Jessie Hellmann

Health policy reporter @cqnow @rollcall. Proud member of @cqrollcallguild. Tips? Signal: @jshellmann.18 or [email protected]. Photo: @pennstatetom

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

NEW from me in my series about barriers to hep C care in the U.S.

This story looks at a missed opportunity: drug treatment programs are an ideal place for hep C testing + treatment, but few offer it. England has expanded care in similar settings — with dramatic results.

[Connor O'Brien @connorobrienNH]

He died doing what he loved: Offering and withdrawing his amendment due to a point of order against it, but still using his entire allotted time to talk about it.

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

These are real people. People who can’t find people qualified, reliable professionals to care for their very disabled children. I interviewed an Ohio family here about what Medicaid paying caregivers meant for their families. https://t.co/VfGiZXMqoz

[Sean T at RCP @SeanTrende]

A bill, Ohio HB 795, bans Medicaid reimbursement of family members for caregiver time for special needs kids. First, this doesn't affect me directly; though we've been encouraged to enroll as paid family caregivers for our son, we never have. Also, fraud is 100% real. That said

This is a terrible idea. If you have a kid with a serious disability, you can't just hire the local teen to babysit. It's almost always a family member who knows the kid's protocol. This isn't some kind of babysitting slush fund.

More importantly, you can't just send the kid to Primrose School or whatever for daycare or aftercare, because they're not really equipped for that. We have one of the few kids in the world where a preschool said "we don't want your money; we can't handle him" (this was in VA, before we moved to OH for the autism scholarship). We were lucky that I had a job that gave me quite a bit of flexability and that the stars aligned to allow me to leave the practice of law to take this job.

Yes, I know the stories of fraud and abuse, and could tell some myself from our community. Frankly, they're the ones I'm most angry at with this. That should absolutely be cracked down on. But this is ultimately launching a missile to kill a mouse, one that is going to hurt a lot of well-meaning, innocent people. @GovMikeDeWine @LtGovJimTressel @OhioAG @Rob_McColley @matthuffman1

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

Someone I know went to the pharmacy for cephalexin and with insurance, it would have cost $64. Without insurance, $29. For a first generation antibiotic. Amazing!

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

20! Years!

[Paul Kane @pkcapitol]

My colleague @manuelas957 wrote about the "catastrophic" failure of Rayburn House Office Building in April.
Now @ktullymcmanus has an even more grim update: A $9 billion repair costing more than NFL stadiums.

Just knock RHOB down & build a new building.
https://t.co/xvdFE4dxeg

[Adriel Bettelheim @abettel]

Unanimous Supreme Court rules in generic drug "skinny label" case that Amarin failed in claiming active patent infringement
https://t.co/FDzaH6R6wu

[Sarah Karlin-Smith @SarahKarlin]

This is a huge deal for generic drugs and lower drug prices.

[Positively Aware @PosAware]

Advocates are concerned that even though HIV meds are not impacted, the cuts could undermine adherence for Missourians with HIV. And with the state legislature adjourned for the year, a legislative solution is unlikely for now.
https://t.co/w9t40Dr8X7

[Courtney Bublé @courtneybuble]

Wyden and Kennedy introduced a bill to modernize PACER

[Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz]

This choice comes as a big surprise to states. As recently as last month, CMS was telling them in regular meetings that it would allow them to exclude people based on medical diagnoses alone. That's what Nebraska--already live with its requirement--is doing.

[Adrianna McIntyre (@adrianna.bsky.social) @onceuponA]

ICYMI, the work requirements regulation dropped yesterday evening.

I think the biggest departure from initial expectations is around medical frailty — conditions like cancer and HIV *only* exempt people if they're severe enough to impair compliance with the new rules.

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

People who are homeless will not be exempt from Medicaid work requirements, CMS announced in a rule issued today.

https://t.co/6h8ddzMBNA

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

Really great that a literally EDM festival down the street from my house doesn’t have to shut down until 11 pm on a Sunday

[Natalie Jackson @nataliemj10]

Timeline palate cleanser:

This is my foster cat, Emmy Lou. She DEMANDED that I pet her nonstop for the first half hour she was here. She's a tiny 6.5 lbs of cuteness already ruling the roost over my two boy cats who are easily twice her size. Adoptable through @CityDogsRescue

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

@nataliemj10 @CityDogsRescue I love her 🥹

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

@JHWeissmann It’s also a great traffic-calming measure in a city where a lot of people drive like idiots

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

@ChelseaCirruzzo I often see them at thrift stores!

[Adrianna McIntyre (@adrianna.bsky.social) @onceuponA]

Congress set a June 1 deadline — Monday — for CMS to issue detailed regulations on how states must operationalize Medicaid work requirements, leaving states with just 7 months to finalize implementation with guidance in hand.

There are still a lot of known unknowns.

[Laura Kelly @HelloLauraKelly]

I just got back from Uganda. No one checked me for Ebola

https://t.co/I6uauym36z

[Jessie Hellmann @jessiehellmann]

@DrewAltman @larry_levitt @Mollybrodie Congrats Drew, Larry and Molly!