Tradeoffs

08/02/2025

Health policy isn’t black and white, and our newsletter helps you navigate the gray.

Each week, we break down one essential story, explaining the tradeoffs, tensions, and real-world stakes behind the headlines.

No jargon. No noise. Just smart context.

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08/01/2025

After losing a friend to an overdose, scientist Nabarun Dasgupta has focused his life’s work on one mission: sharing drug supply data directly with people on the street.

He’s now one of the country’s leading experts on the epidemiology of street drugs, and his lab’s analyses of overdose trends and the ever-changing drug supply are followed closely by policymakers and journalists.

But Dasgupta said his most important audience — and inspiration — are the people who have died or could die of an overdose.

“Our primary mission is getting the information back to individuals who use drugs,” Dasgupta told us. “Their lives are on the line.”


Read more about why he believes this approach saves lives at the link in our bio or at tradeoffs.org.



✍️: Ryan Levi and Dan Gorenstein,
📷: Pearson Ripley, and Mark Kinzly courtesy of Nabarun Dasgupta



Tradeoffs reporting for this story was supported, in part, by the .

07/25/2025

Work requirements led to thousands in Arkansas losing their Medicaid during the first Trump administration. Policymakers say they’ve learned lessons to avoid mistakes this time.

Work requirements led to thousands in Arkansas losing their Medicaid during the first Trump administration. Policymakers say they’ve learned lessons to avoid mistakes this time.

07/24/2025

Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, KY is already taking a hard look at its budget in light of cuts to Medicaid in the newly enacted federal budget bill.

Here’s what that looks like.

Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana is already taking a hard look at its budget in light of Republican cuts to Medicaid.

07/23/2025

An 18-year-old and her dad share the ways they’re navigating anti-trans policies and rhetoric from the federal government as protections disappear.

07/22/2025

We talk with Harvard researcher Ari Ne’eman about why the sharp policy shifts underway in Washington pose a unique threat to people with disabilities.

We talk with Harvard researcher Ari Ne’eman about why the sharp policy shifts underway in Washington pose a unique threat to people with disabilities.

07/21/2025

A conversation with an 18-year-old and her dad about how anti-trans policies have impacted their lives in 2025.

A conversation with an 18-year-old and her dad about how anti-trans policies have impacted their lives in 2025.

07/17/2025

How the federal government has restricted health care access for transgender Americans, and how those shifts in policy and rhetoric are changing life for one Alabama family.

https://tradeoffs.org/2025/07/17/transgender-trumps-america/

07/15/2025

President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now the law of the land.

Just before House Republicans cast their final votes to pass the legislation, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson declared, “We have a big job to finish, and that’s why we’re here.”

The work has just begun, however, for state health officials across the country. They now face the difficult task of putting many of this law’s health reforms into action — some at breakneck speed. Alongside governors and state legislators they must also grapple with what the steep funding cuts will mean for government health care programs, patients and providers.

“The road ahead is daunting,” said Kody Kinsley, who served as North Carolina’s health and human services secretary until early this year.

07/11/2025

The U.S. is facing its largest measles outbreak since 2000, per the CDC.

For Katherine Wells, public health director in Lubbock, Texas, "it's frustrating."

"Because we have the solution, which is a very effective vaccine."

See the full interview:

Katherine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas, describes her fight to stop the largest measles outbreak since 2000 despite a chaotic reorganization of federal health agencies.

07/10/2025

North Carolina’s former health secretary, Kody Kinsley, explains the heavy lift and hard choices ahead of states as they rush to put Republicans’ new health reforms in place.

North Carolina’s former health secretary explains the heavy lift and hard choices ahead of states as they rush to put Republicans' new health reforms in place.

07/07/2025

Health policy changes are happening fast.

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