Paging America

With the midterms days away, hosts Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson are joined by Jeff Timmer, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, chief operating officer of the Lincoln Project, and co-host of A Republic, If You Can Keep It. Together, we look at how Tuesday’s results could reshape American healthcare policy.Jeff predicts a repudiation of the Republican Party, describing it as less a blue wave than a “red undertow” driven by anger at Trump, and warns Democrats not to overplay their hand. The conversation then turns to the issue voters keep raising: cost. A new Detroit News poll finds that for a plurality of Michigan voters, paying for health insurance and medical care now outranks gas and groceries, and Jeff shares what his own family’s premiums and deductibles run him each month. They also discuss a September poll showing 62% of Michigan respondents favorable toward Medicare for All, and how Abdul El-Sayed has pitched healthcare reform as pro-small-business.From there, we work through the races to watch. In Michigan, Mike Rogers and John James lean on base turnout and RFK Jr.’s visit to West Michigan, which we say was more about stoking bigotry than healthcare. In Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall faces a late-campaign controversy over a $250,000 investment in a cancer-drug company, a stock-disclosure filing that came in months past the legal deadline, and a hometown mayor who says he no longer lives in the state. In South Carolina, Dr. Annie Andrews is polling neck and neck with Lindsey Graham in a state Trump carried by almost 18 points. And in Mississippi, a tight Senate race could revive the conversation about Medicaid expansion.We also make the case that state legislatures and governors’ races, especially in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Minnesota, are where a mandate on prescription drug costs, public options, and coverage expansion could take shape, and why newly empowered Democrats will need to deliver quickly.LINKS* Jeff Timmer limbering up his gloating muscles on X* AP: FACT FOCUS: Kennedy’s claim that Arabs ‘don’t produce science’ meets a Nobel Prize reality check* The New York Times: Kennedy Makes Bigoted Remarks About Arabs at Michigan Campaign Event* NBC News: RFK Jr. faces widespread rebuke over his anti-Arab remarks* The Detroit News: More Michigan voters concerned about medical costs than gas, groceries* HealthInsurance.org: Health insurance premium increases for 2027: Proposed rates by state and what consumers should know* KFF Health News: Job-Based Health Plan Costs Rise, With Little Relief in Sight* Healthcare Dive: Insurers want to hike small businesses’ premiums by 14% next year* Government Executive: Federal employees’ health insurance premiums to rise by double digits for third straight year* The Commonwealth Fund: The State of Health Insurance Coverage in 2026* Popular Information: Marshall purchased stock in obscure pharma company just before it secured key FDA approval* The Kansas City Star: In Sen. Roger Marshall’s longtime home of Great Bend, public support is lukewarm* The Committee’s Roger Marshall website: Committeetoprotectpac.org/dr-debt* The New York Times: The Senate Race in Heavily Republican South Carolina Is a Tossup, Poll Finds* South Carolina Policy Council: The South Carolina Policy Council 2026 Fall Poll* Silver Bulletin: FLIPR 2026 midterm election forecast* Annie for US Senate: Healthcare is a Right, Not a Privilege* The American Prospect: South Carolina Senate Hopeful Runs on Health Care Populism* AXIOS: Senate GOP to send $5m to shore up Graham in South Carolina* Jeff Timmer on X* The Lincoln Project* A Republic, If You Can Keep It podcast with Jeff Timmer and Mark BrewerJoin the fight at committeetoprotect.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pagingamericaSubscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America.Have thoughts, questions, or your own health care story? Email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pagingamerica.org/subscribe

Hosts Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson look at the midterms from state capitols to the U.S. Senate. We dig into state trifectas and what that could mean for healthcare all over the country. We break down the states where Democrats could win full control, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Arizona, and Nevada. What could that could mean for public options, prescription drug costs, hospital consolidation, and reproductive rights? It’s important to remember that the states are the “laboratories of democracy” for the next push at the federal level.Next, they turn to the Kansas Senate race, where Sen. Roger Marshall is limping toward Election Day after a rough debate and reporting on his history of suing patients over unpaid bills. They look at a new American Prospect investigation into one of his biggest donors, a private equity investor who buys, strips, and dumps hospitals, and at how this kind of corruption raises costs and shutters community hospitals.Then, the White House announces a new women’s health task force chaired by RFK Jr. The hosts look at what it does and doesn’t do, given the cuts to existing women’s health programs. They also cover the CDC-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau, which raised serious ethical concerns and was halted this week.Finally, Rob talks with oncologist Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, who recently wrote a Washington Post op-ed about Pope Leo’s lung adenocarcinoma and what the surgery suggests about his prognosis. We cover why lung cancer in non-smokers is on the rise, how public health measures like smoking cessation campaigns and radon testing save lives, whether AI will help cure cancer, and Dr. Sekeres’s upcoming book.LINKS* The New York Times: Trump Approval Hits New Low Two Weeks Before Midterms, Poll Finds* Poll crosstabs* State Policy Network: State Elections in 2026 Could Reshape Policy Landscape* ABC News: Democrats, Republicans seek ‘trifectas’ in the 2026 midterms* The American Prospect: Can Nevada Democrats Roll a Trifecta?* The Committee’s Roger Marshall website: Committeetoprotectpac.org/dr-debt* Monica Robinson’s tweet about Roger Marshall saying Kansans aren’t worried about having no money due to the high cost of gas* MSNOW: Roger Marshall’s complicated history of blurring the line between taxpayer dollars and campaign cash* The American Prospect: A Major Roger Marshall Donor Is a Hospital Bandit* White House: Advancing Women’s Health To Improve Outcomes In All Phases Of Life* The New York Times: Melania Trump Announces White House Women’s Health Initiative* AlterNet: Trump humiliates Melania with stunning remark at her big White House moment* The New York Times: Melania Trump Announces White House Women’s Health Initiative* Aaron Rupar’s tweet of Trump calling RFK Jr. “a little different”* The Guardian: Controversial US-backed vaccine trial in African newborns halted* The Guardian: Controversial vaccine trial touted by RFK Jr gets go-ahead in Guinea-Bissau* CIDRAP: Hepatitis B vaccine study condemned as unethical wins approval from Danish university* The Washington Post: I’m an oncologist. Here’s what nonsmokers need to know about lung cancer.* Miller School of Medicine: Like Father, Like Daughter: A Generational Calling to Improve the Lives of Cancer Patients* Yul Brynner’s posthumous anti-smoking public service announcement for the American Cancer Society* Business Insider: Palantir CTO says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer* Dr. Mikkael Sekeres’s website* Dr. Mikkael Sekeres on LinkedIn* Dr. Mikkael Sekeres on X* Dr. Mikkael Sekeres on BlueSky* Dr. Mikkael Sekeres on InstagramJoin the fight at committeetoprotect.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pagingamericaSubscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America.Have thoughts, questions, or your own health care story? Email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pagingamerica.org/subscribe

Two-thirds of Americans now support Medicare for All, up from 50% in 2020. Even a third of Republicans are on board. This week, Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson break down the new KFF polling, why the topline number comes with a glass jaw, and what it means heading into the midterms. The MAHA coalition keeps cracking. A group of RFK Jr’s former allies, including his ex-campaign fundraiser and former chief speechwriter, released a scorecard grading the Trump administration on its MAHA promises. The score: zero promises kept. Sen. Ron Wyden is raising alarms over a possible quid pro quo between the kratom industry, RFK Jr.’s HHS, and a cabinet official with a financial stake in the market. In Florida, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo wants four vaccines dropped from the school schedule, and Rob explains what’s at stake.We also recap two heated Senate debates. In Michigan, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed faced Mike Rogers, and both hosts give El-Sayed the edge for keeping the focus on voters while Rogers leaned on Islamophobic attacks. In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff took on Rep. Mike Collins, and Rob calls his performance surgical for bringing the receipts without raising his voice. One of the reasons that these debates feel so different now: Democrats on stage genuinely don’t like their opponents, and Republicans are still in lockstep with Trump.Then, our interview with Dr. Paul Offit. A pediatrician and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Offit helped develop a rotavirus vaccine that saves an estimated 165,000 lives a year worldwide. He sits down with Rob for a long-form conversation about the success of vaccines, where things stand today, and where they may be headed. It’s a timely listen as Florida moves to pull vaccines from its school schedule, and a good palate cleanser if you’re deep in the election news cycle.LINKS* The Guardian’s live debate coverage (featuring quotes from Dr. Rob Davidson)* Rob interviewed by WDIV* The Collegiate: Supporters Crowd the street outside of the Senatorial Debate Prior to its Start* Trump in Arizona: I’m a frickin’ genius* Dr. Rob administers a cognitive test to Jim Acosta* Trump in Arizona: You’re collateral damage* KFF: KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Issues in the Lead-Up to the 2026 Midterm Election* The Hill: Poll: 43 percent support ‘Medicare for all’* Ipsos: Facing rising health insurance costs, Americans support increased government spending to lower healthcare costs* The MAHA Promises Scorecare* NBC News: MAHA loyalists accuse Trump administration of ‘broken promises’* STAT: Will MAHA survive the midterms?* The Hill: GOP priorities alienate MAHA supporters* Daily Caller (via AOL.com): White House Denies Report Officials Told Attorney General To Stall Anti-Abortion Actions Until After Midterms* Just the News: ‘Fool’s gold’: Pro-life groups trash FDA abortion pill safety review as sham after details exposed* US Senate Committee on Finance: Wyden Investigates Trump and RFK Jr. Corruption Favoring Big Tobacco and Kratom Companies* Sen. Wyden’s letter to RFK Jr.* STAT: Senate inquiry suggests Trump administration softened kratom and tobacco policies in quid pro quo* WIRED: The Kratom Civil War Is Heating Up, and MAHA Has Picked a Side* The Hill: HHS endorses DEA move to schedule synthetic kratom extracts* Drug Enforcement Agency: DEA to Temporarily Schedule 7-OH and Related Substances to Protect Public Safety* POLITICO: Florida health officials meet amid fierce debate over childhood vaccine plans* ABC News: Florida surgeon general says state is moving to ‘end all vaccine mandates’* Florida Phoenix: Ladapo: Eliminating vaccine mandates isn’t about science, it’s about parents’ rights* Click Orlando: Florida Department of Health backs off vaccine exemption expansion* Dr. Paul Offit’s Substack* Dr. Paul Offit’s website* Dr. Paul Offit on LinkedIn* Dr. Paul Offit on Twitter/X* Dr. Paul Offit on TikTok* Dr. Paul Offit on Instagram* Dr. Paul Offit on Threads* Dr. Paul Offit on BlueSky* Dr. Paul Offit on Facebook* Beyond the Noise: Like the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park, RFK Jr. Is LearningJoin the fight at committeetoprotect.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pagingamericaSubscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America.Have thoughts, questions, or your own health care story? Email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pagingamerica.org/subscribe

Healthcare is the center of the fight for the Senate. Hosts Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson break down three races where it is shaping the outcome: Kansas, Maine, and Michigan.Kansas. A state that should have been a layup for Republicans is now competitive. Sen. Roger Marshall, a former OB-GYN, has had a rough stretch. He told cameras there were “no Medicaid cuts” right after Kansas doctors blamed him for cuts that threaten rural hospitals and clinics. Then the New York Times reported that he sued roughly 700 of his own patients over unpaid bills, some as small as $101. Eighty-one were arrested, and he charged an 18% interest rate. Democrat Adam Hamilton won the first debate and we discuss the legal-versus-moral gap in how Marshall collected debts, and the latest polling, including a GBAO survey with Hamilton up four.Maine. Sen. Susan Collins faces Troy Jackson, who became the Democrats’ late replacement for Graham Platner. The hosts cover Jackson’s attacks on Collins over Trump’s big bill and her Kavanaugh vote, and her defense of both. They argue that Collins has a way to prove her stated views on reproductive rights and vaccines are real: she holds the deciding vote on the HELP Committee and could sink Heidi Overton’s nomination today. With nearly two-thirds of abortions now done by medication and telehealth access vital in a rural state like Maine, they say the stakes are immediate. They also discuss why the race is a toss-up and what each faction of the Democratic Party can learn from how it came together.Michigan. Polling averages show El-Sayed ahead by about five points, while Rogers’ campaign leans on Islamophobia and race-baiting with few other arguments. The hosts praise how El-Sayed is defining Medicare for All, including simplifying Medicare, adding vision and dental, and possibly lowering the eligibility age, along with his outreach to MAHA-leaning voters on food and public health. They also discuss his planned tour of rural and northern Michigan to talk about affordability, tariffs, and farm costs, the Jocelyn Benson governor’s race and what differences between the two campaigns might reveal, and early signs of Latino voter enthusiasm that could reshape West Michigan. Miles and Rob also note that nearly a thousand Michigan healthcare professionals have signed a letter backing El-Sayed.LINKS* The Cook Political Report: A Senate Majority is Squarely in Democrats’ Sights as Kansas Moves to Toss Up; Two Other Races Shift Left* The Cook Political Report: 2026 CPR Senate Race Ratings* The Downballot: Morning Digest: Republicans abandon North Carolina—and race to rescue Kansas* The New York Times: A Doctor Sued 700 Patients for Debts; 81 Were Arrested. Now He’s a Senator.* KSNT: ‘There are no Medicaid cuts’ : Sen. Marshall responds to criticism about Medicaid changes passed in H.R 1* The Kansas City Star: Sen. Marshall contends with Hamilton-friendly crowd at Kansas State Fair debate* The Hill: Democrat leads Marshall in tight Kansas Senate race: Poll* YouGov: New polls in seven states show tight races for Senate and governor in each, including leads for Talarico, Brown, and Acton* ABC News: Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson spar over Trump, trade and abortion in Senate Debate* Collins on why she voted for the Big Bill* Collins on her vote for Brett Kavanaugh* MS NOW: Heidi Overton, Trump’s pick for FDA chief, dodges questions on vaccines and abortion, won’t say if president could ‘ever be wrong’* FOX 23 Maine: Group of Maine doctors throws support behind Troy Jackson for US Senate* Adam Hamilton on Twitter* Mike Rogers tweet about Abdul El-Sayed* Mike Rogers speech about Abdul El-Sayed* CBS News: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed courts RFK Jr.’s MAHA voters with new health policy platform* Mike Rogers for US Senate: Rogers Announces Healthcare Plan: Healthcare That Works For Working Families* Bridge Michigan: Could healthcare price transparency lower costs? Mike Rogers thinks so* The Hill: FBI post featuring El-Sayed runs afoul of Hatch Act, experts say* Tweet by CREW president Donald K. Sherman on FBI’s Hatch Act violation* The Washington Sun: Barack Obama to Campaign With Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit* CBS News: El-Sayed leads Rogers in exclusive Michigan Senate poll, but history says don’t call it yetJoin the fight at committeetoprotect.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pagingamericaSubscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America.Have thoughts, questions, or your own health care story? Email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pagingamerica.org/subscribe

Physicians with the Committee to Protect Health Care descended on Washington to fight Dr. Heidi Overton’s nomination to lead the FDA, and by most accounts it was a bad day for her. Miles Baker and Dr. Rob Davidson break down why the fight is far from over and how medical professionals can still sign the letter opposing her.They also cover the week’s other developments: the White House dropping a planned order that would have put political appointees in charge of NIH grants, the new chair of the federal autism coordinating committee who co-founded a company selling leucovorin to families of autistic children, and reports that RFK Jr. pulled $12 million from the Office of Minority Health to cover his security costs. The CDC has also finally acknowledged measles deaths in Pennsylvania, where babies are now being born infected.In the second half of the show, Politico healthcare reporter Carmen Paun joins us with an on-the-ground account of the MAHA conference in Washington, D.C. The conference, sponsored by UnitedHealth Group, came just as a group of MAHA leaders sent an open letter to Trump and RFK Jr. threatening to withdraw their support over the administration’s failure to remove the mRNA platform. It seems that the event was not very well attended, which raises the question of whether MAHA is fracturing, morphing into a corporate project, or both.LINKS* Learn about what you can do to fight the nomination of anti-abortion, anti-vaxx zealot Heidi Overton in the Committee’s Medical Professional Toolkit HERE.* The New York Times: White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants* POLITICO: Trump asked budget chief to draft order bringing health research funding under his control* Susan Collins’ letter to Kennedy and Bhattacharya* POLITICO: Collins: White House drops effort to politicize health research grants* MedPage Today: New Autism Committee Chair Founded a Leucovorin Telehealth Company* The Washington Sun: HHS Cancels Infant Mortality, Postpartum Grants to Focus on Sperm Counts, ED* POLITICO Pro: HHS is killing offices devoted to improving minority health and tackling HIV* The Wall Street Journal: RFK Jr.’s Enhanced Security Was Funded With Money From Minority Health Office* Joint Statement from the Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus* CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks* The Hill: Pennsylvania surpasses 900 measles cases* NBC News: America had wiped out measles. Now babies are infected at birth.* Americans for Health Freedom: Open Letter Regarding the Removal of the mRNA Platform* Carmen Paun’s bio at POLITICO* Carmen Paun on X* POLITICO: Vance, RFK Jr. and ‘Iron’ Mike to headline MAHA Summit* AXIOS: 1 big thing: Insurers cast themselves as MAHA allies* The Washington Sun: A Biological Age Test and Russell Brand: How Trump Officials Spent a Day With MAHA* The Hill: 4 takeaways from the MAHA Summit* The New York Times: A.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit* Food writer Helena Bottemiller Evich’s tweet* STAT: At MAHA Summit, a grassroots movement goes corporate* POLITICO: A cure for ‘medical tyranny’: RFK Jr. puts a positive spin on AIJoin the fight at committeetoprotect.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@pagingamericaSubscribe, share, and leave a rating to help more people find Paging America.Have thoughts, questions, or your own health care story? Email us at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.pagingamerica.org/subscribe