Risha Gidwani
@rgidwani.bsky.social
Assoc Prof, Health Economist at Univ of Colorado School of Medicine & RAND. Studying insurance/policy shocks, quality of care & patient financial burden. Girl Mom. Recovering political junkie. Coffee snob. Always interested in a dance party. Opinions mine.
Putting in some #ASHEcon abstracts for 2026 -- topics are: health insurance selection and consumer decision making; insurance affordability; ACA insurance; costs of care. Please ping me if you have papers in those topics and would like to submit a session with me!
November 21, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Putting in some #ASHEcon abstracts for 2026 -- topics are: health insurance selection and consumer decision making; insurance affordability; ACA insurance; costs of care. Please ping me if you have papers in those topics and would like to submit a session with me!
Sobering work out today. Compared to 18 OECD countries, kids are ~80% more likely to die in the U.S. -- mostly due to prematurity or SIDS (infants) and gun violence/car crashes (kids).
>31% of U.S. kids have a chronic illness.
All of this likely to get worse due to recent funding cuts.
>31% of U.S. kids have a chronic illness.
All of this likely to get worse due to recent funding cuts.
Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms
This study aims to determine how US children’s health has been changing from 2007 to 2023 using multiple data collection methods and a comprehensive set of health indicators.
jamanetwork.com
July 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Sobering work out today. Compared to 18 OECD countries, kids are ~80% more likely to die in the U.S. -- mostly due to prematurity or SIDS (infants) and gun violence/car crashes (kids).
>31% of U.S. kids have a chronic illness.
All of this likely to get worse due to recent funding cuts.
>31% of U.S. kids have a chronic illness.
All of this likely to get worse due to recent funding cuts.
“The PSTF’s members, Kavanaugh wrote, must be appointed by the HHS secretary, who can also fire them whenever he pleases. And… Kavanaugh wrote that the HHS secretary can also directly supervise and overrule the PSTF’s decisions about which treatments must be fully covered by insurance.”
😳
😳
The Supreme Court Just Handed RFK Jr. New and Extraordinarily Frightening Power
Congress did not give Kennedy, or any other HHS secretary, these powers. SCOTUS did.
slate.com
June 30, 2025 at 8:53 PM
“The PSTF’s members, Kavanaugh wrote, must be appointed by the HHS secretary, who can also fire them whenever he pleases. And… Kavanaugh wrote that the HHS secretary can also directly supervise and overrule the PSTF’s decisions about which treatments must be fully covered by insurance.”
😳
😳
Please read this and share widely, esp w/ your elected representatives.
“Targeted projects… were seeking cures for future pandemics, examining the causes of dementia and trying to prevent HIV transmission.
The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent.”
“Targeted projects… were seeking cures for future pandemics, examining the causes of dementia and trying to prevent HIV transmission.
The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent.”
Shattered Science: The Research Lost as Trump Targets NIH Funding
The Trump administration cut research funding that sought cures for future pandemics, examined the causes of dementia and tried to prevent HIV transmission. More than 150 researchers shared with ProPu...
projects.propublica.org
June 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Please read this and share widely, esp w/ your elected representatives.
“Targeted projects… were seeking cures for future pandemics, examining the causes of dementia and trying to prevent HIV transmission.
The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent.”
“Targeted projects… were seeking cures for future pandemics, examining the causes of dementia and trying to prevent HIV transmission.
The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no precedent.”
Reposted by Risha Gidwani
Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.
June 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.
Well, well, well.
Hm interesting bit from Sen. Cassidy's floor speech endorsing RFK Jr
www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...
www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...
June 9, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Well, well, well.
Medicaid work requirements are a bad solution to a non-problem.
& as part of the not-beautiful bill, if ppl get kicked off Medicaid for work requirement issues, they aren’t eligible for ACA subsidies, making that insurance out of reach.
Cue chronic disease going unmanaged, hospitals w/ bad debt
& as part of the not-beautiful bill, if ppl get kicked off Medicaid for work requirement issues, they aren’t eligible for ACA subsidies, making that insurance out of reach.
Cue chronic disease going unmanaged, hospitals w/ bad debt
Opinion | We Saw Medicaid Work Requirements Up Close. You Don’t Want This Chaos.
www.nytimes.com
June 9, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Medicaid work requirements are a bad solution to a non-problem.
& as part of the not-beautiful bill, if ppl get kicked off Medicaid for work requirement issues, they aren’t eligible for ACA subsidies, making that insurance out of reach.
Cue chronic disease going unmanaged, hospitals w/ bad debt
& as part of the not-beautiful bill, if ppl get kicked off Medicaid for work requirement issues, they aren’t eligible for ACA subsidies, making that insurance out of reach.
Cue chronic disease going unmanaged, hospitals w/ bad debt
Reposted by Risha Gidwani
22 years ago I pivoted from working on antibiotic resistance to pandemic viruses.
Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment.
...
We were so goddamn close.
Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment.
...
We were so goddamn close.
Trump administration cancels plans to develop a bird flu vaccine
The Department of Health and Human Services is ending a $766 million contract with the vaccine company Moderna to develop an mRNA vaccine for flu strains with pandemic potential, including bird flu.
www.npr.org
May 29, 2025 at 4:48 AM
22 years ago I pivoted from working on antibiotic resistance to pandemic viruses.
Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment.
...
We were so goddamn close.
Since then, I've argued that if we care about saving US lives in expectation, advance capacity for producing bird flu vaccine offers by far the greatest expected return on investment.
...
We were so goddamn close.
This public comment period on COVID vaccine availability ends tonight at 11:59pm ET. Please make your voice heard!
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
May 23, 2025 at 7:42 PM
This public comment period on COVID vaccine availability ends tonight at 11:59pm ET. Please make your voice heard!
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
Remembering the days when we had a president who could speak so knowledgeably on health care policy that he published a sole author paper in JAMA, with 68 citations.
US Health Care Reform: Progress and Next Steps
In this Special Communication, President Barack Obama reviews the Affordable Care Act: why he pursued it, what it has effected, and how the health care system can still be improved.
jamanetwork.com
May 16, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Remembering the days when we had a president who could speak so knowledgeably on health care policy that he published a sole author paper in JAMA, with 68 citations.
New paper alert! Are you in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)? Chances are you or someone you know are. We studied whether ppl with chronic illness can get the care they need in these plans. Read on for more! 1/n
High-Deductible Health Plans and Receipt of Guideline-Concordant Care
This cohort study examines receipt of guideline-concordant health care among individuals with chronic illness enrolled in high-deductible health plans compared with those enrolled in non–high-deductib...
jamanetwork.com
April 30, 2025 at 11:43 PM
New paper alert! Are you in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)? Chances are you or someone you know are. We studied whether ppl with chronic illness can get the care they need in these plans. Read on for more! 1/n
One of the best parts about this career is that your colleagues become your good friends.
April 19, 2025 at 2:53 PM
One of the best parts about this career is that your colleagues become your good friends.
Reposted by Risha Gidwani
Special session announced at #ARM25 "Special Session: Insurer and Provider Consolidation in U.S. Healthcare" with @rgidwani.bsky.social, Amir Dan Rubin, Cheryl Damberg, and Cory Capps. Register here for a discount: buff.ly/VC0PIYT
April 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Special session announced at #ARM25 "Special Session: Insurer and Provider Consolidation in U.S. Healthcare" with @rgidwani.bsky.social, Amir Dan Rubin, Cheryl Damberg, and Cory Capps. Register here for a discount: buff.ly/VC0PIYT
Reposted by Risha Gidwani
NSF just slashed its graduate research fellowships by 51%.
This prestigious program has trained & nurtured at least 42 scientists who went on to become Nobel laureates.
We're destroying it, at exactly the time we claim to worry about our "sputnik moment" with China
bsky.app/profile/davi...
This prestigious program has trained & nurtured at least 42 scientists who went on to become Nobel laureates.
We're destroying it, at exactly the time we claim to worry about our "sputnik moment" with China
bsky.app/profile/davi...
This 51% cut to graduate fellowships is a bloodbath.
And it's one of the first public indications of just how much NSF thinks its STEM education budget (the EDU directorate funds the GRFP) might be slashed by Congress.
(Prior, we only knew that new EDU awards were being evaluated but not issued)
And it's one of the first public indications of just how much NSF thinks its STEM education budget (the EDU directorate funds the GRFP) might be slashed by Congress.
(Prior, we only knew that new EDU awards were being evaluated but not issued)
April 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
NSF just slashed its graduate research fellowships by 51%.
This prestigious program has trained & nurtured at least 42 scientists who went on to become Nobel laureates.
We're destroying it, at exactly the time we claim to worry about our "sputnik moment" with China
bsky.app/profile/davi...
This prestigious program has trained & nurtured at least 42 scientists who went on to become Nobel laureates.
We're destroying it, at exactly the time we claim to worry about our "sputnik moment" with China
bsky.app/profile/davi...
AHRQ is gutted. It is worthwhile to download anything important – codebooks, data, SAS code, tech specs – asap.
"Its latest budget... amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending. If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is"
"Its latest budget... amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending. If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is"
What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation's Health Care Safer - KFF Health News
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality helped improve health care safety in a country where thousands die of medical errors each year. It was effectively dissolved Tuesday.
kffhealthnews.org
April 4, 2025 at 2:29 PM
AHRQ is gutted. It is worthwhile to download anything important – codebooks, data, SAS code, tech specs – asap.
"Its latest budget... amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending. If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is"
"Its latest budget... amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending. If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is"
Hi folks, in these crazy times, some good news -- the Univ. of CO School of Medicine is hiring for an Assistant Professor in the Div. Geriatrics.
Looking for: a health economist with interest in aging . You'd work closely with the incredible @lhnicholas.bsky.social Apply here by Apr 15!
Looking for: a health economist with interest in aging . You'd work closely with the incredible @lhnicholas.bsky.social Apply here by Apr 15!
Assistant Professor
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
cu.taleo.net
March 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Hi folks, in these crazy times, some good news -- the Univ. of CO School of Medicine is hiring for an Assistant Professor in the Div. Geriatrics.
Looking for: a health economist with interest in aging . You'd work closely with the incredible @lhnicholas.bsky.social Apply here by Apr 15!
Looking for: a health economist with interest in aging . You'd work closely with the incredible @lhnicholas.bsky.social Apply here by Apr 15!
For all the CMS data homies, finally, some action on VRDC.
CMS has reviewed public comment and is asking for more, specific feedback from researchers.
Please take some time to respond to the questions posed here. It looks like CMS really is considering the feedback we all provided the last round.
CMS has reviewed public comment and is asking for more, specific feedback from researchers.
Please take some time to respond to the questions posed here. It looks like CMS really is considering the feedback we all provided the last round.
Research Data Request & Access Policy Changes Feedback Opportunity | CMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to evaluate our research data request and access policies, processes, and tools to ensure we are maximizing protections for controlled uncl...
nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
March 11, 2025 at 5:33 PM
For all the CMS data homies, finally, some action on VRDC.
CMS has reviewed public comment and is asking for more, specific feedback from researchers.
Please take some time to respond to the questions posed here. It looks like CMS really is considering the feedback we all provided the last round.
CMS has reviewed public comment and is asking for more, specific feedback from researchers.
Please take some time to respond to the questions posed here. It looks like CMS really is considering the feedback we all provided the last round.
New research shows 7% of U.S. adults have been exposed to a mass shooting event.
12% of those adults had exposure to a mass shooting at a K-12 school.
This suggests that the proportion of U.S. kids exposed to a mass shooting even is much higher.
12% of those adults had exposure to a mass shooting at a K-12 school.
This suggests that the proportion of U.S. kids exposed to a mass shooting even is much higher.
Direct Exposure to Mass Shootings Among US Adults
This survey study estimates the prevalence of direct exposure to mass shootings among US adults and identifies the sociodemographic groups most exposed.
jamanetwork.com
March 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
New research shows 7% of U.S. adults have been exposed to a mass shooting event.
12% of those adults had exposure to a mass shooting at a K-12 school.
This suggests that the proportion of U.S. kids exposed to a mass shooting even is much higher.
12% of those adults had exposure to a mass shooting at a K-12 school.
This suggests that the proportion of U.S. kids exposed to a mass shooting even is much higher.
For everyone truly concerned about waste/fraud/abuse, a reminder that the Dept of Defense is the largest source of spending for the fed gov't, far outpacing Medicaid, SNAP, SS, etc.
The DoD has failed 7 audits in a row.
That means it has never passed an audit.
thehill.com/policy/defen...
The DoD has failed 7 audits in a row.
That means it has never passed an audit.
thehill.com/policy/defen...
thehill.com
March 7, 2025 at 3:42 PM
For everyone truly concerned about waste/fraud/abuse, a reminder that the Dept of Defense is the largest source of spending for the fed gov't, far outpacing Medicaid, SNAP, SS, etc.
The DoD has failed 7 audits in a row.
That means it has never passed an audit.
thehill.com/policy/defen...
The DoD has failed 7 audits in a row.
That means it has never passed an audit.
thehill.com/policy/defen...
AFTER news broke of the 1st child in America dying from measles, RFK Jr's FDA cancelled the meeting to decide on next season's flu vaccines.
Cue more people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Cue more people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.
BREAKING—RFK Jr’s FDA suddenly cancels meeting to update next season’s flu vaccines, with zero explanations. Any delays will jeopardize next year’s vaccine supply chain. God help us all.
February 27, 2025 at 3:27 AM
AFTER news broke of the 1st child in America dying from measles, RFK Jr's FDA cancelled the meeting to decide on next season's flu vaccines.
Cue more people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Cue more people dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Despite the importance of primary care in early detection and creating a usual source of care, even the most generous estimates peg primary care spending at only 10% of overall health care spending. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Measuring Primary Care Spending in the US by State
This case series identifies states’ estimates of primary care spending and recommends steps policymakers can take toward standardizing these estimates.
jamanetwork.com
February 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Despite the importance of primary care in early detection and creating a usual source of care, even the most generous estimates peg primary care spending at only 10% of overall health care spending. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Just received a professional cold email that started with “I hope you have eaten well this weekend” and I would like you all to know that this is how I will be opening all of my emails to you forthwith.
February 20, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Just received a professional cold email that started with “I hope you have eaten well this weekend” and I would like you all to know that this is how I will be opening all of my emails to you forthwith.