Dr. Aaron Carroll explains healthcare policy, medical research, and answers a lot of other questions you may have about medicine, health, and healthcare.
From Healthcare Triage. It’s the most wonderful time of the year – The Shkreli Awards! The Shkreli Awards shine a lot of some of the most notable cases of fraud, abuse, and disgraceful behavior in the Us healthcare system. We’ve covered these for a few years now because dysfunction is, like, the whole reason this…
From Healthcare Triage. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [1]recently announced a series of actions aimed at banning gender-affirming care for minors. This is a big deal. Banning access to gender-affirming care removes a key protective factor for a population already facing elevated vulnerability. Youth who are denied desired care may experience worsening…
From Healthcare Triage. A lot can go wrong around the holidays. Here’s what to look out for to avoid illness and injuries that are sometimes associated with the holiday season. Related HCT episodes: Holiday Myths CLASSIC EPISODE: https://youtu.be/BncyJxsI1yg Be sure to check out our podcast! Other Healthcare Triage Links: 1. Support the channel on Patreon:…
From Healthcare Triage. The recent government shutdown hinged on a very specific health-care question: whether Congress should extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits that help millions of Americans afford marketplace coverage. So, where are we at with that question now that the government is back open? Related HCT episodes: Government Shutdown:…
From Healthcare Triage. In September 2025, President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced multiple policy moves around autism. Among them: updating the drug label for leucovorin to include treatment of speech-related deficits in autism and encouraging Medicaid coverage in many states. So, what’s Leucovorin? Related HCT episodes: Tylenol and Autism: https://youtu.be/vx5xH1zs4Tc Be…
From Healthcare Triage. Dubious connection between pre-natal Tylenol use and autism are back, and this time they’re coming straight from the federal government. So, is this connection real? Related HCT episodes: Acetaminophen and Autism ad nausea: https://youtu.be/iYX7Y1lLZ78 Be sure to check out our podcast! Other Healthcare Triage Links: 1. Support the channel on Patreon: http://vid.io/xqXr…
From Healthcare Triage. Some people are saying ACA subsidies are behind the shutdown. Some are saying that’s not the case. Both parties have very different stories about what’s going on. What are they saying? Related HCT episodes: The Pitfalls of Cost-sharing in Health Insurance: https://youtu.be/DPHJV6tSpd0 Be sure to check out our podcast! Other Healthcare Triage…
From Healthcare Triage. In February 2025, the New York Times reported the removal of more than 8,000 pages from federal websites, including content on vaccines, veterans’ services, hate crimes, and health research. Efforts to remove, restructure, or completely eliminate public health information from federal websites undermine the essential infrastructure that scientists, clinicians, health policy makers,…
From Healthcare Triage. The reconciliation legislation formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes numerous provisions that will lead to tens of millions of Medicaid beneficiaries being disenrolled, and may lead to the closure of over 300 rural hospitals, dramatically increasing the number of Americans who will lose access to health care. The…
From Healthcare Triage. The value of science is being challenged. Budgets for scientific research are being slashed and a lot of research has been deemed wasteful. Meanwhile, recent surveys show public trust in scientists has dropped sharply, particularly among conservative voters, compared to pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, the scientific community shoulders some of this blame, and…
From Healthcare Triage. In April 2025, the director of the National Institutes of Health described a proposal to "develop national disease registries, including a new one for autism." Days later, officials walked back claims that the intention was to develop an autism registry, and instead focused on plans to create a real-world data platform that…
From Healthcare Triage. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) is one of the most powerful tools of modern science. So how did we come up with this powerful tool for experimenting and finding thruth? It took a while. Learn about the fascinating history of RCTs. They’ve been a long time coming. Related HCT episodes: How Experiments…