iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Today is my oldest child's birthday and in honor, she decided to donate $100 to children's medical care and $50 to feeding kids. "If you want babies to survive, mama, you gotta feed them and give them health care." You sure do, sweet kiddo. Glaringly obvious, even to a 9 year old.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

This is frightening and is going to kill people. The CDC estimates that so far this season (which is not over) there have been 280,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths from flu. Looks like the FDA wants that number to increase next year.

statnews.com

FDA refuses to review Moderna’s influenza vaccine

FDA refuses to review Moderna’s influenza vaccine, which could raise concerns about the agency’s posture toward vaccines and drug approvals more generally.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

In case you needed another reason to love Bad Bunny more. Education + art = power.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

UNCONSCIONABLE. I am beyond angry that this is what my tax dollars are going towards.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

New paper alert! We looked at all #ACA plans nationwide, evaluating (1) choice set and (2) affordability. Sobering results: the avg ACA consumer has 121 plan options to consider -- far too many to be able to make a good decision. (1/n)

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

1) Health Savings Accounts #HSA are a solution to the wrong problem -- they don't address #ACA #premium costs and only deal with point-of-care costs. 2) we find HSA-based plans are terrible for people w/ various chronic illness. Which is >50% of the American pop. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

jamanetwork.com

High-Deductible Health Plans and Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care

This cohort study examines receipt of guideline-concordant health care among individuals with chronic illness enrolled in high-deductible health plans compared with those enrolled in non–high-deductib...

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Putting in some #ASHEcon abstracts for 2026 -- topics are: health insurance selection and consumer decision making; insurance affordability; ACA insurance; costs of care. Please ping me if you have papers in those topics and would like to submit a session with me!

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Sobering work out today. Compared to 18 OECD countries, kids are ~80% more likely to die in the U.S. -- mostly due to prematurity or SIDS (infants) and gun violence/car crashes (kids). >31% of U.S. kids have a chronic illness. All of this likely to get worse due to recent funding cuts.

jamanetwork.com

Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms

This study aims to determine how US children’s health has been changing from 2007 to 2023 using multiple data collection methods and a comprehensive set of health indicators.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

“The PSTF’s members, Kavanaugh wrote, must be appointed by the HHS secretary, who can also fire them whenever he pleases. And… Kavanaugh wrote that the HHS secretary can also directly supervise and overrule the PSTF’s decisions about which treatments must be fully covered by insurance.” 😳

slate.com

The Supreme Court Just Handed RFK Jr. New and Extraordinarily Frightening Power

Congress did not give Kennedy, or any other HHS secretary, these powers. SCOTUS did.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Please read this and share widely, esp w/ your elected representatives. “Targeted projects… were seeking cures for future pandemics, examining the causes of dementia and trying to prevent HIV transmission. The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent.”

projects.propublica.org

Shattered Science: The Research Lost as Trump Targets NIH Funding

The Trump administration cut research funding that sought cures for future pandemics, examined the causes of dementia and tried to prevent HIV transmission. More than 150 researchers shared with ProPu...

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Medicaid work requirements are a bad solution to a non-problem. & as part of the not-beautiful bill, if ppl get kicked off Medicaid for work requirement issues, they aren’t eligible for ACA subsidies, making that insurance out of reach. Cue chronic disease going unmanaged, hospitals w/ bad debt

nytimes.com

Opinion | We Saw Medicaid Work Requirements Up Close. You Don’t Want This Chaos.

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 29/05/2025

22 years ago I pivoted from working on antibiotic resistance to pandemic viruses. Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment. ... We were so goddamn close.

npr.org

Trump administration cancels plans to develop a bird flu vaccine

The Department of Health and Human Services is ending a $766 million contract with the vaccine company Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine for flu strains with pandemic potential, including bird flu.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

This public comment period on COVID vaccine availability ends tonight at 11:59pm ET. Please make your voice heard! www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

regulations.gov

Regulations.gov

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

One of the best parts about this career is that your colleagues become your good friends.

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

AcademyHealth @academyhealth.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Special session announced at #ARM25 "Special Session: Insurer and Provider Consolidation in U.S. Healthcare" with @rgidwani.bsky.social, Amir Dan Rubin, Cheryl Damberg, and Cory Capps. Register here for a discount: buff.ly/VC0PIYT

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

NSF just slashed its graduate research fellowships by 51%. This prestigious program has trained & nurtured at least 42 scientists who went on to become Nobel laureates. We're destroying it, at exactly the time we claim to worry about our "sputnik moment" with China bsky.app/profile/davi...

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

AHRQ is gutted. It is worthwhile to download anything important – codebooks, data, SAS code, tech specs – asap. "Its latest budget... amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending. If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is"

kffhealthnews.org

What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation's Health Care Safer - KFF Health News

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality helped improve health care safety in a country where thousands die of medical errors each year. It was effectively dissolved Tuesday.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Hi folks, in these crazy times, some good news -- the Univ. of CO School of Medicine is hiring for an Assistant Professor in the Div. Geriatrics. Looking for: a health economist with interest in aging . You'd work closely with the incredible @lhnicholas.bsky.social Apply here by Apr 15!

cu.taleo.net

Assistant Professor

Click the link provided to see the complete job description.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

For all the CMS data homies, finally, some action on VRDC. CMS has reviewed public comment and is asking for more, specific feedback from researchers. Please take some time to respond to the questions posed here. It looks like CMS really is considering the feedback we all provided the last round.

nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Research Data Request & Access Policy Changes Feedback Opportunity | CMS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to evaluate our research data request and access policies, processes, and tools to ensure we are maximizing protections for controlled uncl...

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

New research shows 7% of U.S. adults have been exposed to a mass shooting event. 12% of those adults had exposure to a mass shooting at a K-12 school. This suggests that the proportion of U.S. kids exposed to a mass shooting even is much higher.

jamanetwork.com

Direct Exposure to Mass Shootings Among US Adults

This survey study estimates the prevalence of direct exposure to mass shootings among US adults and identifies the sociodemographic groups most exposed.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

For everyone truly concerned about waste/fraud/abuse, a reminder that the Dept of Defense is the largest source of spending for the fed gov't, far outpacing Medicaid, SNAP, SS, etc. The DoD has failed 7 audits in a row. That means it has never passed an audit. thehill.com/policy/defen...

thehill.com

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

AFTER news broke of the 1st child in America dying from measles, RFK Jr's FDA cancelled the meeting to decide on next season's flu vaccines. Cue more people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Despite the importance of primary care in early detection and creating a usual source of care, even the most generous estimates peg primary care spending at only 10% of overall health care spending. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

jamanetwork.com

Measuring Primary Care Spending in the US by State

This case series identifies states’ estimates of primary care spending and recommends steps policymakers can take toward standardizing these estimates.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Just received a professional cold email that started with “I hope you have eaten well this weekend” and I would like you all to know that this is how I will be opening all of my emails to you forthwith.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I don’t think we have to worry about climate change so much anymore. The infectious diseases will kill us before. Also news outlets like @npr, you are failing in reporting on this properly. Less man-swallowed-by-a-whale, more the health infrastructure of the country is being decimated.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Volunteering in your child’s Kindergarten classroom on Valentine’s Day is peak living 🥰

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

For all of the backlash around DEI programs, the WSJ reports they didn't really move the needle over a four year period dedicated to DEI. People in corporate senior roles are still more likely to be white, and most likely to be white men. www.wsj.com/business/dei...

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

AcademyHealth @academyhealth.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

🚨 In light of recent federal shifts, AcademyHealth is rolling out updates to support our community with expert guidance on issues like NIH grant cuts and executive orders. Stay informed with us. academyhealth.org/blog/2025-02...

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

The thing this administration failed to realize is that when you threaten the scientists and professors, that's one thing, but when you threaten university administration, you are dealing with a much more litigious enemy with well-honed lobbying skills.

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Adrianna McIntyre @adrianna.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

The Senate HELP Committee has jurisdiction over NIH. GOP members of the committee represent AK, AL, IN, FL, KS, KY, LA, ME, MO, OH, and SC. Research universities and hospitals in those states need to be extra loud.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

CDC PRAMS data, which looks at maternal mortality and morbidity data, is offline. This after Georgia disbanded its maternal mortality and morbidity review committee, Idaho took its down and revamped it, and Texas decided to skip reviewing maternal deaths for 2022 and 2023.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Digital book burning is right.

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Sarah Quinn @sarahquinn.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

A panel on the Treasury this Thursday, with the incredible @epopppp.bsky.social and @abenewman.bsky.social. This is not just for academics. Everyone needs to understand what's happening right now. Spread the word!

Announcement for a SPECIAL PANEL ON THE TREASURY with pictures of two speakers.

About this event:

What is at stake with the Treasury's payment systems? Recent events make this question more pertinent than ever before. Cutting across governance, policy, economic regulation, and the bureaucracies that sit at the core of the democratic state, the Treasury's financial pipes and plumbing are critical for the nation's well-being. In this special session, Elizabeth Popp Berman (U Michigan) and Abraham Newman (Georgetown U) will discuss why these systems matter as well as the risks posed by their capture by non-state actors. Please join us on Thursday, February 6 at 11 AM PST/ 2 PM EST for what will surely be an excellent conversation.

Please register here: https://ucsd.zoom.us/meeting/register/uSxuanM2TEWy5Hqn4-7KVg

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Reading this put a balm on my frazzled brain.

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Reposted by Risha Gidwani

Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Giving access to SSNs, other data on government employees to non-employees like Musk is a violation of 5 USC 552a, and carries with it a penalty of $1000 per person whose data was accessed. We are building a case. Govt employees who want to participate should contact me directly

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

In a week of a disappointing lack of leadership from Democrats, universities, and most specialty societies, Aaron Carroll and Academy Health have been the opposite -- communicative, insightful, and showing us they are involved in the fight. Dr. Carroll's latest in NYT. THIS is how you message.

nytimes.com

Opinion | Will Republicans Gut Medicaid to Fund Tax Cuts for the Rich?

Proposed cuts would be catastrophic to Americans’ access to care.

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Risha Gidwani @rgidwani.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Reuters, only major news outlet doing its job right now in reporting on Elon’s hostile takeover. This is in its front page. NYT, LA Times, Wash Post all currently national embarrassments and may need to relinquish their journalism cards. www.reuters.com/world/us/mus...

reuters.com

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