lavoiselinist.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

I am not doing well with today's news. The U.S. is abandoning the global fight against TB, an incredibly dangerous disease I have to get tested for at regular intervals because of the biologic I'm on.

submitted 6 hours ago • 6 comments

Hello! I’m a vice president at @kff.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit that focuses on data, polling and journalism. My focus is on all things #Medicaid Follow along to see our latest work here: www.kff.org/medicaid/

submitted 14 hours ago • 1 comment

Some of my very favorite people in the world who I deeply respect are working together day and night to save Medicaid (again); I don't believe in much right now, but I wholeheartedly believe in that. 💕

submitted 13 hours ago • 0 comments

The Social Security Administration is telling employees internally via email that they will be undergoing a "restructuring," and offering voluntarily separation/optional retirement for everyone. This is consistent with the proposed 50% reduction in staff that we reported yesterday.

submitted 14 hours ago • 25 comments

A Bird Flu update in the new @thelancet.bsky.social www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... 🧵on the US response

submitted 12 hours ago • 10 comments

Many Medicaid recipients do not know they receive it because Medicaid is called different things in different states. The public narrative of Medicaid focuses on a distant other, but 40% of US children and 60% of nursing home residents receive Medicaid. Just SOME of the names by state are below:

submitted 20 hours ago • 57 comments

SSA employee to me re: 50% staff reduction: "Can say unequivocally that such deep cuts to SSA, which is already at historically low staffing, will cause significant to extreme degradation of services, very likely including checks missed and individuals dying before their claims can be processed."

submitted 1 day ago • 122 comments

This “massive” reduction in SSA staff will cause real suffering for people who need Social Security—which is to say, all of us. 69 million Americans get benefits now—that’s us, our parents & grandparents, our neighbors. The rest of us will, perhaps sooner than we think. More tomorrow…

submitted 11 hours ago • 1 comment

An underappreciated dynamic in the battle over Medicaid cuts: 7 red/purple states have expanded the program by popular vote since Congress tried to slash funding in 2017. Collectively, those states have enrolled a million people. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

submitted 11 hours ago • 2 comments

110 of 363 Taxpayer Assistance Centers and 5 of 10 call centers are going to be shut down, per a meeting that just happened at the IRS. During tax season.

submitted 15 hours ago • 130 comments

Musk and Trump wanted to start with what they saw as the weakest, wokest government agency, to slaughter it and hang it on a pike as a warning not to disobey the king.

submitted 13 hours ago • 21 comments

Urban Institute models illustrative #Medicaid per capita caps like those in House-passed 2017 repeal bill. Consistent with CBO's illustrative estimates: federal spending cuts of up to $1.1T/10 yrs. Also estimates combined impact of caps + eliminating expansion match. www.urban.org/research/pub...

submitted 15 hours ago • 0 comments

The massive budget cuts to health care, food assistance, & other services approved by House Republicans this week promise enormous harm to communities from coast to coast, as frontline leaders in the states have been loudly trying to say. Let’s take a tour of some examples🧵

submitted 16 hours ago • 1 comment

Eliminating taxation of #SocialSecurity benefits would be unwise. Here’s why: www.cbpp.org/blog/elimina...

submitted 17 hours ago • 0 comments

REVELING IN REGULAR PEOPLE’S MISERY IS NOT PRAXIS!!! Shout it from the rooftops

submitted 23 hours ago • 4 comments

"A cut to Medicaid is a cut to community health centers. It's a cut to the services 32 million Americans receive, including many, many seniors." - @sanders.senate.gov

submitted 19 hours ago • 4 comments

The Social Security Expansion Act, intro'd by @sanders.senate.gov today, would: - Make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years. - Lift millions of seniors out of poverty - Expand benefits for seniors and people with disabilities by $2400 a year

submitted 18 hours ago • 19 comments

“I know there’s gonna come a point where I’m gonna die because I can’t afford any more doctors.” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

submitted 18 hours ago • 1 comment

42 states contract with #Medicaid managed care to deliver services. Overall, 75% of enrollees receive care through a managed care plan and MCOs account for over half of all Medicaid spending. For these and other stats check out our updated brief: www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

submitted 18 hours ago • 0 comments

Despite the superficial resonance between "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) and progressive critiques of psychiatry, the differences between them could not be more pronounced—nor more consequential.

submitted 20 hours ago • 13 comments

we’ve no doubt had sexual predators in office forever, but the fact that people are knowingly, willingly voting for predatory men at all levels of government is disturbing in a way that’s difficult to articulate.

submitted 100 days ago • 112 comments

“This is an unprecedented overstep in authority, but instead of coming from Republicans, it’s coming from a Democrat in one of the bluest states in the country. They’re the ones that are supposed to be fighting to protect academic freedom. This is a tremendous abdication of that responsibility.”

submitted 23 hours ago • 6 comments

You've heard of girl math, but have you heard of billionaire math? Trump's temporary tax handouts for the rich are expiring this year, and Republicans want working Americans to foot the bill. They're claiming it'll cost you nothing, but in reality, these tax handouts cost trillions.

submitted 22 hours ago • 70 comments

Among those fired from Social Security's Office of Transformation is the woman leading the effort to identify and enroll child survivors. These kids experienced the death of a parent, but they aren't getting the Social Security benefits their parents earned. 🧵 www.govexec.com/management/2...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

This is a huge loss. One of the departing Social Security regional commissioners, LeeAnn Stuever, led the agency's ambitious effort to reform overpayments--you may recall the reporting on 60 Minutes, Cox/Kaiser, and elsewhere (links below). Her thoughtful and careful work helped so many people. 💔

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Low-income Americans "do not get any or enough legal help for 92 percent" of issues. One reason? Lawyers keep a monopoly on legal advice. Nurses can help with medical procedures. There's a big push to make the same possible with legal services. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

DOGE has announced a total of 45 Social Security field office closures--so far. SSA has 1,200 field offices where people can receive in-person help getting benefits, updating records, enrolling in Medicare & more. They served 30M applicants & beneficiaries in 2023 — nearly 120K per day.

submitted 1 day ago • 55 comments

"It is no exaggeration to say this will kill people—mainly people who are elderly, disabled and/or poor. Society’s most vulnerable sit in the crosshairs of our nation’s wealthiest people who have absolutely everything, but somehow always want more."

submitted 1 day ago • 99 comments

An unvaccinated child in west Texas has died of measles – the first death in ten years. RFK Jr.'s response? “It’s not unusual,” he said of the contagion when pressed by reporters. “We have measles outbreaks every year.”

submitted 1 day ago • 89 comments

Medicaid: we have a very little bit of time to catch our breath and gather our thoughts. We have two chambers to fight this in - House and Senate. We also need to bring in Governors and Mayors

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

This will kill thousands and thousands of disabled Americans, which is entirely the point. Eugenics.

submitted 1 day ago • 14 comments

It's time to double down on the advocacy & education. Over the coming weeks & months, the House & Senate have to come to an agreement on one resolution, draft legislation, & then try to pass that legislation. Together, we can stop these cuts & protect Medicaid.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

If one of these is your member of Congress, they just voted for a budget that could lead to 40 million Americans losing health coverage — to give a tax cut to the wealthy. Tell your representative: HANDS OFF [email protected] @capaction.bsky.social #medicaid #congress #Republicans

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

82% of voters including 71% of Trump voters oppose making #Medicaid cuts to help offset the cost of tax cuts as under the House budget resolution: thehill.com/policy/healt...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

On the HHS Leadership call today: 1 employee from CMS (Center for Medicare/Medicaid Service) and 2 employees from SSA (Social Security Administration) have died by suicide after their firing.

submitted 1 day ago • 1493 comments

As the U.S. House advances a budget bill that would cut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid, here's what Medicaid is all about. Watch the full #CareTalk ep w/ @aorris.bsky.social @centeronbudget.bsky.social youtube.com/live/PyFUp43...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

With passage of a House budget resolution that could mean $880 billion in federal spending cuts for #Medicaid, new @kff.org analysis looks at potential federal savings and implications for states and enrollees of a cap on per enrollee spending. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

More than 79 million people in the U.S. receive services from Medicaid or the closely related Children’s Health Insurance Program. KFF Health News correspondent Sam Whitehead discusses Medicaid's history and role in the U.S. health system. youtu.be/PcZJypQip7A?...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

BREAKING: Two sources tell @theprospect.bsky.social that the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration has asked for a plan for cuts to 50% of the workforce, including at the 1,200 field offices that serve millions of beneficiaries. prospect.org/health/socia...

submitted 1 day ago • 375 comments

🔥 @aoc.bsky.social : “The numbers don’t add up. $880 BILLION is a devastating cut to Medicaid, and an attack on Medicare. Anyone who votes for this budget is voting to cut Medicaid and gut health care for Medicare recipients in 🇺🇸.” Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DGg7cr0...

submitted 2 days ago • 539 comments

Last night’s passage of the House Republican budget is an extreme giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

The passage of the House budget betrays the President’s campaign promises to protect families who struggle financially, as well as his specific pledge to not cut #Medicaid, which provides health coverage for 72 million people. www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

New KFF analysis on impact of #Medicaid per capita cap. States would have to contribute $532 billion/10 yrs more in their own funding or deeply cut their Medicaid programs - leading to a nearly $1 trillion federal spending cut & 15 million people losing coverage. www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

A dear friend of mine asked me: "Ben ... serious question: What the fuck do we do? We ordinary citizens without access to any real levers of power." I wrote him a lengthy reply which he said he found helpful, so I thought I'd share it here. 🧵 1/

submitted 23 days ago • 24 comments