Sarah Somers
@sarahsomers.bsky.social
Legal Director at the National Health Law Program. In Chapel Hill, NC, but still a Michigander at heart. Opinions my own. She/her.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Senators Crapo & Cassidy have now released bill language for their health "plan". Besides nothing on expiring Marketplace credits and HSAs, it adds 3 harmful #Medicaid cuts from House version of H.R. 1 that were dropped in final law due to Senate rules (1/x): www.finance.senate.gov/download/hea...
[2025-12-08] Download: Health Care Freedom for Patients Act | The United States Senate Committee on Finance | The United States Senate Committee on Finance
[2025-12-08] Download: Health Care Freedom for Patients Act | The United States Senate Committee on Finance
www.finance.senate.gov
December 9, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Senators Crapo & Cassidy have now released bill language for their health "plan". Besides nothing on expiring Marketplace credits and HSAs, it adds 3 harmful #Medicaid cuts from House version of H.R. 1 that were dropped in final law due to Senate rules (1/x): www.finance.senate.gov/download/hea...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
December 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
My constituent, Wilmer, was mauled by an ICE attack dog despite the fact that, as he has consistently explained, he was not resisting arrest or trying to flee—his wife and young children, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as Wilmer was violently attacked and dragged away.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine
The CDC's ACIP panel voted to recommend delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ending a policy that has reined in the virus.
www.statnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Sarah Somers
New from NHeLP: A survey of how states define “medically frail” in Medicaid ABPs & past 1115 work requirement demos. 🔗 https://healthlaw.org/resource/checking-all-the-boxes-a-survey-of-medical-frailty-definitions-in-alternative-benefit-plans-and-section-1115-work-requirements-demonstrations/
Checking All the Boxes: A Survey of Medical Frailty Definitions in Alternative Benefit Plans and Section 1115 Work Requirements Demonstrations
Individuals who are considered medically frail have traditionally been subject to different eligibility and coverage rules in the Medicaid program. Most recently, H.R. 1 exempted medically frail individuals from new work requirement imposed on Medicaid expansion populations. This survey provides information on the use of medical frailty in the past by summarizing medically frail designations in the context of Alternative Benefit Plans (ABPs) and state-level efforts to incorporate work requirements into their Medicaid programs outside of the context of H.R. 1 – specifically, through Section...
healthlaw.org
December 3, 2025 at 8:48 PM
New from NHeLP: A survey of how states define “medically frail” in Medicaid ABPs & past 1115 work requirement demos. 🔗 https://healthlaw.org/resource/checking-all-the-boxes-a-survey-of-medical-frailty-definitions-in-alternative-benefit-plans-and-section-1115-work-requirements-demonstrations/
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.
December 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Awful. Trump admin is deporting a 23-year-old NC woman who came here at the age of 14 as an unaccompanied minor. Her father was murdered and mother died of cancer. All she has are two traffic citations, per this report from Charlotte Observer's Dan Kane:
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
November 26, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Awful. Trump admin is deporting a 23-year-old NC woman who came here at the age of 14 as an unaccompanied minor. Her father was murdered and mother died of cancer. All she has are two traffic citations, per this report from Charlotte Observer's Dan Kane:
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
I feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
A Babson College student wanted to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was deported instead. - The Boston Globe
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was at Logan to catch a flight to Texas when immigration authorities detained her as she was about to board the plane.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:47 AM
I feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Secretary Kennedy, speaking to a bipartisan group of governors, has mixed up Medicare and Medicaid, and implied the people who will lose the latter are either unauthorized immigrants, dual eligible, or people who “don’t want to get a job.”
November 21, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Secretary Kennedy, speaking to a bipartisan group of governors, has mixed up Medicare and Medicaid, and implied the people who will lose the latter are either unauthorized immigrants, dual eligible, or people who “don’t want to get a job.”
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Representatives from the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School system shared their support for immigrant families as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up federal enforcement in the Triangle Tuesday.
CHCCS Shares Support For Immigrant Families, Says Absences Increased - Chapelboro.com
Representatives from CHCCS shared their support for immigrant families as ICE activity ramped up in the Triangle Tuesday.
chapelboro.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Representatives from the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School system shared their support for immigrant families as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up federal enforcement in the Triangle Tuesday.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Texas' abortion ban has killed another woman.
Let's be very clear: Republicans are killing women. Democrats need to start calling them murderers loudly and often.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Let's be very clear: Republicans are killing women. Democrats need to start calling them murderers loudly and often.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Texas' abortion ban has killed another woman.
Let's be very clear: Republicans are killing women. Democrats need to start calling them murderers loudly and often.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Let's be very clear: Republicans are killing women. Democrats need to start calling them murderers loudly and often.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Medicare for All would save $450B a year.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
November 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Medicare for All would save $450B a year.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians received a grant for its Choctaw Dictionary project in 2020. However, as the department was nearing completion of the dictionary, the Trump administration terminated the award.
buff.ly/5ApEvre
buff.ly/5ApEvre
Mississippi Choctaw Dictionary Project Helps Preserve Language
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Choctaw Dictionary Project is designed to help teach the language and encourage more daily use.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 17, 2025 at 6:43 PM
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians received a grant for its Choctaw Dictionary project in 2020. However, as the department was nearing completion of the dictionary, the Trump administration terminated the award.
buff.ly/5ApEvre
buff.ly/5ApEvre
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Remember the recent middle-of-the-night apartment building raid where children were dragged outside naked & zip-tied in the street while black & Latino residents were _sorted by race_ and piled into separate vans while their apartments were ransacked & robbed? That raid? So it resulted in 0 arrests.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should resign and be criminally charged, according to critics who seized on a report revealing that zero people who were arrested in a high-profile raid were charged with a crime.
'Noem should resign over this': Fury over alleged DHS 'child kidnapping and trafficking'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should resign and be criminally charged, according to critics who seized on a report revealing that zero people who were arrested in a high-profile raid were charged with a crime.ProPublica recently reported on the DHS raid on an apartment building that was al...
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Remember the recent middle-of-the-night apartment building raid where children were dragged outside naked & zip-tied in the street while black & Latino residents were _sorted by race_ and piled into separate vans while their apartments were ransacked & robbed? That raid? So it resulted in 0 arrests.
Reposted by Sarah Somers
‘No transparency.’ Charlotte leaders blast secrecy around Border Patrol move into North Carolina. The Democratic politicians said local and county leaders didn't ask for the Border Patrol agents and that they're not needed in Charlotte. (Via Nora O'Neill) www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a... #ncpol
‘No transparency.’ Charlotte leaders blast secrecy around Border Patrol move into NC
“I’m not quite sure what border we’re patrolling here,” one state representative said. “Are we patrolling Rock Hill or South Carolina?”
www.newsobserver.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:29 PM
‘No transparency.’ Charlotte leaders blast secrecy around Border Patrol move into North Carolina. The Democratic politicians said local and county leaders didn't ask for the Border Patrol agents and that they're not needed in Charlotte. (Via Nora O'Neill) www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a... #ncpol
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Jenna Norton has spoken critically about the Trump administration's funding cuts and mass firings at the National Institutes of Health. At the end of the shutdown, she says she was put on leave.
www.wunc.org/2025-11-14/s...
www.wunc.org/2025-11-14/s...
She criticized President Trump during the shutdown. Now she's been put on leave
Jenna Norton has spoken critically about the Trump administration's funding cuts and mass firings at the National Institutes of Health. At the end of the shutdown, she says she was put on leave.
www.wunc.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Jenna Norton has spoken critically about the Trump administration's funding cuts and mass firings at the National Institutes of Health. At the end of the shutdown, she says she was put on leave.
www.wunc.org/2025-11-14/s...
www.wunc.org/2025-11-14/s...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
If you think the origins of a pipe cannot make for compelling investigative reporting, boy do I have a story for you
A Stormwater Pipe Is Destroying Her Home. Who’s Responsible?
Mandy McGhee bought her Walltown home through a program designed to help low-income buyers build generational wealth. But a stormwater pipe that’s been eroding her foundation for years is putting that...
indyweek.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
If you think the origins of a pipe cannot make for compelling investigative reporting, boy do I have a story for you
Reposted by Sarah Somers
hire all the fired political teen vogue writers and make a new magazine call teen rogue.
we’ll all subscribe en masse
we’ll all subscribe en masse
November 4, 2025 at 2:32 AM
hire all the fired political teen vogue writers and make a new magazine call teen rogue.
we’ll all subscribe en masse
we’ll all subscribe en masse
Reposted by Sarah Somers
A friend is raising money for Legal Services of North Florida, where he offers pro bono civil representation to low-income and vulnerable individuals. I volunteered with LSNF years ago and can confirm they do vital work. Would be grateful if you could chip in a bit: secure.qgiv.com/event/legals...
Dancing with the Stars Tallahassee
secure.qgiv.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
A friend is raising money for Legal Services of North Florida, where he offers pro bono civil representation to low-income and vulnerable individuals. I volunteered with LSNF years ago and can confirm they do vital work. Would be grateful if you could chip in a bit: secure.qgiv.com/event/legals...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Very informative story about what is going on with the Rural Health "Transformation" Fund... Corporate vendors lining up.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
States Jostle Over $50B Rural Health Fund as Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Trigger Scramble - KFF Health News
States are battling for their piece of $50 billion in federal rural health funding, but it’s not just hospitals vying for the money. Tech startups and policy demands are raising the stakes as Medicaid...
kffhealthnews.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Very informative story about what is going on with the Rural Health "Transformation" Fund... Corporate vendors lining up.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Reeling from the scale of the SNAP cliff. In Orange County NC alone: 8700 individual SNAP recipients in 4683 families.
October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reeling from the scale of the SNAP cliff. In Orange County NC alone: 8700 individual SNAP recipients in 4683 families.
Durham’s Second No Kings Rally Draws Thousands indyweek.com/news/durham/...
Durham’s Second No Kings Rally Draws Thousands
An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people rallied in Durham under the banner of “No Kings, No Billionaires” to protest President Trump.
indyweek.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Durham’s Second No Kings Rally Draws Thousands indyweek.com/news/durham/...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Nearly as many migrants have died in custody so far this year than over the 4 yrs of the Biden admin. ICE is hiring dozens more medical workers, but former insiders are skeptical the deaths will stop w/o more fundamental reforms. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
ICE is hiring dozens of health workers as lawsuits, deaths in custody mount
Nearly as many migrants have died in detention so far this year than over the four years of the Biden administration.
www.politico.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Nearly as many migrants have died in custody so far this year than over the 4 yrs of the Biden admin. ICE is hiring dozens more medical workers, but former insiders are skeptical the deaths will stop w/o more fundamental reforms. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Sarah Somers
Top on the list of "Democrat programs" Trump/Vought just ended is the office which runs special education programs in the United States. www.k12dive.com/news/special...
RIFs rip through federal Office of Special Education Programs
With OSEP reportedly decimated, one special education expert asks: How can IDEA "possibly function"?
www.k12dive.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Top on the list of "Democrat programs" Trump/Vought just ended is the office which runs special education programs in the United States. www.k12dive.com/news/special...