Something like copay free generics and a few free primary care visits a year would probably due some good. Obviously, that's separate from covering the last 8% or so of the population w/o coverage or making serious chronic condition care affordable.

I finally finished this book on vacation! I think anyone interested in health policy should read it. It's incredibly timely, and there's not enough out there on prior authorization. www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

The Deadliest Drug, a new investigative series, shows that the alcohol epidemic is a generational failure of the medical and public health systems, of industry, and of government. www.statnews.com/2026/05/12/a...

He's what, the 5th Prime Minister in 10 years? This country makes France (and the US) look governable.

Watching Mama Mia in prep for my trip to Greece

ERISA, a federal law from the 70s, bans the California (would be in the G7 if it was a country) from regulating employer health plans. A law from the 1970s prevents the government of one of the largest economies in the world from setting copay caps or limits on deductibles for half its population.

Part II is here: read about the implications of OBBBA, the strange bedfellow alliance advocates have found themselves in with the AMA, ERISA and state-level reform and what what we can learn from other countries about how to better and more equitably handle the fee-for-service issue!

The 1970s: Good music, but a pretty trash decade

Anyway, ERISA is a bad law and the writers should feel bad

1. Rogue One 2. Empire Strikes Back 3. New Hope 4. Revenge of the Sith 5. Return of the Jedi 6. The Last Jedi 7. The Force Awakens 8. The Clone Wars 9. The Phantom Menace 10. Solo 11. The Rise of Skywalker

Ngl they don't do a good job telling you the contractors do a lot of the major work for government. Working in government is mostly about supervising...

In my personal opinion, all-payer rate setting with annual budgets for hospitals is the best way to control healthcare costs in our current environment. And it's within the power of states to do so if they set rate caps. open.substack.com/pub/gooznews...

Everyone remembers welfare reform, no one remembers that Clinton vetoed it twice and convinced the Dem NGA members to walk away from negotiations over attempts to block grant Medicaid. For Obama: people remember the ACA, but forget that the American Jobs Act idea died when Dems lost the House

One of the most clarifying passages I've ever read on what "polarization" actually means in the U.S."

i was told by john roberts and sam alito that racism is over so i won't worry about white republicans in the south jumping over themselves to end black political representation wherever they can

AOC tells PabloReports that the reinstatement of the agent who shot Renee Good is a reminder of why Democrats should not give ICE and CBP a dime. AOC: Every single person that that man encounters is in just as grave danger as she was in.

The Senate passed the Voting Rights Act renewal in 2006 by a vote of 98-0. The Supreme Court majority gutted it on the grounds that the Justices personally dislike the impact.

This Court, and the right more generally, is not merely undermining democracy. They are targeting multiracial democracy. That has always been the dividing line. And as Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argue, it is multiracial democracy or no democracy at all.

. @aoc.bsky.social responds to this trend: "BOOOOO" "This race to try to see who can be exempt from participating in society is not a conversation that I'm interested in," she tells me, calling it an uninspiring message. "I'm a Great Society Democrat, and I believe in building that together."

It's important to remember many of these people are partially disabled, have unpredictable and/or part time work schedules, or caregiving obligations that make paperwork a pain in the ass. Making people do all that for something like health care can hurt people.

In effect, this means companies can't avoid decent paid leave by placing an office in Crystal City or Falls Church. A win is a win!

Marty Supreme was fine, but it was barely different from Uncut Gems

PBM reform is teensey weensey baby stuff meant to sound big

Current policy is that felons need personal approval from the governor to restore voting rights. This is a massive change.

American exceptionalism

Me, currently theonion.com/man-finally-...

IIRC LBJ's polling dropped because people thought he "moved too fast on civil rights" even when Vietnam was popular. And as someone living in 2026, that's the kinda thing I'm glad he did anyway.

Sidenote: Anne Rice's Interview with a Vapire is way better than the 90s movie and you should watch it

Living in a high trust society is good, actually

FWIW, it's the healthy people that stop paying premiums when enhanced subsidies expire. That's the point being made by the "death spiral." That as more healthy people leave, it could create a vicious cycle of premium increases and dropping enrollment until you hit the point of nonviability.

These tickets never would have been affordable for this small a venue if the label or ticketmaster set the price.

Not to point fingers, but maybe religious shaming (think Catholic guilt) should focus less on sex and more on saying something crazy confidently

the thing that's so unbelievably weird about this is that it's a dogwhistle against the culture that invented algebra

At this point I want the court packed out of spite

Anyone telling you ACA plan costs are out of control without comparing it to employer plan costs is making a glaring error

Youngstown, Ohio shows up everywhere

I think I can say that everyone in The Pitt seems like they've been to therapy, and that's the most unrealistic part of the show. These people should be a little meaner to each other under the wire imo.

The Pitt goes through these annoying "Love it or Hate it" loops on here, but I gotta say I love the fidelity to how health coverage actually works. The "now that you are disabled from your diabetes going out of control, you qualify for Medicaid" subplot is legit.

Having 2-3 weeks between jobs really is the peak of getting to chill and be financially secure I'm loving this ngl

this should be the opposition rallying cry in every country where fascists have been ascendant

Magyar: “No mercy, they will need to take responsibility for all their actions.”

‘Well, Well, Well, Not So Easy To Find A Plot That Doesn’t Suck Shit, Huh?’

Brown ales and Irish Reds are GOATed

DC really lacks the Tex Mex that's plentiful anywhere in California. Not that shocking to say, but man that shit hits the spot!

Defunding the ACA to pay for the war in Iran was the most on the nose "they don't give a fuck about you" proposal I've seen so far

Farthest anyone has ever been from home

First look at the Moon and Earth together! 4 people on the left, 8.3 billion people on the right 🌎

David Horsey

If you've seen this piece before, "The New American Gothic" by Criselda Vasquez, Then heartbreakingly, I have to inform you that—according to Vasquez's Instagram as of 4/03/26—Vasquez's father has been taken by ICE. GoFundMe below to help financially support their family.

as far as i can tell, "we'll have to colonise another planet" is the billionaire equivalent of my girlfriend in canada. there's no real plan. this doesn't exist. maybe one day it will, but today it's a discursive pressure release valve to protect us from grasping the horror that there is no exit