at the airport waiting to board and i look down and see this lonely suitcase, minding his own business. who is he? where did he come from, and how did he end up there? where will he finally cease his journey? 🤔

ah yes. the R party that believes govt is the program is actively trying to make govt be the problem even worse by creating govt-based barriers to getting healthcare (see also medicaid work requirements) www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2026/tr...

New ACA Marketplace Rule Gives Consumers Red Tape

An new rule for ACA marketplaces ratchets up scrutiny of the enrollment process and imposes administrative barriers.

commonwealthfund.org

dems retaking the senate because republicans just kept dying was not something i had on my bingo card for 2026

Duckworth weighs in on Maine senate race.

this is very how much how we are reframing the path to single payer healthcare. the goal is NOT to kill Medicare Advantage or to kick managed care out of Medicaid… but if fighting those battles builds movement power (and reduces the stranglehold of private interests), we’ll fight. @pnhp.bsky.social

Asher Elbein@asherelbein.bsky.social · last mo.

I think there's actually a useful difference we can draw here. Namely: there is incrementalism that comes from pushing wherever possible (and with whatever levels possible) to make progress toward a maximalist demand, versus incrementalism that's positioned as an excuse for setting minor goals

It’s truly astonishing to see how comprehensively the US government is tearing down every part of the system that has made it up until now a world-leading power in science, research, and technological development. The entire world will suffer from this wanton destruction.

Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · 2mo ago

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval of research grants These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

hahahahah never heard THIS before

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

Trump says peace deal with Iran largely reached with strait of Hormuz to open

wtf

J. Offir, PhD@joffirphd.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Gift 🎁 link, because I just can't summarize this one; it's too enraging. Upshot: the FDA fought it for years, but after meeting w/ a vaping lobbyist, Trump decided to "Save Flavored Vaping." The FDA had rejected "more than 1 million fruit-, candy- and dessert-flavored products," wapo.st/3PnEqrW

exactly. whether you regard this as a feature or a bug, you cannot argue that capitalism doesn’t depend on winners and losers… which makes it absolutely bananas that we have chosen this as our model for healthcare. it’s high time we end this.

🥈72 dogs 🐝@careycuprisin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Yep. Capitalist principles *require* that people who are both sick and poor be ignored.

Whether you get that life saving surgery is basically up to a guy who chooses between one of two stamps on his desk. One that says "you get money" and one that says "I get money."

Phil Verhoef@philipverhoef.bsky.social · 3mo ago

totally. and i would take it a step further and argue that a health care system grounded in capitalist principles can never be equitable… which is why we continue to have people that suffer and die needlessly at the hands of our private insurance based system.

how the heck does she keep a straight face when he says this??

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Beshear: He said, “I thought that I was being depicted as a doctor.” If I was ever in an operating room and somebody walked in in Jesus robes with orbs in his hand, I would have thought that it did not go well for me that day.

the comments are pure gold.

Ryan Marino, MD@ryanmarino.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Your grandfather sounds stupid

this so much. people arguing that there are “too many vaccines all at once” or just too many at all and justify this by saying the immune system or body can’t handle it lack a fundamental understanding of immunology and physiology.

Edward Nirenberg@enirenberg.bsky.social · 4mo ago

but at the risk of illness. The goal should be getting immunity without risking illness (i.e., vaccines, antibodies). - the vaccine schedule cannot come close to saturating your immune system in a way that would overwhelm it - the hygiene hypothesis isn't telling you to stop washing your hands

The @whyshoulditrustyou.bsky.social team asked some tough questions of NIH Director Bhattacharya. It's worth a listen: substack.com/home/post/p-... I wanted to add some additional context on Bhattacharya's responses. Sorry, long thread. 🧵1/19

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on His Mission to Rebuild Public Trust in the NIH and CDC

He discusses "DEI" research, campus funding freezes, ACIP, and the path forward for the nation's public health infrastructure

substack.com

flu season is rough this year in Hawai’i. i talked about it with @khon2news.bsky.social

@khon2news.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Flu season in Hawaii continues to be an issue following the holidays, and there are no signs of slowing down. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/3mvebr9h 

…wherein i talk to @khon2news.bsky.social about my concerns about the new vaccine recommendations. this shift will lead to vaccine preventable deaths. hard stop.

@khon2news.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The CDC has announced new vaccine recommendations for children. National health officials now list vaccines for 11 diseases in their child immunization schedule -- down from 17. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/zj7v35z2 

1/ HHS just announced the most significant rollback of childhood vaccine recommendations in modern American history. Seven vaccines are being moved to “shared clinical decision-making,” a category that sounds reasonable but functionally ensures millions of children won’t receive them.🧵

we just keep reaching new lows with this administration. it’s honestly scary how easily we keep sinking and sinking into the abyss of fascism and authoritarianism. we were so much more fragile than we realized.

Every time ACIP meets, Bill Cassidy (R, Coward City) makes pathetic mewling sounds about how bad the committee is. It is Bill Cassidy’s fault that ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body. Sir, you are a fucking U.S. Senator. Impeach RFK Jr or STFU.

amidst all the insane chaos in the world, perhaps this is a palate cleanser (literally)… i just found out chewing gum is chock full of microplastics and my world is rent asunder. i quit coffee a couple months back but now i gotta quit gum too?????? what’s next???

just more reasons to support campaign finance reform. this is messed up.

Ence Morse@ence.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com. We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans. washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

an interesting idea from a guy who def knows what he’s talking about. finding ways to extract real progress out of the abject chaos in the govt right now is exactly what we need to be doing.

Joseph Harris@josephharrisbu.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Check out my op-ed in @thehill.com on why now is the time for the GOP to embrace the public option @bridgingthegap.bsky.social @buceid.bsky.social @bucas.bsky.social @dadakim.bsky.social @mattmotta.bsky.social @thcallaghan.bsky.social @asanews.bsky.social @apsa.bsky.social @whitehouse-47.bsky.social

OMG, as a father, allow me to emphasize it is not ok for adult men to be into teen age girls, and if you are an adult rationalizing “15 year olds” as somehow ok: You are gross You need help Stay the hell away from my children or my students

This substack from @kkjetelina.bsky.social and @hayrook.bsky.social is fantastic. and tbh, this is ALL the stuff we've been saying @pnhp.bsky.social for years. There is a better way... there's just no political will to eliminate the private health insurance industry.

Ed Belongia MD@belongia.bsky.social · 9mo ago

"The US health care system is uniquely dysfunctional. A different approach is..possible if we have the will to..govern the..system in the interests of patients, clinicians, & taxpayers. That means...tackling prices, eliminating middlemen, & breaking up behemoths"👇 open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...

When health care is under attack, what do we do? Rise up, fight back! #SinglePayer #MedicareForAll

#acaexpansion #governmentshutdown #shutdown #affordablecareact

Did you know...seniors of color enrolled in Medicare “Advantage” are offered lower quality plans, face higher rates of prior authorization denials, and suffer worse health outcomes compared to their white counterparts? Learn more: pnhp.org/EquityReport

advocating for patients with #pnhp. stop privatizing our healthcare system, #wisersucks, no cuts to Medicaid. we need a national, government-run, nonprofit healthcare system for EVERYONE.

a glorious rebuttal of the asinine MAHA report from a few weeks ago. TLDR: we have ways of making the US healthy but they’re not discussed in the report, and anyhow the current administration is doing everything it can to make people less healthy through its actions. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The Make American Healthy Again Strategy Report

This Viewpoint discusses the deficiencies of the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s strategy report and proposes known evidence-based interventions to address chronic diseases in children.

jamanetwork.com