“For every $1 collected in premiums, insurers reimbursed 62 cents for claims in 2024, down from an average loss ratio of 80 cents in the 1980s and 1990s… “The fact that the loss ratios are so low means that the insurance industry is charging too much,” said Brian Shearer”

A conservative federal appeals court just reinstated an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone—effectively shutting down telemedicine abortion providers nationwide. "There's no world in which this genie goes back in the bottle."

Accessing healthcare in Alaska is harder than most people in the Lower 48 can even imagine. For families, getting care can mean long travel, delays, or no access at all. That’s why telehealth is essential for so many Alaskans.

in a world of tech oligarchy, intermediated surveillance, and AI nationalism, organizing by tech workers (and whistleblowers) is really, really important.

“Side effects such as muscle loss and nutritional imbalance have been reported with long-term use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class obesity drugs like Wegovy.“ www.dongascience.com/en/news/77663

I just had the pleasure of attending @mirandayaver.bsky.social’s book launch via Zoom, and friends, while watching her excellent presentation I realized how much I need to read her book, Coverage Denied. It’s about one of my favorite topics to bitch about, the Health Insurance Cartel.

New from @kff.org. Fewer than half of voters approve of the Trump administration’s handling of cost of health care (33%) and the cost of prescription drugs (41%). www.kff.org/public-opini...

“Among 40 new and reappointed directors, none were women.”

CDC delay of infant hepatitis B shot likely to "will likely lead to hundreds of additional infections among children, along with more cases of liver cancer, deaths and millions in added health care costs," studies show wapo.st/4t0n564 via @lenasun.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com

“The studies are precisely the type of research that previous iterations of the ACIP would have pored over before making any decision about changing the hepatitis B birth dose recommendation, said Arthur Reingold… but there is no indication that the Kennedy-appointed ACIP did anything of the sort.”

Here’s the paper Dr. Bhattacharya would not publish. Via @jeremyfaust.bsky.social insidemedicine.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

Tasha Shelby has spent 27 years wrongly convicted for a crime that never happened; I've represented her for 15 years. Hear from her yourself in the podcast series "Unshakeable Science," One Minute Remaining: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o... @iumaurerlaw.bsky.social @innocencenetwork.bsky.social

Brittany Goldberg, another FDA senior leader, just left the drug center, according to an email viewed by STAT. She previously worked as Vinay Prasad's deputy at the biologics center. She spent around 13 years at the agency. www.statnews.com/2025/04/03/f...

Just heartbreaking: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

This is an excellent concept and a great paper: "The case for information environment as a major independent social determinant of health" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Sorry college students in the Hoosier State. Your college ID 🪪 is once again not allowed to use to vote 🗳️.

FDA leadership has pushed back against concerns from outside observers about the politicization of FDA's new Commissioner's National Priority Voucher program. Today, the President ordered that FDA "shall provide" such vouchers to certain psychedelic drugs. 1/2 www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Good news for collegian voters in the Hoosier State! You can use your College I.D. to vote 🗳️ — for now.

An FDA decision to place 19 peptides on the “unsafe” list was supported by numerous documented safety concerns, former officials said. Even though demand for peptide therapies has exploded since then, there’s been little new science.

Two categories to note: "I didn't want to pay for a doctor's visit" and "I was unable to pay for a doctor's visit." apnews.com/article/ai-c...

Trump administration takes the L, quickly agrees to settle lawsuit and restore the Pride flag at Stonewall National Monument, which it had unlawfully removed in February. Stipulation of voluntary dismissal: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Okay, Illinois friends. Who are we calling to stop this?

Kennedy canceled $500 million in mRNA research and announced no new mRNA projects will ever be initiated—killing the technology that produced the fastest vaccine rollout in human history.

“Whooping cough surged in Mississippi last year, ultimately claiming the life of a baby – the first whooping cough death in the state in 13 years… Kindergarten vaccination rates this year dropped to the lowest level in years.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

Indiana SNAP enrollment dropped 11% in one year. @indianacapitalchronicle.com www.ipm.org/news/2026-04...

NEW: Kentucky’s largest drug rehab center touts a Christian message and a selfless commitment to helping others. But internally, the organization prioritized money over the well-being of its clients and staff, interviews show. W/ @kentucky.com www.propublica.org/article/kent...

“Health economists warned that this AI coding arms race — fueled by AI scribes and autonomous coding tools maximizing codes on one side, and by insurer algorithms trying to minimize payments on the other — is a zero-sum game that could really hurt some of the most vulnerable providers”

The teen's right eye had to be removed. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Glad to see the World Medical & Health Policy journal’s publication of my analysis with @hjarman.bsky.social on the tariffs’ harmful effects on health, examining tariffs’ intersection with SNAP, WIC, and beyond. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

After spending one (1) day navigating America’s health insurance system on behalf of a senior relative I’m ready to burn something down. You should probably not put an insurance company in front of me rn.

Congratulations @michlawreview.bsky.social & @jennoliva.bsky.social! This paper is 💣

New draft paper forthcoming in the @michlawreview.bsky.social that works hard to create a path for state pre-market validation of healthcare coverage algorithms: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... Very much a work-in-progress and comments are extremely welcome.

Says @efusebrown in #HLC2026 by @NUSL: issue - corporate investment in healthcare. Two issues - private equity in hospital and health facilities, and in physician practices. Considered together, but there are different policy solutions. @brownpublichealth.bsky.social

Trump and Hegseth halted funding for research to get blood to wounded U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy sailors: "When someone is wounded and survival depends on the availability of blood, this software would have made that survival more likely. Now it will not." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/s...

Researchers at Stanford University modeled how many people could die or be disabled in 25 years if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria were no longer available. We decided to illustrate it.

“On a daily basis, I debunk “cures” peddled by wellness companies and unproven supplements pushed by social media influencers. I untangle political spin questioning routine procedures, and I reassure against hallucinating AI chatbots that jump to worst-case diagnoses.”

For locals: I will be "in conversation" about this book on Friday (6:00) at Morgenstern's. I promise we won't talk about every single page! morgensternbooks.com/event/2026-0...

The Regime has decimated public health to the extent that the CDC has had to “pause” a program to assist states with testing for rabies and mpox. MAHA!

Rockstar. We need more of this America.

We enjoyed #Opioid #Archive advisory committee member @jennoliva.bsky.social’s presentation on "The New Drug War." Good mentions of #industry #documents and topics raised in the Archive, such as opioid marketing, prescription drug monitoring programs, and buprenorphine: youtu.be/5HtHVSTDQM4?...

My "New" War on Drugs talk w/Georgetown University's HAPI program is tomorrow. It will focus on my Virginia Law Review paper (w/Taleed El-Sabawi): papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... & @inquest.bsky.social essay: inquest.org/everything-o... You can register here: georgetown.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

The Affordable Care Act turned 16 today. Because enhanced ACA tax credits expired, more chronically ill and disabled contractors have foregone health insurance this year. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Some people online believe many of us have dangerous parasites in our gut and need to flush them out with herbal supplements. Here's what doctors say about the trend.

Update: Today, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an order directing counsel for the state to file a sworn affidavit providing a “complete explanation” for the filings that included non-existent cases and other errors.

New judge lifts order blocking absentee ballots in Indiana Senate primary indianacapitalchronicle.com/briefs/new-j...

New KFF poll on expired ACA subsidies (among 2025 marketplace enrollees) —80% report higher health care costs —51% say "a lot" higher —28% switched plans, 9% went uninsured —78% say Congress was wrong to let the funds expire —62% blame Trump or Republicans —14% blame Democrats

missed this yesterday. more career experts/senior leaders leaving FDA...

A new study estimates that the number of deaths from COVID19 early in the pandemic was undercounted by more than 150,000 cases. The undercount was most common among Black, Hispanic and Native Americans, as well as those with low household income.

GuardDog Telehealth admitted it built a business on scooping digital medical records of individual patients from multiple health systems and distributing the information to law firms, according to court documents. Here’s what a lawsuit reveals:

Dolores Huerta issued a statement following the New York Times’ investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez medium.com/@dolores_hue...