Holly Hacker

Data editor @KFFHealthNews. Former @dallasnews investigative reporter. Fueled by French roast & curiosity. I love a good scatterplot.

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

SCOOP: The Trump administration wants insurers to hand over information about federal workers’ medical visits, their pharmacy claims, and more.

@AmandaSeitz & @maia_rosenfeld report ⤵️
https://t.co/Qttc01hfFk

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

Much of the mourning for the late great @washingtonpost has rightly focused on how democracy dies in darkness at the national level, which is hugely important. But the evisceration of Metro coverage is every bit as devastating because there is no comparable news outlet keeping local governments and institutions honest.

Eight of my 20 years at the Post were spent on Metro, which was the heart and soul of the Post under the legendary @dongrahamdc1. The undertakers now running the paper have all but wiped out the metro staff, leaving just 12 reporters, according to reports, to cover a region of 6.5 million people.

We had twice that many journalists in Fairfax alone back in the day. And it mattered. Reporters are the eyes and ears of the community, keeping tabs on people in power. We were there for every supervisors meeting, every school board meeting. We pored through planning commission documents and campaign filings.

When county officials wasted taxpayer money, raised taxes on overstretched homeowners, gave sweetheart zoning deals to developers who filled their election coffers, we were there. When teachers who sexually abused students were quietly transferred to other schools to do it all over again, we were there.

We were there for the more uplifting stories too, the cops who broke a cold case, the educators who turned around a struggling school, the residents who rallied to help neighbors in trouble, the student athletes who won the big game, the entrepreneurs who started something new.

Our friend @SariHorwitz who has won more Pulitzers than I can count, wrote so movingly online about the Post (https://t.co/lxame7tiSF). To recognize how indispensable local coverage is, you need only look at her holy-shit investigations of a broken child welfare system, rampant police shootings and the corporate-fed opioid crisis, stories that opened eyes and led to change.

Democracy is not just what happens at the White House and the Capitol but in our own backyards. The Post has just turned the lights down at home too.

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

NEW: The Trump administration’s cuts of public health funds to state and local health departments had vastly uneven effects depending on the political leanings of where someone lives, a new analysis by @HMLLarweh, @rachanadpradhan and @raelnb shows.
https://t.co/VjWtavS0bj

[Arielle Zionts @Ajzionts]

There was no doctor on-site when a patient arrived at the emergency room in the small hospital at intersection of two dirt roads in Ekalaka, MT.

There never is.

Experts believe ERs, especially in rural areas, increasingly operate with few or no doctors.

https://t.co/5FeOPrmCqV

[Holly Hacker @hollyhacker]

Thanks to the Red Line @wmata train operator for suggesting we transfer at Ft Totten to escape this morning’s RL delay hellscape.

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

The Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies threaten to cut a key source of labor for nursing facilities and home health agencies that rely on foreign-born workers.

@vanesanchez_g + @dchangmiami report for KFF Health News + @NBCNews. ⤵️ https://t.co/ZwZBZmJT8p

[Ryan Levi @ryan_levi]

Trying to make sense of the massive changes at HHS?

@jrovner leans on her 40 years covering HHS to put this moment in context and answer questions from @tradeoffspod listeners about what this means for hospitals, states, research + more.

https://t.co/v47woJYzFp

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

NEW: At least 230 U.S. counties have both a dire shortage of dentists and largely unfluoridated water, which could lead to rampant tooth decay and a lifetime of dental pain and costs.

@BrettKelman reports. ⤵️ https://t.co/ZLotO7q3Ie

[Brett Kelman @BrettKelman]

The man responsible for a $1.3 billion fraud scheme. A doctor who gave unnecessary eye injections. A CEO made a fortune on pain and pee. President Trump claims he will stop health care fraudsters. In his first term, he let these fraudsters go. https://t.co/9vG3unX09R

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

NEW: “This is America. It’s not supposed to be this way.”

More than 200 counties lack high-speed internet and health care providers, a KFF Health News investigation found.

📝: @sjtribble + @hollyhacker https://t.co/zIKHgsN4SJ

[Cheyanne Mumphrey @cheymumph]

When Slack is down and we have to operate in Microsoft Teams…

[Aneri Pattani @aneripattani]

🧵Opioid settlement money was meant to be spent on the addiction crisis specifically. So when I heard a Kentucky county spent $15,000 of it on an ice skating rink, I needed to learn more. Here's what I found: https://t.co/zd1C2L42vv

[Cynthia Cox @cynthiaccox]

We @KFF had already downloaded these government data files and will be able to see what, if anything, changes if/when the data come back online

[Aneri Pattani @aneripattani]

JOURNO Friends: With the new Purdue Pharma deal announced, it's the perfect time to dig into reporting on opioid settlements.

@KFFHealthNews can help! We're hosting a webinar to share tips on how you can use our database of 7,000+ ways state & local govts are spending the money

[Molly Castle Work @mollycastlework]

❗️ Help requested from @KFFHealthNews reporter. Working on a story for the @latimes. Are you a health provider that has been evacuated or lost your home due to the fires? We'd like to talk to you. My dms are open. Thank you.

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

Advocates for environmental justice, an ideal that everyone has the right to live in a healthy environment regardless of race or class, say U.S. incinerators overburden people of color. @dchangmiami reports from Florida. https://t.co/31HbvA2m2F

[CaliforniaHealthline @CalHealthline]

“It seems like it’s an even more widespread problem than we realized,” said Clare Pace, a researcher at the University of California-Berkeley who is examining possible exposure from PFAS-contaminated pesticides.

@hnorms report: https://t.co/DjMHAEes5d

[KFF @KFF]

What happened in health policy in 2024, and what should we expect in 2025?

KFF’s @DrewAltman and @jrovner discuss on the last @KFFHealthNews #WhatTheHealth episode of the year.

🎧 Listen here: https://t.co/42S9Zju6JO

[Arielle Zionts @Ajzionts]

Federal law says Native Americans don't owe anything when the Indian Health Service agrees to pay for their care at private hospitals. But some get billed+sent to collections anway due to backlogs or mistakes from the IHS, financial middlemen+providers.

https://t.co/Ai3xFwJCFX

[Aneri Pattani @aneripattani]

NEW: Database by @KFFHealthNews, @JohnsHopkinsSPH & @ShatterproofHQ tracks 7,000+ ways opioid settlement money has been used, shining light on public health settlements worth $50B: https://t.co/qbllTAA3wC

In this 🧵, I’ll share a bit on how we built this & what we found.