Health and social policy analyst. Visiting Fellow @Paragon_Inst. Former @WaysandMeansGOP, @SenateAging, @HHS_ASPE, and @HHSRegion10
Blaine, Washington
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- Following 828
- Followers 876
- Likes 163
John R. Graham retweeted
NEW ANALYSIS:
Medicaid’s Disadvantage: Why Private Plans Work Better in Medicare Than in Medicaid
The key difference is built into how the programs pay private plans. @CPopeHC explains. 🧵
t2m.io/j4uDuTq
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John R. Graham retweeted
🏥New Paragon Prognosis:
Tax-exempt hospitals receive billions of dollars in tax benefits, but the standards meant to ensure they provide sufficient public benefit are vague and outdated.
Congress is finally asking whether hospitals are earning that privilege. 🧵
t2m.io/sHiUMyv
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John R. Graham retweeted
The New York Times gets Obamacare wrong.
Taxpayers now cover more than 80% of ACA exchange premiums, improper enrollment remains widespread, and Medicaid spending is still rising.
Read Paragon’s new Prognosis:
paragoninstitute.org/paragon…
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John R. Graham retweeted
🔥New from Paragon: We estimate that 14.3 million people were improperly enrolled in the ACA exchanges and Medicaid expansion in 2024.
It's a nationwide problem, but it shows up differently by state. In expansion states it's mostly Medicaid; in non-expansion states, entirely the exchanges
t2m.io/evxePni
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John R. Graham retweeted
Before 2014, U.S. health spending growth tracked other OECD countries. After the ACA’s major coverage provisions took effect, the U.S. pulled away.
New Paragon PIC: the pattern is more consistent with the ACA raising health spending than lowering it.
paragoninstitute.org/paragon…
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John R. Graham retweeted
Nearly 500 more health care facilities serving rural and low-income Americans are operating than before the OBBB, despite warnings from critics that the law would lead to facility closures.
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John R. Graham retweeted
Since the WFTCA’s passage, the number of RHCs and FQHCs nationwide has grown.
Between July 1, 2025 and July 17, 2026, there has been a net gain of nearly 500 facilities serving rural and lower-income communities.
.@Paragon_Inst: There are nearly 500 MORE health care facilities serving rural and low-income Americans today than before the Working Families Tax Cuts Act
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John R. Graham retweeted
Can the CMS Innovation Center deliver meaningful savings while expanding patient choice and competition?
Join Paragon Sept. 3 at 1 PM ET for a virtual conversation with Abe Sutton (invited), Demetrios Kouzoukas, Jackson Hammond, and Brian Blase.
paragoninstitute.org/event/c…
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John R. Graham retweeted
Everyone in my house always feels that they wash all their dirty dishes or put them in the dishwasher but the dishes keep piling up in the sink.
Perception is often not reality.
"I paid Medicare payroll tax my whole life and pay premiums now!" Seniors feel like they're getting what they've paid for.
But Medicare premiums and payroll taxes have never covered the program's costs.
Today, they cover less than half.
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John R. Graham retweeted
The 340B program has exploded: drug purchases ballooned from $5 billion in 2010 to $81 billion in 2024. CMS's 2027 OPPS rule would pay 340B drugs at ASP minus 33.4%, saving Medicare $4.55 billion in year one and cutting patient out-of-pocket costs. 📊 ow.ly/AP3n30sY6nr
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John R. Graham retweeted
New @Paragon_Inst PIC shows two clear trends:
1) Hospital prices continue their relentless increase, driving health care unaffordability.
2) Prescription drug prices had a historic decline over the past year. paragoninstitute.org/paragon…
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John R. Graham retweeted
Wow! The OBBB Medicaid reforms are better than I thought, per a @HHS_ASPE analysis.
We knew taxpayers would benefit from lower spending.
In addition, ASPE finds that workers will benefit from lower health care prices and premiums between $502-$875B!
paragoninstitute.org/paragon…
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John R. Graham retweeted
In new @Paragon_Inst, we estimate that fed taxpayers made ~$1B in expenditures on Kentucky Medicaid expansion enrollees who were not eligible in 2024.
Today, a Kentucky gov't audit found $800+M in Medicaid spending for ppl enrolled in other states. 1/2
spectrumlocalnews.com/produc…
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John R. Graham retweeted
In his Senate Budget Committee testimony, @BrianBlase names Medicaid's core distortion: states get $9 in federal funds per $1 they spend on expansion adults, but only $1.33 per $1 for children and the disabled.
t2m.io/osaWPRY
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John R. Graham retweeted
"If nonprofit hospitals are...delivering on their community mission, transparency should vindicate them. If the data reveal something else, Congress and the public will...have what they need to act."
Professor @CM_Whaley & @Jared_Perkins1 for @medpagetoday medpagetoday.com/opinion/sec…
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John R. Graham retweeted
Medicare for All is back in the news. In today's @Paragon_Inst newsletter, I discuss how it would require an enormous increase in federal spending & taxes. Theo Merkel and Steve Parente estimated the fiscal cost at $44 trillion in the first decade. 🧵1/3 americanactionforum.org/rese…
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John R. Graham retweeted
National health spending is growing at more than 7% annually, roughly two percentage points faster than GDP.
CMS projects health care will consume more than one-fifth of the U.S. economy early next decade.
New Paragon PIC from @johnrgraham:
t2m.io/L4w30Yu
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