iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Adam Gaffney

Ed Cara @edcara.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Wrote about the pseudoscience and conspiracy theory beliefs underlying RFK Jr.'s supposed plan to tackle Lyme disease for good. My thanks to @awgaffney.bsky.social for some of his thoughts! gizmodo.com/rfk-jr-s-new...

gizmodo.com

RFK Jr.'s New Lyme Plan Is More Conspiracy Than Science

Chronic Lyme disease is a dubious medical diagnosis, but that isn't stopping RFK Jr. from boosting it.

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I wrote about patient autonomy and children vaccine mandates and why they have nothing to do with each other — with some insights from the ICU. www.statnews.com/2026/05/18/p...

statnews.com

‘Patient autonomy’ has nothing to do with childhood vaccine policies

Opinion: Vaccine policy it is not a matter of autonomy at all, because infants do not decline vaccination — their parents do.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I wrote about patient autonomy and children vaccine mandates and why they have nothing to do with each other — with some insights from the ICU. www.statnews.com/2026/05/18/p...

statnews.com

‘Patient autonomy’ has nothing to do with childhood vaccine policies

Opinion: Vaccine policy it is not a matter of autonomy at all, because infants do not decline vaccination — their parents do.

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

MedPage Today @medpagetoday.com · 06/05/2026

Will the coming cuts to Medicaid spare the "truly needy"? History suggests that they won't, a study finds. @awgaffney.bsky.social www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

medpagetoday.com

Will the Coming Cuts to Medicaid Spare the 'Truly Needy'?

History suggests that they won't, a study finds

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Our new paper was just published in @atsblueeditor.bsky.social Authored by the Lung Health Policy Tracking Group — a panel of lung specialists & public health experts — our paper explores impacts of Trump policies on Lung Health in 10 domains. Open access link to "online first" version:

academic.oup.com

Implications of Year 1 Trump Administration Policies for Americans’ Lung Health

Adam W Gaffney, MD, MPH, Steffie Woolhandler, MD MPH, David C Christiani, MD, MPH, MS, Mary B Rice, MD MPH, John Balmes, MD, C Corey Hardin, MD PhD, Cecile

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Tearing down the Stalinist monuments to this regime will be such a satisfying, salubrious, democratizing endeavor once the time comes. People will fill the streets, I suspect, but who knows.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

It is journalistic malpractice by CBS to use a debunked photo of an alleged UFO as a caption for this tweet without mentioning that it has been debunked. What a stupid era we are living through.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

UFO conspiracism, ivermectin conspiracism, chemtrails conspiracism, anti-vaccine conspiracism etc. etc. are part and parcel of the same obscurantist, right-wing, anti-Enlightenment, dark ages brain fog that is settling over the US states.

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 19/02/2026

“Medicaid’s origins,” writes Adam Gaffney(@awgaffney.bsky.social), “lie in a state-centric welfare model ideologically predicated on the same distinction between the ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ that underpins the Trump administration’s new work requirements.”https://go.nybooks.com/46HtWJn

nybooks.com

Medicaid Undone | Adam Gaffney

One year ago President Donald Trump promised to “love and cherish” Medicaid. Alas, his affection for the public insurance program was short-lived. The

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 18/02/2026

“We need to restore Medicaid, and to improve it,” writes @awgaffney.bsky.social. “But the best way to advance its mission in the long term would be to replace it with something better.”

nybooks.com

Medicaid Undone | Adam Gaffney

One year ago President Donald Trump promised to “love and cherish” Medicaid. Alas, his affection for the public insurance program was short-lived. The

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

I have an essay in the New York Review of Books about the Trump Administration’s cuts to Medicaid, and more broadly about the program’s origins, strengths, & flaws — and why the best way to advance its mission might be to replace it with something better. www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

nybooks.com

Medicaid Undone | Adam Gaffney

One year ago President Donald Trump promised to “love and cherish” Medicaid. Alas, his affection for the public insurance program was short-lived. The

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

MedPage Today @medpagetoday.com · 22/12/2025

Among participants in a survey on healthcare expenses, 17.4% and 9.9% said they experienced cost burdens or catastrophic cost burdens at least once over 4 years. @awgaffney.bsky.social www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

medpagetoday.com

More Americans Experience Troublesome Healthcare Costs Than Previously Thought

Findings of nationally representative survey suggest need for 'abolishing price tags'

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

When we look at rates of underinsurance and similar metrics of medical cost-burdens over just one year, we fail to see that the problem affects far more Americans over time. You may not be cost-burdened by care costs today, but you could be tomorrow. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

jamanetwork.com

Burdensome Health Care Spending Over Time in the US

This cohort study assesses burdensome out-of-pocket health care costs over a 4-year period among individuals in the US.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Our new study just up in JAMA IM: we track Americans' out-of-pocket health spending longitudinally over a four-year period, showing that risks mount year after year. Whereas 11.8% of adults experience healthcare financial strain after 1 year, risk rises to 26.7% over four years

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Our article in Health Affairs Forefront on the “real waste, fraud, and abuse” in healthcare — Medicare and Medicaid privatization — is now up. MA Overpayments & excess Medicaid managed care overhead could cost as much as $1.9 trillion in coming decade. www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/f...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

I feel like this fake big animal sightings are too common!

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

Amin @aminad.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

🗞️Hot off the press in @atsblueeditor.bsky.social! Our analysis shows that unfavourable social and environmental exposures explain a much larger share of racial disparities in lung function than previously thought. Details: doi.org/10.1164/rccm... @msafavi.bsky.social @awgaffney.bsky.social

doi.org

Social Determinants of Health and Racial Disparities in Lung Function: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007–2012 | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Congratulations on this publication - important work

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Another great PNHP annual national conference !

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

... that they are SUBSIDIZING it. Yes, immigrants (including undocumented) pay more into public and private healthcare programs than they use in services, subsidizing the native-born. inthesetimes.com/article/trum...

inthesetimes.com

Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Claims on Healthcare Aren’t Just Xenophobic—They’re False

Far from draining the nation’s healthcare coffers, immigrants are actually shoring them up. But that reality is inconvenient for Republicans.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

...eligible for Medicaid were it not for their immigration status, so-called "Emergency Medicaid" (<0.5% of Medicaid spending). That is it. This is just non-stop lying & scapegoating. Immigrants are not "taking" native-born Americans healthcare. In fact, research shows...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

...for whom it matters: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, or ACA subsidized plans, full stop. There is a negligible amount of Medicaid funds for hospitals that (as they should and legally must) provide emergency care to some people who would be...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

It's not clear to me how to respond to this endless stream of unrepentant, shameless lying from unrepentant, shameless liars like this. To be clear: I believe in taking care of everyone no matter where they're from, so I'm not so interested in these distinctions. But for those...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

* associated with it amongst the powerful and influential

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Easy to feel despondent now, but it’s important to remember that there is a real possibility that the Trumpian political project crashes & burns, anyone remotely associated with it is permanently discredited politically & morally, & a window opens for substantive positive change.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

"Unless you are extraordinarily rich, it is effectively not possible to save enough money to cover the costs of a serious illness or major trauma,” Gaffney said. “For the uninsured, medical debt and bankruptcy is just one major illness or injury away.” www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

nbcnews.com

‘It’s only gotten worse’: As ACA premiums are set to climb, some Americans opt to go uninsured

Enhanced subsidies for Obamacare have kept premiums affordable. Absent action from Congress, they will expire at the end of the year.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

So an anonymous billionaire Trump ally is dispersing $130 million in personal cash to US troops. Truly crossing new rubicons weekly www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

FND Portal @fndportal.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Excellent thread

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Reposted by Adam Gaffney

Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

In wake of the CDC shooting, so-called "post-vaccination syndrome" has come back into discussion, as this report from @nbcnews.com describes. The assailant attributed health issues including depression to COVID-19 vaccines. I'm quoted, & wrote about the... www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

nbcnews.com

Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting

Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

but also lead us to unhelpful remedies or to misunderstandings of our illness. Particularly during this age of unprecedented and politicized anti-vaccination fervor, the establishment of a dubious 'post-vaccination syndrome,' on shaky science, is dangerous." Link below.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

This was how I concluded my STAT piece in March on "post-vaccination syndrome": "But diagnoses are pragmatic constructs, structured both by biomedical realities and by social and political discourses. They can help us identify useful treatments and avoid injurious exposures,

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

No doubt: this is a complex issue in the clinic, requiring care, nuance, and humility. But **enshrining diagnoses** premised on cause-and-effect processes that may not be present helps no one.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Challenging popular understandings of the underlying cause of non-specific symptom complexes is not popular, whether in the vaccine realm or in other domains. These challenges are often criticized as "medical gaslighting", or more academically as "epistemic injustice."

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

... higher depression/anxiety scores in the Yale study. This does not mean the vaccine caused it: it could also well be that depression was a driver of their physical symptoms, which is extremely common, a hypothesis that was not considered by the study authors.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

as the New York Times put it. Of course, as I wrote at the time, differences in some such parameters (many very small) could have many explanations — including depression itself, which is a biological process. Indeed, those with self-described post-vaccination syndrome had ...

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Once you accept that premise, and then run huge numbers of assays examining average differences in biological parameters, you will find some differences that can then be used to conclude that those with post-vaccine syndrome (PVS) have "distinct biological changes,"

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

...published earlier this year, which generated so much excitement in right-wing anti-vaccine circles (not the fault of the authors) was the implicit premise of a "post-vaccination syndrome" definable by individuals' understanding of their symptoms being caused by vaccines.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

... issue in depth in March. The widespread attribution of non-specific symptom complexes, including depression, to vaccinations should not be accepted as causal, even if that is how many people experience it. The fundamental flaw of the Yale preprint,

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

nbcnews.com

Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting

Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

The AP has a story on the impact of Medicaid cuts for patients and our study quantifying those effects nationally — the accompanying video is powerful as it presents the story of a patient with cancer worried about falling between the cracks. apnews.com/article/medi...

apnews.com

Debt and delayed care forecast for some who lose insurance under tax and spending law

Delayed treatments, canceled doctor visits and skipped prescriptions: Researchers say all will increase because of the tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump earlier this…

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

And here’s my written testimony www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

help.senate.gov

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

And coming from the man who slashed programs that fought hunger, disease, and poverty

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

I testified today for the Senate HELP Committee on issue of healthcare affordability. The “Big Beautiful Bill” will worsen the crisis of healthcare affordability — and cause thousands of deaths. Medicare-for-All will deliver full coverage for everyone, at an affordable price for the nation. Link:

senate.gov

ISVP

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Adam Gaffney @awgaffney.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Let’s not move on from the “Big Beautiful Bill” so quickly? The law will shred the US healthcare safety net. The deaths it causes may seem invisible — medical neglect causes heart attacks, kidney failure, strokes — that will register as “natural,” but will be something more.

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