House budget resolution and puts the $880 billion in context by comparing the size of the cuts to states’ tax revenues, spending on ...

New: We illustrate what $880 billion in Medicaid cuts could mean on a state-by-state basis.

29% of state Medicaid spending
6% of state taxes
19% of state education spending
www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

New government survey data shows the biggest growth in ACA enrollment has come in red states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. The enhanced premium aid that fueled this increase in enrollment expires at the end of this year unless Congress extends it.

www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/he...

As Cervical Cancer Deaths Plummet, Experts Credit HPV Vaccine HPV can cause a variety of cancers, including cervical. New mortality data for women under 25 point to the success of the HPV vaccine.

A recent study found that cervical cancer deaths in young women have plummeted since the introduction of the human papillomavirus vaccine.