Sign in

Margot Sanger-Katz

@sangerkatz.bsky.social
6.4K followers 428 following 93 posts

Covering health care at @nytimes.com. Enjoy metaphors. Dislike mixed metaphors. Reach me on Signal: sangerkatz.01

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Dan Friedman @dfriedman.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
This story is mostly about a plastic surgeon who has trademarked the name "Dr. Penis." Yet the headline does not include that moniker or any dick puns. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...
nytimes.com
A $440,000 Breast Reduction: How Doctors Cashed In on a Consumer Protection Law
2162
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
The One Big Beautiful Bill ratchets up work requirements for Medicaid. In the process it will force states to pay millions more to Equifax to verify that residents qualify for the program. Wild story by @sangerkatz.bsky.social @asmaaelk.bsky.social and Sarah Kliff www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/h...
nytimes.com
‘A Big Positive’: How One Company Plans to Profit From Medicaid Cuts
39252
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Don’t live your life assuming I will never come on Bluesky.
020
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Want to be my boss? @upshot.nytimes.com is looking for a new editor. It's a great job leading a creative, collaborative, fun team, if I do say so myself. t.co/EMsA6p7eSh
t.co
https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/thenewyorktimes/jobs/4596969005
032
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
How the GOP mega-bill bill finds its savings: piling more paperwork on the poor. w/ @sangerkatz.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/u...
nytimes.com
How the G.O.P. Bill Saves Money: Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork
611241
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Big tax cut bills typically don't leave the poor worse off. Bills cutting the safety net don't normally include benefits for the rich. The GOP reconciliation bill is something we haven't really seen before. w/ @aliciaparlap.bsky.social + @sangerkatz.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Big Bill Would Be More Regressive Than Any Major Law in Decades (Gift Article)
Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, released Thursday, offer a detailed view into the effects on income groups.
9267109
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · 04/06/2025
A Complete List of Everything in the Republican Bill, and How Much It Would Cost or Save (This very long list is now updated with Congressional Budget Office estimates) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
02315
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
A bunch of papers cited in the government MAHA report are apparently fake. www.notus.org/health-scien... ‪@emilykennard.bsky.social‬ @margaretmanto.bsky.social‬
notus.org
The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.
186
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Easily one of my favorite stories we've ever worked on. Have you ever... not gotten around to opening your mail for a week or two? That's the kind of thing that will get a low-income family kicked off benefits. The GOP reconciliation bill would ramp up such hurdles.
510340
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
If you want to think more about how paperwork can prevent eligible people from getting benefits, this piece 2020 piece with @emmbadger.bsky.social has a fun quiz, a large survey, and lots of research, and features photos of our boss's mail. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Take the Quiz: Could You Manage as a Poor American? (Published 2020)
See whether you make the kinds of mistakes that can cost poor families food or health insurance.
35430
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Here's a complete list of *everything* in the GOP megabill, thanks to heroic efforts from @aliciaparlap.bsky.social @emmbadger.bsky.social and Josh Katz. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
A Complete List of Everything in the Republican Bill, and How Much It Would Cost or Save
We highlighted the substantive changes made by House Republicans to secure the support of several holdout members.
24571274
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Aatish Bhatia @aatishb.com · 22/05/2025
NEW: Under Trump, the National Science Foundation is awarding grants at the slowest pace in decades. We took a detailed look at every area of science affected by the funding lag. Here's a gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
23376223
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
The Medicaid work requirement in the House bill is a lot stricter than work requirements in previous legislation. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u... with Sarah Kliff
nytimes.com
Republicans Pass Strictest Medicaid Work Requirement They Have Ever Put Forward
107329
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Formerly Richard Mayhew @dmaanderson.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
If House Manager Amendment ending #Silverload is signed into law I expect numerous insurers to leave the ACA market in 2026... Pay particular attention to Texas
2176
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Edwin Park @edwincpark.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
If a non-expansion state newly adopts expansion, hospitals/other providers see those SDPs at 110% of Medicare fall to 100%. Creates another disincentive for states to take up expansion along with other provisions including elimination of existing fiscal incentives to encourage expansion (7/x)
210520
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
tony romm @tonyromm.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Scalise says 2027 is the new target date to implement Medicaid work requirements
273
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Congress is looking at major changes to the Medicaid expansion. New research finds it has saved 27,000 lives. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/h...
nytimes.com
As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives
12617
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/h...
nytimes.com
As Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives
063
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Of course we will report updated CBO numbers when they are published!
110
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Republicans in W&M voted down an amendment that would have permanently extended enhanced Obamacare subsidies. @repstevenhorsford.bsky.social, who introduced it, argued that if Congress was using a current policy baseline for tax cuts, it should also do so for the subsidies.
062
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
In the first 15 minutes of the E&C markup, the number 13.7 million uninsured has already come up twice. It's an exaggeration of what the GOP bill would do. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
nytimes.com
Millions Would Lose Health Coverage Under G.O.P. Bill. But Not as Many as Democrats Say.
153138
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Read @tonyromm.bsky.social on the many the ways the Trump agenda will put pressure on state budgets. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
nytimes.com
Chasing Tax Cuts, Trump and Republicans Want to Make States Pay
002
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
My colleague Claire Cain Miller is hoping to hear from folks about challenges facing boys and young men. Please read her article and share your stories here: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/u...
nytimes.com
What’s Going On With Boys and Young Men? We Want to Hear From You.
030
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
CMS just proposed a rule to make it harder for states to increase their federal Medicaid match by taxing managed care providers. The policy is similar to a provision in the House legislation released last night. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-08566.pdf h/t @newscat44.bsky.social
public-inspection.federalregister.gov
043
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Yes! Thanks for flagging. This rule deals with one subset of these taxes.
010
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Rachel Sachs @rachelsachs.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
There's relatively little substantive content in the text of the MFN EO, but this section is emblematic of the many, many questions people should have about its scope. Where will the Secretary get this pricing information? How will they decide "price targets"? For which drugs? Which countries? Etc.
Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other relevant executive department and agency (agency) officials, communicate most-favored-nation price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.
0105
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
The morning after House Republicans release a plan to reduce Medicaid spending by hundreds of billions, Sen. Josh Hawley is out with an op-ed encouraging his colleagues not to cut the program. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/o...
23813
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
p.s. here's my midnight read on the legislative proposal: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
nytimes.com
Republicans Propose Paring Medicaid Coverage but Steer Clear of Deeper Cuts
010
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Bluesky friends: Any theories about the story behind the special Tennessee DSH policy in this bill?
000
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Read Phil Galewitz on Medicaid provider taxes, in a story that cites many individual hospitals that enjoy paying them and depend on related revenue streams. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Seeking Spending Cuts, GOP Lawmakers Target a Tax Hospitals Love To Pay - KFF Health News
Republicans, on the hunt for spending cuts, are eyeing a special kind of Medicaid tax that nearly every state uses to boost funding for hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers.
154
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Some left-leaning analysts think CBO has underestimated the insurance coverage losses that would be caused by various Medicaid cuts. Read @xpostfactoid.bsky.social for the details: xpostfactoid.blogspot.com/2025/05/cbo-...
xpostfactoid.blogspot.com
CBO lowballs coverage losses if Republicans defund the ACA Medicaid expansion
CBO underestimates coverage losses if Republicans defund the ACA Medicaid expansion
020
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Matt Levine @matt-levine.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
I expect this newsletter to be dollar-positive before it becomes dollar negative. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...
bloomberg.com
Medicaid Taxes Pay for Themselves
Also tariff loans, OpenAI/Microsoft and stock buybacks.
1278
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
There were tons of pre-aca expansions of Medicaid, too.
130
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Absolutely! Our story lays out several of the options and estimates of the state budget hits.
020
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 06/05/2025
In some states, provider taxes and related payments bring in more than a third of overall federal funding for Medicaid. If Republicans end the tactic, red states could feel the most pain.
nytimes.com
G.O.P. Targets a Medicaid Loophole Used by 49 States to Grab Federal Money
129130
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
The use of these taxes to help boost the federal share of Medicaid spending started in the late '80s, but has since become widespread. Every state but Alaska has one. Now Republicans are thinking about rolling them back.
041
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I first learned about Medicaid provider taxes when I was covering health policy in the New Hampshire state legislature in the 2000s. Everyone called them "mediscam." www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
nytimes.com
G.O.P. Targets a Medicaid Loophole Used by 49 States to Grab Federal Money
34014
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Fascinating story by @sangerkatz.bsky.social + Sarah Kliff on an accounting trick nearly every states uses to collect extra federal Medicaid dollars — now potentially targeted by House Republicans looking for savings. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
nytimes.com
G.O.P. Targets a Medicaid Loophole Used by 49 States to Grab Federal Money
175
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
World's weirdest hobby? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/h... @apoorvanyt.bsky.social
030
Reposted by Margot Sanger-Katz
David Fahrenthold @fahrenthold.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
NEW: DOGE is falling far short of its goals — and still drastically over-stating its success. Here’s why: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/u...
nytimes.com
DOGE Is Far Short of Its Goal, and Still Overstating Its Progress
Elon Musk now says his group will produce only 15 percent of the savings it promised. But even that estimate is inflated with errors and guesswork.
35439127
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
I recommend reading the entire story and then thinking about the real challenges in squeezing meaningful amounts of wasteful spending out of Medicare. Here's the link again: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/h...
nytimes.com
Medicare Bleeds Billions on Pricey Bandages, and Doctors Get a Cut
Medicare spending on “skin substitutes” made of dried placenta has soared as doctors pocket lucrative discounts from sellers.
022
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
But the story makes clear that the overuse enriches both the bandage companies and the doctors who use them--two groups who now oppose any payment cuts.
220
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
It's hard to think of many examples of wasteful Medicare spending that are quite this obvious. It is notable that the president personally opposes reining it in.
111
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Medicare spent more than $10b last year on these skin substitutes. For context, the personnel budget for the entire HHS workforce was around $17.6b.
121
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Here's why the products themselves are so expensive.
111
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
They interviewed one doctor who charged Medicare $17m least year for using the special bandages, made from dried placentas and infant foreskins. He said he took home $4m. He said he retired after other doctors were beating him into patients' homes to do the procedures.
110
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The current administration is hunting for ways to save money on wasteful spending. Yet Mr. Trump has posted on social media in support of the companies.
211
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
As they report, the companies that make these skin substitutes--a fancy kind of bandage--have exploited loopholes in Medicare's pricing policies to charge high prices. Then they offer financial incentives to doctors to overuse them on patients.
131
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
If you want to understand the problem of "waste, fraud, and abuse" in federal health programs, you should read this great piece by Sarah Kliff and @bykatiethomas.bsky.social on scammy skin substitute companies. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/h...
15124
Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The House passed the Senate budget. Here's what's in it. www.nytimes.com/interactive/... @aliciaparlap.bsky.social
nytimes.com
House Budget Resolution Vote: What’s Changed
The new resolution calls for more tax cuts and fewer reductions in spending. It would increase the federal debt by a lot more.
193