16: ICE, Medicaid, and the New Attack on Health Care Privacy

This week on Paging America, Miles and Dr. Rob catch up on the latest research on the impact of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” New data from JAMA Health Forum predicts nearly 1,500 unnecessary deaths and 94,000 preventable hospitalizations every year due to massive Medicaid cuts. Together, they break down what these numbers really mean and how these policy choices are shaping real-world hospital capacity and care.

Miles and Dr. Rob welcome Kim Lewis, Managing Director at the National Health Law Program, for an eye-opening discussion about a new policy that allows federal health officials to share Medicaid data with ICE agents. Kim walks through the history of privacy in Medicaid (and why this data-sharing move is unprecedented), the legal and ethical implications, and how this policy undermines public trust in health care, especially for the most vulnerable

Background reading:

• JAMA Health Forum: Projected Health System and Economic Impacts of 2025 Medicaid Policy Proposals

• STAT: GOP tax law will increase overdose deaths by 1,000 each year, analysis finds

• AP: Trump administration hands over Medicaid recipients’ personal data, including addresses, to ICE

• AXIOS: Undocumented immigrants barred from Head Start, other federal benefits

• AXIOS: Community clinics squeezed by immigration checks

• Nurse.org: ICE Concerns May Be Keeping Some Patients From Hospitals, Nurses Say

• MedPage Today: Trump Admin Hands Over Nation’s Medicaid Enrollee Data to ICE

• CT Mirror: Lamont urges CT residents to keep using health centers, despite Trump policy shift

• AP: Lawsuit challenges restrictions on Head Start for kids in the US illegally

• AXIOS: RFK Jr.’s PAC stirs, fueling speculation on a 2028 campaign

• Washington Post: West Virginia’s near-total abortion pill ban upheld by federal court

• WUSF/NPR: Florida’s surgeon general calls for more study of people injured by COVID mRNA vaccines

Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org

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Have thoughts, questions, or your own rural healthcare story? Email us at [email protected].

15: Rural Hospitals Feeling the Pressure

On this episode of Paging America, hosts Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson sit down with Dr. Shelly Johnson, a registered nurse, professor, and former rural hospital executive, for a deep dive into the looming crisis facing rural hospitals across America following Republicans’ Medicaid cuts. Dr. Johnson breaks down how Medicaid cuts uniquely threaten small-town hospitals and why these closures could devastate entire communities.

Background reading:

• The Hill: Rollins suggests Medicaid recipients can replace deported farmworkers

• KFF: Understanding the Intersection of Medicaid and Work: An Update

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Agricultural Workers

• KFF: Potential Implications of Immigration Restrictions on the U.S. Agricultural Workforce

• USDA: Farm Labor

• The Hill: RFK Jr.: ‘No cuts on Medicaid’ in ‘big, beautiful’ law

• The Senate Democrats’ Letter on Rural Hospitals is HERE

• POLITICO: The megabill’s Medicaid cuts shocked hospitals, but they may never happen

Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org

Subscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America. Have thoughts, questions, or your own rural healthcare story? Email us at [email protected].

14: Aftershock of Trump’s Budget Bill: Ghoulish Profiteering

This week on Paging America, former health insurance executive turned whistleblower and author Wendell Potter joins hosts Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson for a candid look inside the health insurance industry, Congressional stock trading scandals, and the hidden forces driving up your healthcare costs. Wendell Potter shares a firsthand look into his time at Cigna and Humana, why he left the industry, and what every American needs to know to protect themselves. Don’t miss his recommendations for healthcare advocates and a preview of his latest investigative project.

Dr. Rob and Miles also unpack the devastating impacts following the passage of Trump’s tax bill and the hypocrisy of several key Republican members of Congress who ultimately voted for the largest reduction to the American social safety net in generations.

Background reading:

• Healthcare Uncovered Substack by Wendell Potter

• Deadly Spin by Wendell Potter

• Derrick Van Orden’s deleted tweet

• Letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Majority Leader Michael Johnson from eight moderate Republicans pushing to protect Medicaid ahead of the final votes

• Statement from Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) saying he would fight against the closure of rural hospitals in Arizona before voting for the bill that will hasten the closure of rural hospitals in Arizona

• Video of Jen Kiggans (VA-02) spewing misinformation about the Trump budget bill

• Newsweek: Republican Unloads Medicaid-Related Stock Before Voting For Trump Tax Bill 

• Citizen Times: NC Sen. Chuck Edwards, with tax break on $1M PPP loan, opposes student loan tax breaks

• Sen. Chuck Edwards inaccurate tweet about Medicaid work requirements

• Rep. Young Kim (CA-40) tweeted that she would not vote for any version of the Trump budget bill “that does not protect vital Medicaid services & address SALT” before doing just that

• Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP: Centene Corporation (CNC) Investors See Over $11 Billion Of Shareholder Value Wiped Out In 1 Day Amid Independent Actuary Data, Withdrawn 2025 Guidance

• NBC News: Kennedy says health insurers promise to change prior authorization process

• HEALTH CARE un-covered: CMS is Trying to Expand Prior Authorization in Traditional Medicare Even Though All Data Points Say That’s a Bad Idea

• NPR: GOP’s History Of Resistance To Social Welfare Programs

Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org

Medicaid Cuts, Wearables, and Vaccine Policy

This week on Paging America, Miles and Dr. Rob break down the devastating implications of the “Big Beautiful Bill” moving through Congress. Then, discuss RFK Jr.’s latest move: a massive federal push for health wearables led by his Surgeon General nominee, and how listeners, especially physicians, can organize, take action.

Background reading:

• The Washington Post: Here’s what’s in Trump and Senate Republicans’ tax and immigration bill

• CNBC: Medicaid cuts in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ will leave millions uninsured, threaten rural hospitals

• STAT: Senate GOP tweaks health care measures in tax bill to win holdouts, please parliamentarian

• The Washington Post: NBC News: GOP Sen. Thom Tillis won’t seek re-election in North Carolina after drawing Trump’s ire

• The Washington Post: Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a vocal Trump critic, won’t seek reelection

• The Hill: Senate defeats Collins proposal to raise taxes on highest earners to help rural hospitals

• STAT: Senate GOP tweaks health care measures in tax bill to win holdouts, please parliamentarian

• NBC News: GOP Sen. Thom Tillis won’t seek re-election in North Carolina after drawing Trump’s ire

• The Washington Post: Key quotes: Tillis floor speech after announcing retirement

• The Washington Post: Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a vocal Trump critic, won’t seek reelection

• Delaware Online: What is a wearable? Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tracking device proposal explained

• CNET: RFK Jr. Announces All Americans Need Health Tracking Devices: Here Are the Pros and Cons

• Financial Times: Robert Kennedy’s touting of health ‘wearables’ sends medical device makers’ shares higher

• Levels Podcast: New Continuous Glucose Monitoring Innovation – Dr.Casey Means

• Levels’ WeFunder page is HERE

• ZDNet: US government wants health trackers for all? What it means for your health, privacy, and wallet

• LifeHacker: Wearables Aren’t Going to ‘Make America Healthy Again’

• CDC’s website: Thimerosal and Vaccines

• Reuters: Exclusive: US CDC vaccine presentation cites study that does not exist, author says

• The New York Times: Kennedy’s New Advisers Rescind Recommendations for Some Flu Vaccines

Emergency Cast: Senate Passes OBBBA

Miles and Dr. Rob hop on to do an emergency podcast following the announcement of the U.S. Senate passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Tune is as they dive into what happens next, and what this means for physicians, their patients, and their hospitals.

Background reading

• The Washington Post: What’s in Trump and Senate Republicans’ tax and immigration bill?

• STAT: Senate GOP tweaks health care measures in tax bill to win holdouts, please parliamentarian

• NBC News: GOP Sen. Thom Tillis won’t seek re-election in North Carolina after drawing Trump’s ire

• The Washington Post: Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a vocal Trump critic, won’t seek reelection

Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org

Weaponizing Health Care in the Immigration Fight

On this week’s episode, Miles and Dr. Rob unpack disturbing reports that the Trump administration shared Medicaid data with ICE, discuss RFK Jr.’s anti-vax allies gaining influence over vaccine policy, threatening public trust and safety, and share the disturbing truth of ICE detention centers and health care access.

Background reading:

• AP: Trump administration gives personal data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees to deportation officials

• PBS News: Trump administration gives data of immigrant Medicaid enrollees to deportation officials

• PBS News: How Republicans’ massive budget bill impacts the Affordable Care Act

• The Hill: Trump administration makes sweeping changes to ObamaCare, ends ‘Dreamer’ coverage

• MedPage Today: CMS Tightens Reins on Obamacare Access

• KFF: Potential Impacts of 2025 Budget Reconciliation on Health Coverage for Immigrant Families

• Nashville Banner: ICE Arrested a Pregnant Tennessee Woman — While in Detention in Louisiana, She had a Stillbirth

• KFF: Key Facts on Health Coverage of Immigrants