Rep. Jeffries: Social Security and Medicare are not entitlement programs, they are earned benefits. … Hands off Social Security and Medicare forever.

The Trump administration is cutting a program that kept prescription drugs affordable for seniors— because nothing says "Make America Healthy Again" like making health care less accessible and making medicine more expensive.

Rep. Jeffries: We have a broken health care system that Republicans have decimated.

Sen. Merkley: Last year, Republicans said, essentially: ‘we don't like this Medicaid program. We’re not all in on this vision of health insurance for less affluent families, so we’re going to cut it.’ … Less affluent families lose, and billionaires win.

Sen. Merkley: When revenue drops, hospitals and clinics close, reducing care for the entire community, regardless of what kind of insurance you do. So, proceeding to take away health insurance for the less affluent actually has a profound impact on everyone’s ability to have treatment.

Sen. Merkley: As of April, 216 hospitals and clinics have already closed, due to the provisions in the Big, Beautiful Bill last year, or dramatically reduced services. More than 1000 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes are at risk of closing or cutting services, because of the cuts to Medicaid.

Schneider: Since January, 2025, 2.3 million children have been dropped from Medicaid. That’s as many children as the populations of Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhodes Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia combined.

Sen. Kaine: We’ve got about 25 providers in Virginia — half of which have already closed, and the other half are at risk or immediate risk of closure — just because of the Medicare changes made in HR 1.

Sen. Kaine breaks down rural hospital closures following Republicans' $1 trillion cut to health care in their reconciliation bill last year.

Sen. Luján: My Republican colleagues are trying to fleece the American people in convincing them that this bill helps them. $1 trillion was taken out of health care. How the hell does that help anybody?

Sen. Luján: My Republican colleagues profess that they did not cut Medicaid — that they only transferred the costs to states. They eliminated more than $1 trillion in access to health care.

Sen. Murray: Republicans passed more than $1 trillion in health care cuts, mostly to Medicaid. How much in tax breaks for the top 1% did Trump’s bill contain? Schneider: Approximately $1 trillion. Murray: How many Americans are losing health care? Schneider: Approximately 11 million.

Sen. Van Hollen: In order to provide these tax cuts to billionaires and to corporations, Republicans not only cut access to health care for 7.5 million people on Medicaid, but they’re also going to be pushing the costs of that harmful actions on to everybody else.

Sen. Van Hollen: The cuts to Medicaid were very cynically timed. Most — if not all — of them do not take place until January of next year. After the election. I wonder why that is?

Happy birthday, President Obama 💙

Sen. Shaheen on her bipartisan legislation to cap insulin costs at $35 a month: Insulin is life or death. If people can’t afford their insulin — if they cut it — it has huge health ramifications. … This is a way to help people who are overwhelmed with the cost of health care these days.

Former Acting CDC Director Dr. Besser: We have one of the nations leading anti-vaccine proponents as our Secretary of Health. It’s a scary thing. The fact that Dana Bash had to fact check our Secretary of Health so many times tells you that we are in a really difficult situation here.

📰 NEW: Nearly 500,000 Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes will lose health coverage by 2034 if current policies are not changed.

Here’s your Weekly Dose of health care news: 📺 RFK Jr. got a harsh reality check on national television 🚨 Trump is ending a program that helps seniors afford their medications 🏥 1,157 hospitals, clinics, and providers are closing their doors, making cuts, or at risk Get your full dose here:

“You’re Not a Scientist”: RFK Jr. Gets a Reality Check on Live TV

The Weekly Dose — August 3, 2026

open.substack.com

Dr. Vin Gupta: The people that we have [in public health administration] are not accountable to the people that they should be service, which are patients. This is not what good medicine looks like.

🚨BREAKING: Two people have now died from the ongoing Cyclospora outbreak, according to the Detroit News:

Two people in Michigan have died amid cyclosporiasis outbreak, perhaps first in US

The two Michigan deaths appear to be the first in the United States. No deaths had been reported throughout the United States through July 27.

detroitnews.com

CNN’s Dana Bash and Health Secretary RFK Jr. clash over his role in spreading misinformation about the measles vaccine: RFK Jr.: You probably don’t understand this because you’re not a scientist. Bash: You’re not either.

Q: What’s the most exotic food you’ve eaten? RFK Jr.: I will literally eat anything. I don’t have a gag reflex. I will eat anything, and I love experimenting with foods. … Even stuff I find on the street.

“Kennedy’s claim is false and, frankly, infuriating.” MS NOW fact checks Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s litany of false claims about the covid pandemic:

MS NOW fact checks Health Secretary Kennedy’s claim that the US had the highest covid death rate in the world: Dr. Awan: It’s not factually accurate. We are not even in the top 10 for highest covid death rates.

Former WH Covid Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha on RFK Jr.: The last 2 years, we have had more measles cases than in the entire rest of the 21st century. The last 25 years we’ve have fewer cases combined than in the last 2. Maybe that’s a coincidence — I don’t think it is.

Rep. Boyle: It shows you where their priorities are. It’s always tax cuts for billionaires — we always have enough money for that. But when it comes to the health care of the American people, that’s where they cut.

It's a wonder why the man who cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, forcing millions of people off their health insurance, isn't doing too well in those polls.

For seniors living on fixed incomes, every penny counts. And now it will be worse: Trump ending Medicare’s lowering of the cost of medications and other essentials. @protectourcare.org www.protectourcare.org/statement-tr...

STATEMENT: Trump Ends Medicare Drug Coverage Affordability Program, Burdening Seniors With Even Higher Costs — Protect Our Care

Washington, D.C. — Today, reporting from the Wall Street Journal revealed the Trump administration is ending the program that helps seniors afford coverage for their medications. This comes after Repu...

protectourcare.org

Sec. Buttigieg: They’re telling us ‘we just can’t possibly afford it — that’s why you can’t have nice things. You can’t have good hospitals, and great schools, and good roads.’