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Kevin Griffith

@assumenormality.bsky.social
2.8K followers 394 following 551 posts

Assistant Professor of Health Policy at Vanderbilt w/ expertise in access to care, Medicaid, Veterans' health. Formerly Boston University, Department of Defense, US Army (CIV). Views are my own. #HealthEconomics #PublicHealth

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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Science Magazine @science.org · 04/09/2026
Butterfly populations across the U.S. are in alarming decline, a 2025 Science study found. ⁠ The authors note that butterflies have the potential for rapid recovery under favorable conditions, showing the importance of proactive conservation strategies.⁠ scim.ag/46vegsb #NationalWildlifeDay
Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I was referring to Buc-ee's that just wrote off half of Americans! Wait what others did I miss? www.aol.com/articles/buc...
aol.com
Buc-ee’s CEO says ‘conservative’ states will get stores — and there are three requirements any location must meet - AOL
Texas-based Buc-ee’s now operates in at least a dozen states, which are primarily Republican-leaning or conservative
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
What a way to torch your brand's reputation in 2 weeks!
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Atheendar Venkataramani @atheendar.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
2/ A guy died! Was anything he did or did not do so important to humanity that he needed to be bullied to death? We are terrible, terrible people.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Hm, that sure looks familiar! Latter from jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Right after Highway 1 reopened; Edward Abbey was right.
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Ed @notdred.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Trump is a buffoon but RFK got exactly what he wanted here. The data are pretty clear that if you spread the vaccine appointments out then parents don’t come back for them. They don’t want kids to get the vaccines.
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Paul Szoldra @paulszoldra.com · 14/07/2026
Internal Pentagon documents obtained by @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social show Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team began laying the groundwork for a new review of women in combat just weeks after he took office. Read our exclusive report: thewarhorse.org/women-in-com...
thewarhorse.org
Hegseth Ordered a New Study of Women in Combat. Critics Say It’s Built to Reach One Conclusion
Defense Secretary Hegseth convened a team to study women in combat roles with a controversial researcher to lead the inquiry.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Oi vey. That's ridiculous!
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
My villain origin story is university administration requiring four different departments to review and approve my purchase of an Excel crosswalk between two different types of billing codes Gotta justify those indirects somehow I guess!
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With Kennedy’s Agenda Agency scientists are advising against allowing widespread use of several peptide injections. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has said people should be free to experiment. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/h...
nytimes.com
A Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With R.F.K.’s Agenda
Agency scientists are advising against allowing widespread use of several peptide injections. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has said people should be free to experiment.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Question for other soft money faculty: How often do your finance/grant folks email you with requests and forms to fill out each month, on average?
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🚨 New in @plosone.org led by @geronimob.bsky.social! Physical therapy is an alternative to opioids for musculoskeletal pain However, referral requirements may be a barrier Physical therapy direct access laws were associated with fewer opioid prescriptions LINK: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org
The impact of physical therapy direct access policy on opioid shipments and opioid-related deaths: A difference-in-differences analysis
Background We exploit state-level policy changes for physical therapy direct access to estimate the effect of enacting direct access physical therapy policy on per-capita opioid pill volume (PCPV) and...
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Samsun Naher sharing new work at #ASHEcon2026 - did Medicaid expansion crowd out private coverage for Mexican Americans? She found expansion increased Medicaid coverage by 9.%, decreases private coverage by 2.8% (~30% crowdout)
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
If you're still at #ASHEcon2026, let me shamelessly plug two of my presentations: 930am: does congestion explain why veterans tend to see lower quality providers in the VA's community care network? 1230pm: how has Medicaid expansion affected hospitals' bad debt & charity costs pre/post COVID-19?
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Rich Nelson sharing evidence on a novel produce prescription program at two VA medical centers $100/month for 12 mos dietitian coaching. What happened? ↓ blood pressure ↑ BMI (income effect?) ↑ outpatient costs ↓ ED costs ↔ food insecurity #ASHEcon2026
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
AAUP @aaup.org · 08/06/2026
Today, the AAUP released the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2025–26. It is sobering. Full-time faculty salaries are down about 0.4% in real, inflation-adjusted terms. Average full-time faculty salaries remain 9.5% below fall 2019 & about 5.8% below fall 2008. 1/
aaup.org
Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession Now Available
This year's Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession finds that faculty salaries are still losing ground to inflation and expands data collection on part-time faculty pay.
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
NBER @nber.org · 05/06/2026
Examining weight stigma shows that the "obese" cutoff increases patient mortality. Analyses of diagnostic effort and clinical documentation point to stigma as a mechanism, from Manasvini Singh www.nber.org/papers/w35277
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
You're very welcome! I wish there had been time for non-canned, prescreened questions, but alas
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
FIN
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Q: How do we encourage young scholars to participate in NIH peer review? Online meetings don't provide same professional development Jay: I've ordered at least one in-person meeting each year But you still get experience networking/learning about the process even if meetings are virtual
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Existing strategy with peer review and paylines tends to do the opposite But we need to be more high risk/ high reward in what NIH chooses to fund
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
New strategy will allow NIH to pluck out more innovative proposals that may be high reward if they work, even if they had a lower score Jay recommends that if you want more predictability, submit proposals that are on the bleeding edge, not iterative/derivative
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Q: Submitting grants is often negative/zero for economists in hard money departments. So how do we make this process less onerous and unpredictable? Jay: Unified Funding Strategy is supposed to address this. Moving away from payline strategy will show us to focus on portfolio
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Health_Economics@NIH.gov is also a resource your can send research ideas to and they will help match make you to staff at relevant institutes that may be a good fit!
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Health_Economics@NIH.gov is also a resource your can send research ideas to and they will help match make you to staff at relevant institutes that may be a good fit!
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This effort is still in "socialization" stage, trying to figure out how best to implement this Also, need to think creatively about how to tie research to other institutes. Don't just submit to NIA by default because you use Medicare data
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Audience Q: Much HE work is not disease-focused, so hard to fit in institutes outside of NIA. What kind of HE research would be more desirable to others? Jay: NIA, NIHCD are best historically. Working to make all institutes support HE research that is rigorous and "in scope" (see previous skeet)
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Aaron Schwartz @aschwartz.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Pretty poor rates of referrals to specialists being converted from primary care orders to completed specialty encounters. Work by @assumenormality.bsky.social
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
In his view, good HE reaearch needs to infom decisions *within* NIH scope - patients, clinicians, hospitals, public health. Research that just informs policymakers, engaging in advocacy, is OUT of scope and less likely to be funded
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Discussed marginalization of health economics at NIH following ACA debate and bad faith "death panel" critiques Believes health economics research is vitally important for US and global health, would like to see it no longer relegated to a 2nd order NIH concern
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Jay Battacharya speaking now at #ASHEcon2026 🧵 First addresses plight of early career researchers and growing age at first R01 grant award Nowadays average is 44-45 years? Need to find a way to lower than and support early career scholars
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Sooyeon Song sharing new research on which orthopedic low value services are predictive of Medicare spending and 30-day readmissions in the next year #ASHEcon2026
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Paul Shafer evaluating a telenephrolology pilot in the VA, finding no effects on patient wait times or community care spending Limited staffing at many clinics may explain failure to move the needle #ASHEcon2026
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Early risers at #ASHEcon2026, come see my work looking at referral frictions from primary to specialty care in the VA!
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Who's going to #ASHEcon2026?
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The Feed is Fake www.vulture.com/article/soci...
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Was glad to have the opportunity to join @selenasd.com on All Things Considered yesterday to chat about the new work requirements regulation, which is will dial up paperwork — and, as a result, coverage losses — for some of the most vulnerable Medicaid enrollees
npr.org
Trump administration puts out strict Medicaid work rules
Work rules for sick people on Medicaid will be stricter than advocates had hoped. The Trump administration released its guidance for states, which have to stand up the new bureaucracies by Jan. 1.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
We knew what you meant 😜
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
New RCT evidence from @adrianna.bsky.social and coauthors testing effects of work requirements for SNAP Some enrollees get exemptions, others did not Work requirements had very small effects on employment, but large effects on enrollment Preview of what to expect in Medicaid next year #ARM26
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Watched an interview with Orson Welles where the guy asks him if he has any regrets and he immediately goes “MINE ARE AS COUNTLESS AS THE SANDS OF THE DESERT” and how can you not fucking love Orson Welles
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Medicaid work requirements are projected to cause many workers to lose eligibility due to weekly fluctuations in the number of hours worked New research by Paul Shafer, @thcallaghan.bsky.social, and Dave Anderson at #ARM26
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Many Veterans use care outside the VA, and simple risk adjustment will miss a lot of comorbidities and outcomes Predictive quality is notably improved when accounting for VA-purchased community care data, less so for Medicare/Medicaid! New research at #ARM26 by @megan-vanneman.bsky.social
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
So who's going to #ARM26?
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Just heard this too, and that ResDAC has been barred from any public announcements
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Reposted by Kevin Griffith
Aaron Schwartz @aschwartz.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Supposedly they are shutting down ResDAC in 5 weeks, and, I’m told, replacing them with a totally novice firm with no experience/expertise in Medicare data.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Narrative violation 📢 VA actually does excellent work under very tough constraints. 78% of VA facilities earned 4 or 5 stars, the highest percentage since CMS first started rating them in 2023. VA accounted for ~15% of all 5-star rated hospitals in 2026! www.militarytimes.com/veterans/202...
militarytimes.com
VA hospitals earn top marks in federal review
Roughly 78% of VA medical centers earned four or five star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this year.
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Come work with us! Open rank faculty search for Vanderbilt's Department of Health Policy jobs.academyhealth.org/job/assistan...
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Kevin Griffith @assumenormality.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
actually lol'd at this
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Seth Trueger @mdaware.org · 02/04/2026
this is the most relatable space travel has ever felt to me
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