Selena Simmons-Duffin
@selenasd.com
Health policy correspondent for NPR in DC. // Signal: selena.02
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Story by me: "For me to be able to see my doctor to tend to my autoimmune disease, I had to marry my best friend — it's like some weird twisted plot of Will and Grace."
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
Marrying for health insurance? The ACA cost crisis forces some drastic choices
While Congress debates bringing back Affordable Care Act subsidies, many Americans have already made life-altering decisions to afford health care.
www.npr.org
January 12, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Story by me: "For me to be able to see my doctor to tend to my autoimmune disease, I had to marry my best friend — it's like some weird twisted plot of Will and Grace."
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
Not quite! A new filing shows hhs won’t enforce until April at the earliest.
Gender-affirming care for trans youth is legal in all 3 states. But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month announced that medical practitioners who provide gender-affirming care to minors are out of compliance w federal health care standards. Now, the agency is enforcing that declaration.
Three hospitals are under investigation for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth
In Washington state, Colorado, and Minnesota, children’s hospitals are facing federal scrutiny over care that’s legal under state law.
19thnews.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Not quite! A new filing shows hhs won’t enforce until April at the earliest.
I don’t think you’ve tagged the correct author there…
Immigrants play a key role in the supply of homebuilding and remodeling labor and the recent slowdown in immigration could worsen chronic labor shortages and constrain the ability to build and remodel housing, writes @rickriordan.bsky.social.
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/homebui...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/homebui...
Homebuilding and Remodeling Depend on Immigrant Labor in Major Metros
www.jchs.harvard.edu
January 5, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I don’t think you’ve tagged the correct author there…
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Read the full email Sharyn Alfonsi sent her team about CBS pulling their segment on the Trump admin’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants
December 22, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Read the full email Sharyn Alfonsi sent her team about CBS pulling their segment on the Trump admin’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Selena Simmons-Duffin at NPR broke the news about the trans kids’ health care ban, and now she’s following up. Note that she actually talks to doctors and trans kids, not just politicians.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Trump's push to end transgender care for young people opposed by pediatricians
Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens.
www.npr.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Selena Simmons-Duffin at NPR broke the news about the trans kids’ health care ban, and now she’s following up. Note that she actually talks to doctors and trans kids, not just politicians.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
NPR talked to and quoted a transgender teen whose treatment is threatened. Did your news organization?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz announce moves to ban gender-affirming care for young people
The Trump administration Thursday proposed two rules targeting hospitals that treat transgender children and youth using Medicare and Medicaid as the lever. The move would affect trans youth who have ...
www.npr.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:01 AM
NPR talked to and quoted a transgender teen whose treatment is threatened. Did your news organization?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
If you’re concerned about the new HHS rulings on trans care, my daughter @selenasd.com breaks it down on the PBS Newshour
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Trump administration moves to restrict gender affirming care for minors nationwide
The Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a series of actions meant to effectively ban transition-related medical treatments nationwide for those under 18. Stephanie Sy discussed more with ...
www.pbs.org
December 19, 2025 at 1:12 AM
If you’re concerned about the new HHS rulings on trans care, my daughter @selenasd.com breaks it down on the PBS Newshour
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Scoop by me: "During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine's photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name.”
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait
Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered.
www.npr.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Scoop by me: "During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine's photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name.”
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Pretty crazy to stumble on this @nytimes.com Editorial Board piece from 2015:
"Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless."
www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/o...
"Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless."
www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/o...
Opinion | The Quest for Transgender Equality (Published 2015)
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Pretty crazy to stumble on this @nytimes.com Editorial Board piece from 2015:
"Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless."
www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/o...
"Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless."
www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/o...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
GREAT JOB ALERT!
ProPublica is hiring another senior editor for our Local Reporting Network.
The editor will edit the work of 4-5 reporters from our partner newsrooms, collaborating on projects that spur change.
💰 Salary range: $150,000 to $195,000
➡️ Apply: propub.li/3JAIqme
ProPublica is hiring another senior editor for our Local Reporting Network.
The editor will edit the work of 4-5 reporters from our partner newsrooms, collaborating on projects that spur change.
💰 Salary range: $150,000 to $195,000
➡️ Apply: propub.li/3JAIqme
November 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
GREAT JOB ALERT!
ProPublica is hiring another senior editor for our Local Reporting Network.
The editor will edit the work of 4-5 reporters from our partner newsrooms, collaborating on projects that spur change.
💰 Salary range: $150,000 to $195,000
➡️ Apply: propub.li/3JAIqme
ProPublica is hiring another senior editor for our Local Reporting Network.
The editor will edit the work of 4-5 reporters from our partner newsrooms, collaborating on projects that spur change.
💰 Salary range: $150,000 to $195,000
➡️ Apply: propub.li/3JAIqme
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
When science is understandable, we all win. I've started a national petition calling on all institutions of higher education, and their accreditors, to require science communication and public engagement training for all STEM degrees. Share and sign today, it only takes a few seconds: bit.ly/3LbnfHB
November 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
When science is understandable, we all win. I've started a national petition calling on all institutions of higher education, and their accreditors, to require science communication and public engagement training for all STEM degrees. Share and sign today, it only takes a few seconds: bit.ly/3LbnfHB
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
My colleague says his heart sank as he got a glimpse of the devastation in Gaza. Must listen:
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
A journalist's journey to Gaza's front line
NPR gets a rare glimpse inside the Israeli-occupied zone of devastated Gaza.
www.npr.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
My colleague says his heart sank as he got a glimpse of the devastation in Gaza. Must listen:
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
After a whooping cough outbreak killed two babies, Louisiana health officials appear to have deviated from the typical playbook for public health, waiting two months to warn the public. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Louisiana Took Months To Sound Alarm After Two Babies Died in Whooping Cough Outbreak - KFF Health News
Louisiana health officials appear to have deviated from the usual steps for public health communications amid a whooping cough outbreak after it killed two infants.
kffhealthnews.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
After a whooping cough outbreak killed two babies, Louisiana health officials appear to have deviated from the typical playbook for public health, waiting two months to warn the public. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Thank you @selenasd.com ! Your coverage is so important!
Trump’s proposed national ban on gender-affirming care for trans youths “could open the door for any White House to withhold all federal funding from hospitals over the provision of medical care that it disfavors.” Will abortion, birth control, vaccines, Tylenol be next?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.
www.npr.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Thank you @selenasd.com ! Your coverage is so important!
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
I keep seeing people say, oh, trans people must take a hit for the greater good and, first of all, no, you don't get to discard someone else's rights and second, we know from past experience that marginalized communities like theirs are merely the first to be targeted. They'll come for you next.
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too. n.pr/4qFa1mY
Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.
n.pr
October 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
I keep seeing people say, oh, trans people must take a hit for the greater good and, first of all, no, you don't get to discard someone else's rights and second, we know from past experience that marginalized communities like theirs are merely the first to be targeted. They'll come for you next.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Exclusive from @npr.org: the Department of Health and Human Services plans to introduce a rule in early November eliminating Medicare & Medicaid funding of any kind for any hospital that offers care for transgender youth. This would make care nearly impossible to access. www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.
www.npr.org
October 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Exclusive from @npr.org: the Department of Health and Human Services plans to introduce a rule in early November eliminating Medicare & Medicaid funding of any kind for any hospital that offers care for transgender youth. This would make care nearly impossible to access. www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Trump’s proposed national ban on gender-affirming care for trans youths “could open the door for any White House to withhold all federal funding from hospitals over the provision of medical care that it disfavors.” Will abortion, birth control, vaccines, Tylenol be next?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally
The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.
www.npr.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Trump’s proposed national ban on gender-affirming care for trans youths “could open the door for any White House to withhold all federal funding from hospitals over the provision of medical care that it disfavors.” Will abortion, birth control, vaccines, Tylenol be next?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Reporters (one of whom is my daughter) were ousted from covering immigration court hearings. Trump regime using shutdown to impinge on free press and coverage of their actions. @hcrichardson.bsky.social
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/28/l...
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/28/l...
Local immigration court ousts reporters from hearings
HYATTSVILLE, Md. – Federal officials ordered two reporters out of immigration court on Tuesday and barred them from observing future proceedings until they get permission from the Trump administration...
cnsmaryland.org
October 29, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reporters (one of whom is my daughter) were ousted from covering immigration court hearings. Trump regime using shutdown to impinge on free press and coverage of their actions. @hcrichardson.bsky.social
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/28/l...
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/28/l...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
New from me: After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Louisiana officials waited months to warn public of whooping cough outbreak
After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach. That's not the typical public health response.
www.npr.org
October 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
New from me: After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
I’m reporting on the RIFs at HHS Office of Population Affairs. If you have info for me please get in touch on Signal @selena.02
October 15, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I’m reporting on the RIFs at HHS Office of Population Affairs. If you have info for me please get in touch on Signal @selena.02
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
If 982 is the total number at HHS staff who were supposed to be fired, it seems the bulk of those laid off are at @CDCgov.
HHS can you provide a breakdown by agency? 3/3
HHS can you provide a breakdown by agency? 3/3
October 14, 2025 at 10:31 PM
If 982 is the total number at HHS staff who were supposed to be fired, it seems the bulk of those laid off are at @CDCgov.
HHS can you provide a breakdown by agency? 3/3
HHS can you provide a breakdown by agency? 3/3
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
I’m going to post one here that just happened that is so upsetting.
October 6, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I’m going to post one here that just happened that is so upsetting.