Tradeoffs

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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07/05/2025

Harvard researcher Ari Ne’eman explains 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.

07/03/2025

With the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on its way to President Trump for signing, significant cuts to critical health programs are now virtually assured.

In a June 18th webinar with economists and doctors from the University of Pennsylvania, we examined why this legislation could cost so many people their health coverage — or even their lives.

Their main takeaways?

▶ The legislation would significantly increase the amount of red tape many people must navigate to get and keep health insurance.

▶ The evidence proving the value of health insurance is much stronger today than it was just two decades ago.

▶ Harms to health from the proposed legislation would also arise from rollbacks of current regulation.

To better understand the health implications of this bill, give this full conversation a read or a listen at the link in our bio or at tradeoffs.org.