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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · 25d

“As UnitedHealth Group faces government investigations and changes in federal payments that have hurt its results, it is turning to an increasingly common Washington playbook: hiring Donald Trump’s allies”:
www.wsj.com/business/uni...

Exclusive | UnitedHealth Is Spending Big on Trump Allies to Fix Its Washington Problems

The largest U.S. health insurer’s Medicare business faces investigations and policy threats.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by George Joseph

Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · Aug 26

Israel justified its strike on the Nasser Hospital, which killed six journalists and more than a dozen others, by claiming a "Hamas" camera was set up there.
The location they attacked is where Reuters and the AP livestream.
From me and others (see byline/contribs)
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/w...

Israel Says It Attacked Gaza Hospital to Destroy Camera Placed by Hamas

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by George Joseph

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · Aug 20

BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips

THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.

www.thecity.nyc

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · Aug 7

Senators Ron Wyden & Elizabeth Warren are asking UnitedHealth to hand over company records about its attempts to reduce hospitalizations for nursing home residents—following our investigation:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Senators seek UnitedHealth records on push to curb nursing home hospitalizations

Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the healthcare conglomerate on Thursday citing a Guardian investigation

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by George Joseph

EL PERFIL @elperfil.pe · Jul 28

Declarado culpable el expresidente de Colombia Álvaro Uribe por soborno de testigos en actuación penal

Una jueza de Bogotá determinó la culpabilidad de Álvaro Uribe por soborno de testigos en un caso que se remonta a 2012.

elper.fi

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · Jul 24

@thecity.nyc finds Eric Adams collected more alleged straw donations after Trump’s DOJ killed its straw donation case against him.

“I don’t really work. Where would I get this much money?” one supposed Adams donor said:

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/24/e...

New Eric Adams ‘Donors’ Say They Never Gave to His Reelection Campaign

The campaign sought public matching funds from donors who insist they didn’t donate, just weeks after a judge dropped his corruption case.

www.thecity.nyc

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · Jun 11

“Federal agents make warrantless arrests. Masked agents take people into custody without identifying themselves. Plainclothes agents in at least a dozen cities have arrested migrants who showed up to their court hearings.”

www.wsj.com/us-news/prot...

The White House Marching Orders That Sparked the L.A. Migrant Crackdown

After deportations fell short of President Trump’s campaign promises, federal agents summoned to a meeting in Washington were told to “just go out there and arrest illegal aliens.”

www.wsj.com

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · Jun 11

NEW: @aoc.bsky.social calls on DOJ to investigate UnitedHealth’s campaign to reduce hospital transfers for nursing home seniors.

And Sen @wyden.senate.gov launches his own investigation into the healthcare giant:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

UnitedHealth faces federal scrutiny into whistleblower claims

Attention comes in wake of ex-employees’ allegations that insurer paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers and used improper tactics to gain Medicare Advantage enrollees

www.theguardian.com

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

13/ “No one is truly investigating when a patient suffers harm. Absolutely no one,” said one current UnitedHealth nurse practitioner who recently filed a congressional complaint about the nursing home program. “These incidents are hidden, downplayed and minimized.”

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

12/ The company declined to say whether he was ever sent to the hospital or what happened to him, citing patient confidentiality rules.

But these cases raise the question: what happens when patients aren’t hospitalized in the dark?

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

11/ The log suggests Keep never received proper stroke treatment in a hospital.

His symptoms were logged on a Saturday night. 18 hours later, UnitedHealth’s work up for him was still “pending” and it didn’t call for a stroke examination at a hospital.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

10/ But instead of sending Keep straight to the hospital, his nurse called a UnitedHealth employee who formulated a plan of care that called for bloodwork and giving him an aspirin.

Multiple doctors told us this didn’t make sense, but it did mean they didn’t rush him to hospital

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

9/ In 2019, Keep was experiencing forgetfulness + drooping on the right side of his face – “possible stroke symptoms”, according to a confidential UnitedHealth log.

Strokes require immediate hospitalization. When blood flow to the brain is interrupted, brain cells quickly die.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

8/ UnitedHealth denies this + says its bonus program helps prevent unnecessary hospitalizations for nursing home residents.

But confidential company and patient docs show it has helped prevent necessary hospitalizations for seniors too. Take the case of Donald Keep:

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

7/ Current UnitedHealth nurse practitioners told the Guardian that UnitedHealth managers pressed them to persuade Medicare Advantage members to change their “code status” to DNR even when seniors had expressed a desire that all available treatments be used to keep them alive.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

6/ The company also monitored nursing homes that had smaller numbers of patients with “do not resuscitate” – or DNR – and “do not intubate” orders in their files. Without such orders, patients are in line for certain life-saving treatments that might lead to costly hospital stays.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

5/ Internal emails show UnitedHealth supervisors gave their teams “budgets” showing how many hospital admissions they had “left” to use up on nursing homes patients.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

4/ These seniors are covered by Medicare Advantage, a privatization initiative that pays insurers fixed sums to cover their healthcare. By putting UnitedHealth’s own medical teams into nursing homes to drive down hospitalizations, it cut its medical expenses—saving it federal dollars

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

3/ The secret bonuses have been paid out as part of a UnitedHealth program that stations the company’s own medical teams in nursing homes and pushes them to cut care expenses for residents covered by the insurance giant.

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

2/ This story is based on thousands of confidential UnitedHealth + patient records obtained through sources, public records requests + court files, interviews with 20+ current and former UnitedHealth and nursing home employees, + 2 whistleblower declarations via @wbaidlaw.bsky.social

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 21

New @theguardian.com investigation: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes bonuses to slash hospitalizations for elderly residents.

Company tactics resulted in delayed/avoided hospitalizations for seniors who needed care. One suffered permanent brain damage:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers

A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations. Whistleblowers allege harm to residents

www.theguardian.com

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · May 12

New: Indiana passes landmark legislation putting effective price caps on nonprofit hospitals—which benefit from tax exempt status.

This follows a @us.theguardian.com investigation into one of the state’s most expensive chains:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Indiana passes law threatening non-profit status of expensive hospitals

Landmark legislation follows local uproar over a Guardian investigation into a major non-profit’s high prices

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by George Joseph

Stephanie Kirchgaessner @skirchy.bsky.social · May 12

Journalism matters. This follows reporting by @georgejoseph94.bsky.social, @wcraft.bsky.social, and @jessicaglenza.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Indiana passes law threatening non-profit status of expensive hospitals

Landmark legislation follows local uproar over a Guardian investigation into a major non-profit’s high prices

www.theguardian.com

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George Joseph @georgejoseph94.bsky.social · Apr 21

“Deputies are stopping Hispanic drivers for minor, unprovable traffic violations like veering left of center, then handing them over to Border Patrol agents who are sometimes already at the scene, the @syracuse.com investigation shows.”

www.syracuse.com/news/2025/04...

Inside Trump’s Upstate NY migrant hunt: Border Patrol’s meaner tactics snare workers and families

“It’s scary,” said a woman whose relatives have disappeared. “You can be followed just for being Hispanic.”

www.syracuse.com

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Reposted by George Joseph

Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · Mar 19

SCOOP: Hooded ICE agents snatched Indian-born Georgetown postdoc Badar Suri from Rosslyn street Monday, per court filing. Like Khalil, linked to pro-Palestinian views & Rubio 'foreign policy' power, lawyer says. Then whisked to Louisiana. w/ @kyledcheney www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Trump is seeking to deport another graduate student who is legally in the country, lawsuit says

Badar Khan Suri, a fellow at Georgetown, says he is being punished because of the suspected views of his wife, a U.S. citizen with Palestinian heritage.

www.politico.com

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