Episode #49 Deep Dive – No Kings and the Fight for Democracy with Ezra Levin
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
››› New health care polling
First, KFF released a poll titled, “Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees”. As you’d expect, the fallout from the expired ACA enhanced premium tax credits is grim. Here are some toplines:
80% of ACA marketplace enrollees say their costs are higher this year compared to last year and half say their health care costs are “a lot higher” this year.
ACA Marketplace enrollees are worried about affording their monthly premiums, as well as out-of-pocket expenses such as emergency care or routine medical visits.
Among 2025 Marketplace enrollees who have re-enrolled in Marketplace coverage, 55% say they are (or will be) cutting back spending on food or basic household items in order to afford the costs of coverage and care. The number jumps to 62% for those with chronic health conditions
One in ten 2025 Marketplace enrollees say they are now currently uninsured.
Navigator also has a new poll titled, “Perceptions of Food and Ag Policy in the House and Senate Battlegrounds” that polled constituents in 62 battleground congressional districts and seven battleground Senate states. The top concern of those polled was “Lowering the cost of health care” (68%.) That was followed closely by food safety (61%.)
This poll also showed that RFK Jr.’s popularity and job approval is under water in both battlegrounds:
Democrats are trusted more on “Supporting policies that make Americans less likely to get sick”, “Improving the health of Americans”, “Making food affordable”, and “Ensuring our food is safe.” However, respondents trusted Republicans more when it comes to “Getting ultra-processed food out of schools” and “Supporting America’s small, local, and family farms.”
Overall, messaging on SNAP, the impact of America’s food policies on kids, and cuts to food safety were shown to have the biggest impact in persuading voters to vote for Democrats.
››› LOTS of news from the Trump administration
First, STAT is reporting that the Trump administration is considering automatic enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans, describing it as “a controversial idea that was touted in the conservative Project 2025 policy blueprint”:
Chris Klomp said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is mulling the feasibility of models that would either automatically enroll beneficiaries into the private form of Medicare or accountable care organizations, such as those that participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Individuals could still opt into a different insurance arrangement. Right now, people who don’t make a choice are covered by traditional Medicare.
Next, a federal judge dealth RFK Jr. another blow, ruling that he didn’t go through the proper administrative procedures when issuing a declaration which warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they provide treatments to young transgender patients. The ruling grants preliminary relief to health professionals who provide the treatments.
The judge in the case said, “The notion that ‘I will go forward and issue a declaration and see if we can get away with it’ is not a principle of governance that adheres to the overarching commitment to a democratic republic that requires the rule of law to be regarded and respected and honored as a sacred.”
The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is delaying the appointment of a new CDC director:
The administration faces a formidable challenge in finding a nominee who aligns with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda while avoiding his unpopular stance on vaccines.
The White House has yet to find someone who fits with the Trump administration’s mission and can also win Senate confirmation, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal decision-making.
The ongoing (ten month) effort to name a MAHA wellness influencer and health care grifter as Surgeon General (also known as “the Nation’s Doctor”) is stuck. Senators Bill Cassidy and Lisa Murkowski are still undecided on Casey Mean’s nomination and she can’t lose a single Republican vote.
RFK Jr.’s supporters have taken to issuing threats. MAHA influencer “Food Babe” says that Cassidy is “going to be in a world of hurt if he decides to oppose Casey Means because he will basically be opposing every single MAHA mom in the country.”
In more RFK Jr. news, following a ruling rolling back all decisions by Kennedy’s hand-picked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), there is confusion on whether the Trump administration will appeal the ruling, disband ACIP, or recreate it with new members.
ACIP Vice Chair Robert Malone posted on Twitter/X that “ACIP has been disbanded.” He later posted that the information he’d received was a “miscommunication” and that “the decision about how to proceed has not been made, and dissolving and reforming remains one of the options being considered.” HHS denies they are disbanding the committee.
QUICK TRUMP NEWS HITS
For those keeping track at home, TrumpRx has added three new drugs bringing the total number of drugs on the site to a whopping 53 🥳
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary made news last week when he told attendees at a national meeting that he wouldn’t give his young child antibiotics “unless he is on his deathbed or suffering.” Experts, of course, say that’s way too late.
The New York Times reports that, while Dr. Oz hunts down fraud and waste in health care, Trump is pardoning some of the worst offenders.
OMB Director Russ Vought’s goal of putting federal workers “in trauma” appears to be working, especially at HHS, where only 20% of workers are satisfied in their jobs.
››› Democrats are planning for life after Trump
Rather than letting Republicans control the narrative on health care, last week Senate Democrats laid out their plans to rebuild the health care system if they regain control of Congress and the White House:
[A] dozen Senate Democrats proposed a framework for private health insurance with the goal of making it affordable, and more standardized and simple. [...]
Democrats have been using health care spending cuts and the rising cost of Affordable Care Act insurance plans as a cudgel against Republicans in this election cycle. But they also want to tell voters what they support, not just what they’re against, lawmakers say. And they see the major setbacks to Medicaid and ACA insurance coverage as a chance to start from scratch and to get different factions of the Democratic party to agree on how to rebuild the health care system.
“We’re in a blue sky moment,” a Senate Committee on Finance aide said. “Our members feel incredibly emboldened.”
››› A couple of items related to the abortion medications
In Mississippi, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it illegal for doctors to prescribe medication that could be used to induce abortion. Under the legislation, doctors will be prosecuted if they prescribe drugs with the intention of inducing an abortion.
At the national level, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill earlier this month titled the “Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act” that would revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. His bill would, he says, “empower women to sue [mifepristone] manufacturers.”
Hawley has also sent letters to mifepristone manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro “to inform them that he is opening an investigation into their business practices related to mifepristone as mounting evidence shows women are suffering alarming rates of adverse-effects after taking the drug.”
››› Clawing back the right to an abortion in Indiana
While we’re on the topic, we want to highlight an interesting development relating to reproductive rights. Some women and religious groups in Indiana are using a novel argument to “claw back” the right to abortion in Indiana, which has a near-total abortion ban. They’re basing their argument on religious freedom:
The state of Indiana is appealing a … ruling in favor of an additional religious right exemption to Indiana’s near-total abortion ban, but legal experts believe the ruling could present a way to claw back the right to an abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade [...]
In the case, [a] Jewish woman argued that her religion teaches that “life begins when a person takes their first breath after being born.” Her Jewish faith also teaches that the health of a pregnant woman is more important than the life of an embryo or fetus, according to court documents.
“Therefore, according to her Jewish beliefs, if her health or wellbeing …were endangered … she must terminate the pregnancy,” according to court records. [...]
The second plaintiff is a woman without a specific religion “but has personal religious and spiritual beliefs that guide her life, including her moral and ethical practices.” She does not believe that life begins at conception, but that a fetus is a part of the body of a mother, according to court records.
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #49
Ezra Levin on Substack
Indivisible on Substack
Ezra Levin’s bio is HERE
KFF poll: Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees”
ABC News: 1 in 10 ACA enrollees dropped their coverage due to rising health care costs: Poll
Navigator poll: Perceptions of Food and Ag Policy in the House and Senate Battlegrounds
STAT: Automatic enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans under consideration, top Trump health official says
AP: Judge rules US government overreached with transgender health care declaration
The New York Times: Trump to Delay Nominating New C.D.C. Director
The Washington Post: MAHA’s political power tested as surgeon general pick stalls
The Guardian: Confusion abounds over future of US vaccine advisory committee
CNN: Federal vaccine panel in disarray after judge blocks changes
Fierce Pharma: ACIP member’s miscommunication on vaccine panel’s future adds to confusion after court ruling
BioSpace: HHS Denies Disbandment of CDC Vaccine Advisory Group in Wake of Court Ruling
MedPage Today: FDA Chief’s Kid Will Only Get Antibiotics if He’s ‘On His Deathbed’
The New York Times: Trump Vowed to Crack Down on Fraudsters, but He’s Pardoned Dozens
KFF Health News: Oz Escalates Medicaid Fraud Claims Against States After Focus on Minnesota
POLITICO: Federal workforce unhappy, disengaged, new survey finds
STAT: Senate Democrats lay out plans to overhaul health insurance after setbacks under Trump
Mississippi Today: Lawmakers in Mississippi consider bill to restrict abortion medication
St. Louis Review: Sen. Hawley introduces bill to revoke FDA approval of abortion pill
Sen. Josh Hawley press release: Hawley Introduces Bill to Ban Chemical Abortion Drug, Hosts Press Conference Featuring Pro-Life Testimonies & Leaders
Sen. Josh Hawley press release: Hawley Opens Investigation into Abortion Drug Companies, Creates Hotline for Victims to Report Harms
Chicago Tribune: Judge allows for religious exemption to Indiana’s abortion ban