But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connexion with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connexion that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version. A great deal of the time you were expected to make them up out of your head.
For example, the Ministry of Plenty’s forecast had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at 145 million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions. Winston, however, in rewriting the forecast, marked the figure down to fifty-seven millions, so as to allow for the usual claim that the quota had been overfulfilled. In any case, sixty-two millions was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than 145 millions.
I watched the full 3 hours of the hearing and liveposted the entire thing on Bluesky. Needless to say, there are some typos and grammatical errors, and much of what I posted is paraphrasing, but it's as accurate as I could make it in the moment:
Here comes Round 2 of RFK Jr's confirmation hearings.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) is the chair. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) is the ranking member.
Nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services | The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connexion with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connexion that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version. A great deal of the time you were expected to make them up out of your head.
For example, the Ministry of Plenty’s forecast had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at 145 million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions. Winston, however, in rewriting the forecast, marked the figure down to fifty-seven millions, so as to allow for the usual claim that the quota had been overfulfilled. In any case, sixty-two millions was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than 145 millions.
But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Plenty’s figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connexion with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connexion that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version. A great deal of the time you were expected to make them up out of your head.
For example, the Ministry of Plenty’s forecast had estimated the output of boots for the quarter at 145 million pairs. The actual output was given as sixty-two millions. Winston, however, in rewriting the forecast, marked the figure down to fifty-seven millions, so as to allow for the usual claim that the quota had been overfulfilled. In any case, sixty-two millions was no nearer the truth than fifty-seven millions, or than 145 millions.
Trump expected to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the selection.
The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect. It’s also a sign of the opening Trump sees after he scored a decisive electoral victory and Republicans won a comfortable majority in the Senate.
Trump could still select someone else for the post. The Trump transition couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Trump said in his victory speech. “Go have a good time, Bobby.”
I'll be honest: While I've seen several headlines about this crisis over the past couple of weeks I really don't know enough about it to add any commentary, so for now I'll just repost the official statement from the Health & Human Services Dept:
HHS Statement Regarding the Cyberattack on Change Healthcare
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is aware that Change Healthcare – a unit of UnitedHealth Group (UHG) – was impacted by a cybersecurity incident in late February. HHS recognizes the impact this attack has had on health care operations across the country. HHS’ first priority is to help coordinate efforts to avoid disruptions to care throughout the health care system.
CMS marked another important maternal health milestone by approving Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) postpartum coverage expansion in Rhode Island, an opportunity made possible by the American Rescue Plan. With this approval, 32 states and D.C. have extended postpartum Medicaid/CHIP coverage to a full year.
They include links to the approval letters for both Medicaid and CHIP, but the Medicaid one is oddly both extremely brief ("We received your request; it has been approved") and wonky at the same time, while not being in an easy-to-copy text format.
Arizona became the latest state to extend postpartum coverage for individuals enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, following CMS’ approval of the state’s postpartum coverage extension state plan amendments (SPAs). The opportunity to extend this coverage was made possible by the American Rescue Plan, and this approval marks 31 states and D.C. that have extended postpartum Medicaid/CHIP coverage to a full year.
I have no idea why the administration hasn't put out a formal standalone press release about this...they've done so for every other state to my knowledge (including Oklahoma just two weeks ago), but whatever; it's still good news!
Arizona Senate Bill 1292 was introduced by Democratic state Representative Rosanna Gabaldon in February. Here's the most relevant portionf of the legislative text:
Title 20, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section 20-123, to read:
20-123. Health care insurers; requirements; prohibitions; definitions
A. Notwithstanding any other law, every health care insurer that offers an individual health care plan, short-term limited duration insurance or a small employer group health care plan in this state:
1. Shall:
(a) Ensure that all products sold cover essential health care benefits.
(b) Limit cost sharing for the coverage of essential health care benefits, including deductibles, coinsurance and copayments.
Obviously much of this is unlikely to actually go anywhere given House Republicans plans to almost completely defund the ACA and completely gut Medicaid overall, but as President Biden always says, "Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget—and I’ll tell you what you value.”
HHS Releases President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget
Investments address urgent needs to extend Medicare solvency, lower drug costs, bolster public health preparedness, improve the well-being of children and seniors, expand access to health care, increase the health care workforce, and advance research underlying medicine, public health, and social services
