Episode #60 Deep Dive – Ebola Survivor Dr. Craig Spencer and is RFK Done at HHS?
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
››› Virginia’s rural hospitals are in BIG trouble
Virginia Public Media (VPM) reports that, despite Republicans claiming they’re making the biggest investment in rural hospitals in history, as many as 20% of rural hospitals in the state are at risk of closing:
Seven of Virginia’s 36 rural hospitals either face an immediate closure risk or are at high risk of experiencing financial distress, according to a presentation given last week to the state’s Joint Commission on Health Care.
After hearing this, Del. Rodney Willett (D–Henrico) asked about the rural hospitals that didn’t quite make the list.
“About 18 additional hospitals are kind of right there in that next tier of risk,” replied Mayesha Alam, a health policy analyst for the commission, “which brings our total to around 25 hospitals across the commonwealth that are facing fairly critical risk.”
This means that 19% to 70% of Virginia’s rural-area hospitals are under the risk of closing or financial distress.
Virginia is hardly alone. Becker’s Hospital Review found 720 rural hospitals nationally that are at risk.
››› HSA providers want to cash in on the next reconciliation bill
Last March, STAT reported on the formation of the Great American Health Alliance which is trying to further cash in after reaping a windfall with Trump’s big billionaire tax giveaway law. The nonprofit membership includes HealthEquity, which is one of the largest administrators of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and the American Bankers Association, which represents institutions holding about 90% of HSAs.” The group is now aggressively promoting including HSAs in the so-called Reconciliation 3.0 (filibuster-proof) legislation being contemplated by Congress and, this week, they released a splashy 30-second ad directed at lawmakers:
As a reminder, HSAs mainly benefit people with high incomes and are used essentially as tax shelters.
››› The Trump administration has an answer for you if you can’t afford your medical bills
Take out a loan! FROM YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDER! Yes, that’s right, in addition to profiting from your elevated insurance premiums, the Trump administration wants health insurance corporations to have another revenue source: interest from loans they give you. This will be particularly profitable if people purchase the high-deductible plans they’re pushing. From reporting by The New York Times:
Buried in the fine print of Obamacare regulations, the Trump administration is floating a novel idea for those who can’t afford to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical costs.
Why not borrow the money from your health insurance company?
In the dense 1,121-page final rule issued last month about how the Affordable Care Act market will operate next year, the administration suggested that insurers consider offering loans to cash-strapped customers.
Under this approach, people who develop a costly disease or need unexpected emergency care would be able to turn to their health insurer for loans to cover their share of the bill. The debt, though, would have to be repaid, presumably with interest.
Trump administration officials say the idea is a way to help people who chose a plan with a low monthly premium and high out-of-pocket costs, but unexpectedly encounter a devastating medical bill.
With more than a third of American households already having some kind of medical debt, this could be a boon to Big Health Insurance.
››› RFK Jr. is promoting yet another VERY strange thing…
The Guardian reports that Kennedy is promoting a bizarre, unproven, and unapproved treatment for autism: stem cells from human umbilical cords:
Autistic children as young as 18 months old are being injected with human stem cells derived from umbilical cords in unapproved, unproven and potentially harmful “treatments” that scientists warn are proliferating across the US under the active encouragement of the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. [...]
The procedure, which can involve the child being sedated with ketamine before receiving intravenous doses of millions of stem cells, costs up to $20,000 for each treatment. Families are often advised to return for regular top-ups.
Profoundly stressed parents are being wooed to the clinics with promises that a high-dose infusion of umbilical cord stem cells can lead to dramatic improvements in their children’s ability to speak, socialise, or avoid aggressive or self-harming behaviour. Yet there is no scientific evidence that the procedure works.
››› Kennedy is stumping for Republicans in toss-up districts
As we talked about on a previous podcast, RFK Jr. made an appearance with embattled GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden, whose western Wisconsin seat in America’s Dairyland is one Republicans really want to hold this November. Turns out that’s just one of many stops he’s making to shore up support for Republicans. This week, he was in Michigan visiting with Rep. Tom Barrett (MI-07).
None of the visits is being called a campaign stop, however, even though they very much appear to be, given that Democrats have a real chance to take these seats. From reporting by MLive:
Inside a barn at Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Kennedy spoke on a panel with leaders from Michigan Farm Bureau and the America First Policy Institute, plus a local farmer and U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, who is running for reelection in 2026. [...]
Kennedy has been making stops across the country on his “Take Back Your Health” tour since January. During similar events, he has touted his agenda as necessary to improve the quality of American food.
His visit to Charlotte, part of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, also appears to be strategic. [...]
In recent weeks, Kennedy has ramped up visits to areas across the country with big toss-up races, stopping in four U.S. House districts in the last six weeks…The panel was not an official campaign event, but featured both Barrett and Kennedy speaking about the importance of eating healthy.
Recall that MAHA PACs have endorsed just one Republican this cycle: Tom Barrett.
No word on how many of our tax dollars are being spent to campaign for Van Orden, Barrett, or any of the other Republicans Kennedy is being sent out to support.
››› Is RFK Jr. about to be fired???
Individuals and organizations have been calling for RFK Jr. to resign or be fired almost from the first minute he became the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But more and more, there are whispers that he’s creating so much turmoil for the administration that Trump himself is planning to fire him. Consider this from Puck News:
For months, rumors have swirled that the president has had it with R.F.K., whose anti-vaccine advocacy has generated a series of negative headlines. Several sources have told me that Kennedy’s time is indeed limited, though each presented a different timeline for when the axe might fall. Some suggested Kennedy would leave in the coming months, others said after the midterms. When I put the question directly to Oz at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner event in April, he insisted that Kennedy’s relationship with the president was in good standing.
[T]he rumors have only grown louder since then, and are now so rampant that Kennedy’s wife and other administration officials felt the need to reassure his supporters and the monied movement behind him.
››› Updates to stories we’ve been covering
First, we have already talked about how Trump is probably the most pro-nicotine president in memory. His administration recently approved fruit-flavored vapes, for example. He’s also proven himself to be the most self-dealing grifter to occupy the Oval Office, maybe ever. You may recall the news that he accepted campaign donations from the companies that make the flavored vapes. This past week, KFF Health News reported that the president bought stock in multiple tobacco companies this year:
Since late 2023, MAGA Inc. has received over $20 million in funding from the [tobacco] industry, federal campaign records show. Trump’s inauguration garnered nearly $4 million more. His ballroom project has disclosed donations of an unknown amount from Altria and Reynolds American.
Recent Trump administration actions show he’s followed through with his [pro-tobacco] campaign rhetoric. In May, the FDA released consequential guidance that allows manufacturers to market their vapes and nicotine pouches while awaiting agency approval. It also approved several vaping products. The month before, the Vapor Technology Association, which donated $1.25 million to Trump’s inauguration, told its vape-manufacturer members it had met with the White House to discuss its concerns.
By that point, Trump had gone on a stock-purchasing spree. In March he made eight separate purchases of Philip Morris or Altria stock.
KFF reports that Trump grew his stock holdings this year to as much as $1.64 million in tobacco giant Philip Morris, alone.
Our second update is to the ongoing conversation we’ve been having about Trump’s physical health. His repeated trips to the doctor, bruising, and falling asleep in meetings, even when the cameras are rolling have raised legitimate concerns. This week, The Washington Post reported that Trump is seeing a whopping 22 medical specialists, which appears o set new bar for presidents:
For George H.W. Bush’s first medical checkup as president in 1989, he was seen by five specialists, the White House said at the time. His son George W. Bush was seen by 12 in his first presidential checkup, White House officials said a dozen years later.
President Donald Trump appears to have set a new bar: 22 medical specialists assessed him as part of his latest checkup, according to a medical report recently released by the White House. [...]
The figure…represents the most medical specialists to assess a president for a single visit, based on a review of public statements and records, prompting questions from outside physicians who said they were already skeptical of the White House’s disclosures around the nearly 80-year-old Trump’s health.
“It is an extraordinary number,” said Jonathan Reiner, a longtime cardiologist for former vice president Dick Cheney. “What specialties do they represent? Why so many?”
››› There’s a change coming at the American Medical Association
The AMA just elected a president who is ready to take off the kid gloves with RFK Jr. and be done with cozying up to him. From POLITICO:
American doctors want their leading lobby to drop its nice guy routine with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
At the [AMA’s] annual meeting this week, members of the group’s House of Delegates are sending a clear message to their leaders: Call out Kennedy, even if it costs us in the pocketbook.
That message was stated most clearly in the election of Sandra Fryhofer, an internist from Atlanta and uncompromising Kennedy critic, as AMA president-elect. She beat Michael Suk, who as AMA board chair in 2024 and 2025 prioritized doctors’ Medicare fees and promised continued pragmatism in dealing with Kennedy. [...]
“Measles running rampant, public health destroyed, a trillion dollars ripped from Medicaid, inadequate physician payment, stupid immigration rules,” Fryhofer told AMA members in promising to call out Kennedy and the Trump administration on all of it.
In two dozen interviews this week, AMA doctors described an advocacy organization at its wit’s end with Kennedy…
Fryhofer said the AMA has been “too silent and too timid.”
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #59
Virginia Public Media (VPM): Roughly 1 in 5 rural Virginia hospitals at risk of closure
Becker’s Hospital Review: 720 hospitals at risk of closure, by state
STAT: HSA companies struck it big in Trump’s tax bill. They’re lobbying for more
The Great American Health Alliance ad: Reconciliation 3.0: Health Care Cannot Wait
The New York Times: Can’t Pay Medical Bills? Trump Officials Suggest Getting a Loan.
The Guardian: Autistic children being injected with unapproved stem cell treatments supported by RFK Jr
POLITICO: Milk’s the drink of choice at RFK Jr.’s event with swing-district Republican
MLive: ‘Destroying our country’: RFK Jr. urges healthy eating during Michigan visit
POLITICO: RFK Jr.’s movement was supposed to save the GOP’s majorities. It’s not even in the game.
Puck News: MAHA Faces the R.F.K. Rumor Mill
KFF Health News: Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards
The Washington Post: Trump sees 22 medical specialists, appearing to set new bar for presidents
Craig Spencer’s Brown University bio is HERE
Craig Spencer on LinkedIn
Craig Spencer on X
Craig Spencer on Instagram
AXIOS: Trump admin pre-blames Europe for any World Cup Ebola