Thousands of you joined me live — here is the replay of our discussion of these issues, plus a looming government shut down, and an investigation into prosecutor Jack Smith.
Thank you for breaking all this down! It makes me feel more informed… but just as anxious for our democracy, country, and rule of law. It feels like so much corruption is going on… and we’re just watching it happen. Expecting everyone to play by rules, that the people in power have no intent to follow.
It is absolutely unbelievable that the Republican party, who always led to protect us against the threat of dictatorship government (Russia, Iran, Cuba…) now trusts a dictator completely and is trying to turn the US into an authoritarian state with sham elections and bootlicking department heads.
Hi, I’m a nurse practitioner. All the organizations that were removed from ACIP are the professional organizations for the various medical specialities and the AMA. These organizations develop the standards of care and medical consensus that providers in those specialties are expected to follow. They typically work in concert with ACIP to release vaccine recommendations, or the CDC to release other guidelines. Since this break, many of them have already released their own press statements that they will continue to follow evidence based practice and vaccine recommendations. The American Academy of Pediatrics has already developed a vaccine schedule based on what has been previously implemented. As Sharon says, the problem will come with insurance coverage. Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) are required by law to cover what ACIP recommends, not the professional organizations. Private insurers follow CMS guidelines. If there are no “official” vaccination guidelines, we may lose insurance coverage of vaccines. The strains of flu and Covid that are included in the annual vaccines are also influenced by WHO recommendations. Couple the US no longer being affiliated/communicating with WHO, with the dissolution of the committee that reviews the data to determine which strains to include in the vaccine… even if they are available, they may not be effective.
In short, yes. Those organizations are working together to distribute guidelines. But it may be a moot point if the vaccines are not affordable, available or effective.
That would make sense! Insurers can choose to pay for vaccinations. But they won’t be required to—and may instead take the risks for profits. Like prior to the Affordable Care Act, they chose to not cover preventative care measures instead to cover incidents when they occurred.
We already have to battle with insurers to pay for covered services (via the prior authorization process), that it’s going to be harder and more time consuming to get them to pay for non-covered services.
This was my insurance plan prior to the ACA. They really didn't want to cover preventative care. We didn't start getting flu shots covered until 2015ish. Then 2023 was the first year they covered a physical with your doctor OR a well woman. Prior to 2023 if you saw a ob/gyn for a well woman you paid out of pocket! They only covered the pap smear portion or if you saw your primary care and they did it as part of an office visit. Last year was the first year you could get both a physical and a well woman covered in the same calendar year. I'm guessing something other than just the ACA made them change because they had a waiver for the well woman that still existed. Public pressure maybe? I complained a lot about that one!
I actually work in OBGYN. Whether your well woman exam is covered varies based on your insurance plan. The ACA made way for it to be included and for OBGYNs to be a “primary care” provider instead of a “specialty” BUT your plan doesn’t have to include that service. Your employer could choose to opt in or opt out of those services. Or they can pay for a well woman exam, just not annually (it was every other year for several insurers).
I’m in SC. The state chose not to acknowledge the ACA. So, our state insurance did not cover well women exams or all birth control until 2022 or 2023. I honestly think that another part of the ACA law went to affect that made those changes happen… I can’t remember exactly. I think public pressure is great! Lord knows the providers complained too. But when it comes down to it, the insurance companies have a great lobbying arm… and they are not lobbying in the favor of the insured.
That is too funny, that is the insurance I have. They never really discussed why they made the change and I could never figure out why. Maybe my doctor was simplifying it by telling me the state had a waiver. I just did a little celebratory dance when it did change! I have some health related issues to my ovaries (I only have one left and I wanted to keep it healthy) so I paid out of pocket for my well woman to be covered at the obgyn. My primary doctor was great but that is not his specialty.
This was so helpful and.. infuriating. So interesting to live in a system in which rules, norms and facts are completely ignored. The Ghislain situation is just unconscionable—mimimizing a sex trafficker’s (and sex assaulter of children ) is evil
Thank you so much, Sharon. This really helps clarify things, even if my increasing concern about the widespread corruption in our government makes me even more anxious. It often makes me feel like …what more can we do that we aren’t already doing?! I do believe knowledge is power, though. I also believe that no matter what party one belongs to, it is better to have a balance of power than a unilateral sweep of power.
lol, hey now! Not all of us Missourians say things like warsh and buggy 🤣 that’s just those southern Missourians (like all the way down in the boot-heel).
I am much better at retaining info via audio versus reading insta slides and having to hold down to pause the screen to read each story so I really appreciate these live updates.
I would love more details from the other side of the aisle answering the question WHY 1) gerrymandering/redrawing maps at 5yrs st the request of the president is morally ok - ie, what are the republicans telling their constituents? Or do they just assume that whoever is in power gets to write the rules no matter what, and Repub constituents will be happy that they’ll be getting more reps while Dem constituents don’t matter? I don’t love that Dem states are threatening to do the same dirty work & keep playing unfair bc the other team is playing unfair. Do republicans have that many qualified candidates who can really win those new seats? Can we just throw $$ into the Dems running in the new districts? Wondering where will this all end.
2) how the CDC supports why they got rid of all of those association members from the vaccine board? I’m guessing they’d say they are influenced by pharmaceutical companies producing vaccines so can’t be trusted… what else are they saying? Is any of it justified?
I don’t feel like I learned much more than what I had already heard about in these 2 topics - so would love more information that dives deeper than the headlines/basic reporting others are doing, because you’re one of the people we trust to give us a balanced look.
I saw this broken down by another organization - they have until November 2025 to send in their district maps to have them followed by the election next year. So theoretically, if the tx democrats can stay away from the state until November they will force Abbott to miss the deadline and their current map will have to stay in place for midterms.
If the rules change in the middle of the game, do you still play by the rules?
It's an ethical conundrum for those that respect the rules.
I love this! You just verbalized what I’ve been feeling and was not able to put into words
Thank you for breaking all this down! It makes me feel more informed… but just as anxious for our democracy, country, and rule of law. It feels like so much corruption is going on… and we’re just watching it happen. Expecting everyone to play by rules, that the people in power have no intent to follow.
How do we get gerrymandering to stop altogether? Both sides do it and it is wrong on both sides. It seems very childish and very undemocratic to me.
Independent Redistricting committees
It is absolutely unbelievable that the Republican party, who always led to protect us against the threat of dictatorship government (Russia, Iran, Cuba…) now trusts a dictator completely and is trying to turn the US into an authoritarian state with sham elections and bootlicking department heads.
It’s baffling.
Thank you, Sharon. So appreciate your breakdowns!
Thanks Sharon — can the groups being removed from CDC- give their own opinion on Vaccines? Will there be two opinions in the future?
Hi, I’m a nurse practitioner. All the organizations that were removed from ACIP are the professional organizations for the various medical specialities and the AMA. These organizations develop the standards of care and medical consensus that providers in those specialties are expected to follow. They typically work in concert with ACIP to release vaccine recommendations, or the CDC to release other guidelines. Since this break, many of them have already released their own press statements that they will continue to follow evidence based practice and vaccine recommendations. The American Academy of Pediatrics has already developed a vaccine schedule based on what has been previously implemented. As Sharon says, the problem will come with insurance coverage. Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) are required by law to cover what ACIP recommends, not the professional organizations. Private insurers follow CMS guidelines. If there are no “official” vaccination guidelines, we may lose insurance coverage of vaccines. The strains of flu and Covid that are included in the annual vaccines are also influenced by WHO recommendations. Couple the US no longer being affiliated/communicating with WHO, with the dissolution of the committee that reviews the data to determine which strains to include in the vaccine… even if they are available, they may not be effective.
In short, yes. Those organizations are working together to distribute guidelines. But it may be a moot point if the vaccines are not affordable, available or effective.
So doesn’t an HMO like Kaiser want to cover vaccines instead of potential doctor visits and
hospitalizations even if not “recommended” because they know it’s cost effective?
That would make sense! Insurers can choose to pay for vaccinations. But they won’t be required to—and may instead take the risks for profits. Like prior to the Affordable Care Act, they chose to not cover preventative care measures instead to cover incidents when they occurred.
We already have to battle with insurers to pay for covered services (via the prior authorization process), that it’s going to be harder and more time consuming to get them to pay for non-covered services.
This was my insurance plan prior to the ACA. They really didn't want to cover preventative care. We didn't start getting flu shots covered until 2015ish. Then 2023 was the first year they covered a physical with your doctor OR a well woman. Prior to 2023 if you saw a ob/gyn for a well woman you paid out of pocket! They only covered the pap smear portion or if you saw your primary care and they did it as part of an office visit. Last year was the first year you could get both a physical and a well woman covered in the same calendar year. I'm guessing something other than just the ACA made them change because they had a waiver for the well woman that still existed. Public pressure maybe? I complained a lot about that one!
I actually work in OBGYN. Whether your well woman exam is covered varies based on your insurance plan. The ACA made way for it to be included and for OBGYNs to be a “primary care” provider instead of a “specialty” BUT your plan doesn’t have to include that service. Your employer could choose to opt in or opt out of those services. Or they can pay for a well woman exam, just not annually (it was every other year for several insurers).
I’m in SC. The state chose not to acknowledge the ACA. So, our state insurance did not cover well women exams or all birth control until 2022 or 2023. I honestly think that another part of the ACA law went to affect that made those changes happen… I can’t remember exactly. I think public pressure is great! Lord knows the providers complained too. But when it comes down to it, the insurance companies have a great lobbying arm… and they are not lobbying in the favor of the insured.
That is too funny, that is the insurance I have. They never really discussed why they made the change and I could never figure out why. Maybe my doctor was simplifying it by telling me the state had a waiver. I just did a little celebratory dance when it did change! I have some health related issues to my ovaries (I only have one left and I wanted to keep it healthy) so I paid out of pocket for my well woman to be covered at the obgyn. My primary doctor was great but that is not his specialty.
This was so helpful and.. infuriating. So interesting to live in a system in which rules, norms and facts are completely ignored. The Ghislain situation is just unconscionable—mimimizing a sex trafficker’s (and sex assaulter of children ) is evil
Thank you so much, Sharon. This really helps clarify things, even if my increasing concern about the widespread corruption in our government makes me even more anxious. It often makes me feel like …what more can we do that we aren’t already doing?! I do believe knowledge is power, though. I also believe that no matter what party one belongs to, it is better to have a balance of power than a unilateral sweep of power.
Thank you for this! I’m learning so much about our government and how it works.
lol, hey now! Not all of us Missourians say things like warsh and buggy 🤣 that’s just those southern Missourians (like all the way down in the boot-heel).
I am much better at retaining info via audio versus reading insta slides and having to hold down to pause the screen to read each story so I really appreciate these live updates.
When love to hear what George Bush thinks about all that is going on in Texas ...
That was great…very informative. I’m so glad I subscribed.
I would love more details from the other side of the aisle answering the question WHY 1) gerrymandering/redrawing maps at 5yrs st the request of the president is morally ok - ie, what are the republicans telling their constituents? Or do they just assume that whoever is in power gets to write the rules no matter what, and Repub constituents will be happy that they’ll be getting more reps while Dem constituents don’t matter? I don’t love that Dem states are threatening to do the same dirty work & keep playing unfair bc the other team is playing unfair. Do republicans have that many qualified candidates who can really win those new seats? Can we just throw $$ into the Dems running in the new districts? Wondering where will this all end.
2) how the CDC supports why they got rid of all of those association members from the vaccine board? I’m guessing they’d say they are influenced by pharmaceutical companies producing vaccines so can’t be trusted… what else are they saying? Is any of it justified?
I don’t feel like I learned much more than what I had already heard about in these 2 topics - so would love more information that dives deeper than the headlines/basic reporting others are doing, because you’re one of the people we trust to give us a balanced look.
Thank you for making things clearer.
What are the Texas Democrats hoping to gain from breaking quorum? Won't the governor just call another special session to get the redistricting done?
I saw this broken down by another organization - they have until November 2025 to send in their district maps to have them followed by the election next year. So theoretically, if the tx democrats can stay away from the state until November they will force Abbott to miss the deadline and their current map will have to stay in place for midterms.
They’re also trying to bring awareness to what is going on. The more people who know about this & find it concerning, the better.