Tara Bannow
@tarabannow.bsky.social
Reporter covering hospitals, health insurance, & all things money + health care for @statnews.bsky.social. Love a good horror movie.
Let's chat! [email protected]
Let's chat! [email protected]
Reposted by Tara Bannow
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 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Tara Bannow
This story shouldn’t get lost in the rush of health policy news this week:
Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test
Via @tarabannow.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...
Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test
Via @tarabannow.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...
Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test
A STAT Investigation: To avoid fines for reporting excessive hospital-acquired infections, some facilities are discouraging testing.
www.statnews.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
This story shouldn’t get lost in the rush of health policy news this week:
Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test
Via @tarabannow.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...
Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test
Via @tarabannow.bsky.social
www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...
Big news from yesterday: Federal judge vacates rule that would have ramped up Medicare Advantage audits www.statnews.com/2025/09/25/f... via @statnews.com
Federal judge vacates rule that would have ramped up Medicare Advantage audits
A federal judge on Thursday vacated a Biden-era rule that would have allowed the government to intensify its audits of private Medicare plans.
www.statnews.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Big news from yesterday: Federal judge vacates rule that would have ramped up Medicare Advantage audits www.statnews.com/2025/09/25/f... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Tara Bannow
If you just cancelled Disney+ and you’re wondering what do to with that extra money, one option: STAT is running a big sale right now, you can get 10 months for $10 marketing.statnews.com/stat-10th-st...
STAT's 10-year anniversary sale
Join us as we mark a decade of health, medicine, and science reporting and access award-winning journalism, discounted event tickets and merch, and more.
marketing.statnews.com
September 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
If you just cancelled Disney+ and you’re wondering what do to with that extra money, one option: STAT is running a big sale right now, you can get 10 months for $10 marketing.statnews.com/stat-10th-st...
HHS abruptly cancels CDC meeting with RFK Jr., anti-vaccine activist as scrutiny mounts www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/r... via @rosebroderick.bsky.social @statnews.com
HHS abruptly cancels CDC meeting with RFK Jr., anti-vaccine activist as scrutiny mounts
HHS abruptly canceled a CDC meeting between RFK Jr. and anti-vaccine activist David Geier just hours before they were set to gather.
www.statnews.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:27 PM
HHS abruptly cancels CDC meeting with RFK Jr., anti-vaccine activist as scrutiny mounts www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/r... via @rosebroderick.bsky.social @statnews.com
Happy 10th birthday, STAT! So proud to be part of this tireless and incredibly talented newsroom.
Here's a look at the 10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s... via @statnews.com
Here's a look at the 10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s... via @statnews.com
10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine
In its first decade, STAT has led the way in charting seismic events in health and medicine. To mark our 10-year anniversary, take a look back at 10 of our most impactful stories.
www.statnews.com
September 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Happy 10th birthday, STAT! So proud to be part of this tireless and incredibly talented newsroom.
Here's a look at the 10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s... via @statnews.com
Here's a look at the 10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s... via @statnews.com
UnitedHealth CEO says some parts of business need ‘fundamental reorientation’ www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/u... via @statnews.com
UnitedHealth CEO says some parts of business need ‘fundamental reorientation’
With health insurers under pressure, UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley said that some parts of the business need "fundamental reorientation."
www.statnews.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:27 PM
UnitedHealth CEO says some parts of business need ‘fundamental reorientation’ www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/u... via @statnews.com
UnitedHealth confirms DOJ investigations into Medicare practices, says it’s cooperating www.statnews.com/2025/07/24/u... via @statnews.com
UnitedHealth confirms DOJ investigations into Medicare practices, says it’s cooperating
UnitedHealth is facing criminal and civil investigations into its Medicare practices
www.statnews.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
UnitedHealth confirms DOJ investigations into Medicare practices, says it’s cooperating www.statnews.com/2025/07/24/u... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Tara Bannow
The first Medicare physician payment rule under RFK Jr. proposes cuts to thousands of procedures, scans, and tests because doctors have gotten more "efficient" over time. Specialty physicians, and the AMA, are big mad. more w/ @tarabannow.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/07/16/m...
Medicare proposes ‘efficiency’ pay cuts that would hit highly paid specialists the most
Medicare is proposing cuts to how much it pays doctors for many medical procedures, scans, and tests.
www.statnews.com
July 17, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The first Medicare physician payment rule under RFK Jr. proposes cuts to thousands of procedures, scans, and tests because doctors have gotten more "efficient" over time. Specialty physicians, and the AMA, are big mad. more w/ @tarabannow.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/07/16/m...
Reposted by Tara Bannow
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine owns a stem cell biobank that was once the largest of its kind in the world. But it's now racing to sell off thousands of samples before many of them are discarded. To understand why, see my latest for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/s...
www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/s...
California stem cell agency shutting down unique human tissue biobank
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and its partners are selling thousands of stem cell samples before many of them are discarded.
www.statnews.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine owns a stem cell biobank that was once the largest of its kind in the world. But it's now racing to sell off thousands of samples before many of them are discarded. To understand why, see my latest for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/s...
www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/s...
Supreme Court rejects challenge to free preventive care, bolsters RFK Jr.’s power www.statnews.com/2025/06/27/s... via @statnews.com
Supreme Court rejects challenge to free preventive care, bolsters RFK Jr.'s power
The SCOTUS decision preserves free preventive health care and sets the stage for a bigger role for RFK Jr. in determining what's covered.
www.statnews.com
June 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Supreme Court rejects challenge to free preventive care, bolsters RFK Jr.’s power www.statnews.com/2025/06/27/s... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Tara Bannow
New video- my new @statnews.com colleague @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social and I chat about RFK Jr.'s dismissal of all the members of ACIP, CDC's vaccine advisory board. Also I'm going to be doing a video every week now so please wish me luck (and like & subscribe plz) youtu.be/brVDswDpaeQ
Did RFK Jr. break a promise he made to GOP Senator?
YouTube video by STAT
youtu.be
June 10, 2025 at 9:43 PM
New video- my new @statnews.com colleague @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social and I chat about RFK Jr.'s dismissal of all the members of ACIP, CDC's vaccine advisory board. Also I'm going to be doing a video every week now so please wish me luck (and like & subscribe plz) youtu.be/brVDswDpaeQ
The man at the center of DOGE's health care cuts has quite the history: Top execs from a startup he founded feel he ripped them off & lower-level workers say their jobs were to cut services from vulnerable patients.
shorturl.at/Y7d7m via @statnews.com
shorturl.at/Y7d7m via @statnews.com
The shrewd startup founder who led DOGE’s cost-cutting at HHS
The relentless drumbeat of cuts to U.S. government research and disease prevention have devastated tens of thousands of affected workers and academics. To
shorturl.at
June 2, 2025 at 7:43 PM
The man at the center of DOGE's health care cuts has quite the history: Top execs from a startup he founded feel he ripped them off & lower-level workers say their jobs were to cut services from vulnerable patients.
shorturl.at/Y7d7m via @statnews.com
shorturl.at/Y7d7m via @statnews.com
Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’ www.statnews.com/2025/05/23/n... via @statnews.com
Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’
Nation's leading advisory body on issues of science and technology is "preparing for a fairly radical downsizing."
www.statnews.com
May 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’ www.statnews.com/2025/05/23/n... via @statnews.com
@nejm.org Editor-in-Chief Eric Rubin says at #STATBreakthrough he was writing an NIH grant on the plane coming here. Encouraged audience members to keep applying, even as federal funding is cut.
"It’s like the lottery. You can’t win unless you buy a ticket. No one knows what’s going to happen."
"It’s like the lottery. You can’t win unless you buy a ticket. No one knows what’s going to happen."
May 14, 2025 at 11:42 PM
@nejm.org Editor-in-Chief Eric Rubin says at #STATBreakthrough he was writing an NIH grant on the plane coming here. Encouraged audience members to keep applying, even as federal funding is cut.
"It’s like the lottery. You can’t win unless you buy a ticket. No one knows what’s going to happen."
"It’s like the lottery. You can’t win unless you buy a ticket. No one knows what’s going to happen."
On the Trump admin's cuts to science funding, American Public Health Association executive director Georges Benjamin said at #STATBreakthrough: "We're not using science. We've taken apart the public health infrastructure. And the truth of the matter is, as they say, we're up the creek."
May 14, 2025 at 11:36 PM
On the Trump admin's cuts to science funding, American Public Health Association executive director Georges Benjamin said at #STATBreakthrough: "We're not using science. We've taken apart the public health infrastructure. And the truth of the matter is, as they say, we're up the creek."
"When you're already in crisis w/your family member, there’s this added stress of, ‘This care is going to end and you’re going to have to figure out what you're going to do.'" -Megan Bent, whose dad died after his Medicare Advantage plan stopped paying for inpatient rehab #STATBreakthrough
May 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM
"When you're already in crisis w/your family member, there’s this added stress of, ‘This care is going to end and you’re going to have to figure out what you're going to do.'" -Megan Bent, whose dad died after his Medicare Advantage plan stopped paying for inpatient rehab #STATBreakthrough
On all the 🤑health tech IPOs lately (Omada, Hims, Hinge), Lux Capital's Deena Shakir says: "I think all of this is not a coincidence. I think it’s a referendum and it's foretelling for what next year and the years to come will bring for digital health." #STATBreakthrough
May 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
On all the 🤑health tech IPOs lately (Omada, Hims, Hinge), Lux Capital's Deena Shakir says: "I think all of this is not a coincidence. I think it’s a referendum and it's foretelling for what next year and the years to come will bring for digital health." #STATBreakthrough
On pharma's AI ambitions, Ryan Fukushima of AI precision med co Tempus says the big Q is whether docs actually change their decisions based on his company's insights. If they do, "the datasets can scale quite dramatically" in oncology, neuropsych, rare diseases. #STATBreakthrough
May 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
On pharma's AI ambitions, Ryan Fukushima of AI precision med co Tempus says the big Q is whether docs actually change their decisions based on his company's insights. If they do, "the datasets can scale quite dramatically" in oncology, neuropsych, rare diseases. #STATBreakthrough
Speaking at #STATBreakthrough, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf says current HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s opinions on vaccination are not at all irrelevant. "I think he's flat-out wrong and doing harm to the American people with what he's saying."
May 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Speaking at #STATBreakthrough, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf says current HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s opinions on vaccination are not at all irrelevant. "I think he's flat-out wrong and doing harm to the American people with what he's saying."
Trump's latest executive order seeks to lower drug prices and 340B payments to providers, but most of it can't happen without further rulemaking or buy-in from Congress. www.statnews.com/2025/04/15/t... via @statnews.com
Trump targets health care costs with executive order on drug price negotiations, hospital payments
Trump's order is designed to reduce health care costs for older adults and people with disabilities, but the path to implementation is far from assured.
www.statnews.com
April 16, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Trump's latest executive order seeks to lower drug prices and 340B payments to providers, but most of it can't happen without further rulemaking or buy-in from Congress. www.statnews.com/2025/04/15/t... via @statnews.com
Oz moves closer to role running Medicare, Medicaid on party-line vote www.statnews.com/2025/03/25/d... via @statnews.com
Oz moves closer to role running Medicare, Medicaid on party-line vote
Dr. Oz, a former heart surgeon and TV host, is closer to becoming CMS administrator after clearing a key Senate committee vote.
www.statnews.com
March 25, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Oz moves closer to role running Medicare, Medicaid on party-line vote www.statnews.com/2025/03/25/d... via @statnews.com
I talked w/@tradeoffs.org about Dr. Oz, the surgeon-turned-TV star who's poised to lead CMS: what I learned reporting on him and what we can glean from his Senate hearing.
Come for the policy, stay to hear me laugh while trying to sound professional.
tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...
Come for the policy, stay to hear me laugh while trying to sound professional.
tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...
Medicare and Medicaid Under Dr. Oz: What to Expect
A closer look at the surgeon-turned-TV-star President Trump wants in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.
tradeoffs.org
March 20, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I talked w/@tradeoffs.org about Dr. Oz, the surgeon-turned-TV star who's poised to lead CMS: what I learned reporting on him and what we can glean from his Senate hearing.
Come for the policy, stay to hear me laugh while trying to sound professional.
tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...
Come for the policy, stay to hear me laugh while trying to sound professional.
tradeoffs.org/2025/03/20/m...
RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment in HHS decisions www.statnews.com/2025/02/28/r... via @statnews.com
RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment in HHS decisions
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved to rescind the longtime practice of giving the public a chance to comment on the health agency’s plans.
www.statnews.com
February 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
RFK Jr. moves to eliminate public comment in HHS decisions www.statnews.com/2025/02/28/r... via @statnews.com
After a top UnitedHealth Group exec was killed, his colleagues have gotten truly scary threats against themselves & their families. Police visited the campus more in 2 months than in preceding 2 yrs.
But some feel UnitedHealth's tactic of attacking critics is "a huge mistake."
shorturl.at/DCYDB
But some feel UnitedHealth's tactic of attacking critics is "a huge mistake."
shorturl.at/DCYDB
Under siege after a tragedy, UnitedHealth grapples with fresh security threats and a customer backlash
Heightened security at UnitedHealth Group's Minnesota headquarters in the wake of a top executive’s killing is the most conspicuous sign of a company under siege.
shorturl.at
February 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
After a top UnitedHealth Group exec was killed, his colleagues have gotten truly scary threats against themselves & their families. Police visited the campus more in 2 months than in preceding 2 yrs.
But some feel UnitedHealth's tactic of attacking critics is "a huge mistake."
shorturl.at/DCYDB
But some feel UnitedHealth's tactic of attacking critics is "a huge mistake."
shorturl.at/DCYDB