What A Day - Bringing SCOTUS Up To Code

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on a bill today that would impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court. While Democrats say the move is necessary in light of recent reports about Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito's relationship with GOP mega donors, the legislation is unlikely to become law due to strong opposition from Republicans.Private health insurance companies have denied millions of requests for care from Medicaid recipients with little to no oversight, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Its inspector general found high rates of denials for lower-income patients, but many states don't review – or even collect – data on such refusals.And in headlines: Stanford University’s president will resign following an investigation into his past research, Phoenix, Arizona logged its 20th consecutive day of temperatures over 110 degrees, and the ACLU asked a federal judge to transfer juvenile prisoners out of Louisiana's notorious Angola prison amid brutal summer heat.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, July 20th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tolliver, and this is What A Day, with a message for anyone who's undecided on whether to see the Barbie movie or Oppenheimer this weekend. Listen, you already know what the right answer is here. You're just going to see both. It's fine. And stay in the A.C. Like, that's the whole point anyway. Seriously, you're like six hours in the A.C. with that. Perfect. Win, win, win all around.

On today's show, Stanford University's president will step down following a review of concerns about the integrity of his research. Plus, searing heat has smashed temperature records in the Southwest. But first, today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on a bill that would impose a new code of ethics on the Supreme Court and its justices. This follows, if you have been paying attention, a series of bombshell reporting from ProPublica on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito

and the lack of definitive action afterwards from Chief Justice John Roberts. That reporting centered around Thomas and Alito's respective lavish vacations, all paid for by Republican billionaire megadonors and people with business before the Supreme Court, as well as property sales, gifts, etc. Neither justice disclosed any of this. I don't know. Seems like a bit of a problem to me. Right.

Democrats say that establishing a basic code of ethics for the court, especially at a time like this with all this heightened scrutiny, is necessary for, you know, renewing trust and faith in this institution. Really kind of feels like that to me. But don't get too excited quite yet. The legislation is not expected to become law at this point due to strong Republican opposition. And you mentioned trust and confidence in the court. Well, an NBC poll recently showed that less than a third of the public views the Supreme

Court favorably. So there's that reality. Right. But if this magical bill does come to fruition, what would it aim to do? Yeah. So among other things, the measure would require the court to establish an official code of conduct for justices, set firmer standards for when they have to recuse themselves from cases, create a new investigatory board that would look into claims of misconduct, and set provisions around transparency for amicus briefs that are filed with the court. I mean, sounds like this is exactly what Clarence and Samuel need to keep them in line because they are acting up right now. Seriously, they are going wild out there, going on every witch vacation, apparently. This is not the first time, actually, that something like this has been attempted. Versions of similar bills have

been introduced in the last several Congresses, but Republican opposition has remained very consistent over time. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, which is voting on this bill today, described the latest effort as part of a broader attempt by Democrats to attack the court's legitimacy. In a recent op-ed, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Democrats have, quote, moved from complaining about the Supreme Court's reasoning to questioning its independence.

Neither of these critiques obviously have anything to do with the very large ethical missteps that these two conservative justices have made that have, you know, brought us here, brought all of this scrutiny onto the court in recent months at all. They feel very far from reality, from relevance, all of his scrutiny onto the court in recent months at all. They feel very far from reality, from relevance, all of the above. Just trying to paint everything as a political attack really seems like their MO these days. But despite the fact that this doesn't stand much of a chance with the current Republican-led House, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who is the lead sponsor of this bill, has characterized this as just round one to get things going, especially as we head into an election year in just a few more months. So it

remains to be seen what will happen here. We'll obviously keep you posted on if anything happens. Yeah. Translation, don't hold your breath. But also Mitch McConnell being like, hey, look over there is the vibe right now is It's giving cartoon response, and that's a mess. Seriously, getting very, very old. All right, now we're going to pivot to a health care story, which is actually pretty heartbreaking. According to a brand new report released by the Inspector General's Office of the Department of Health and Human Services, private health insurance companies have denied millions of requests for care from Medicaid recipients, and they're denying people health care with next to no oversight. Specifically, these insurers denied one out of

every eight requests for the prior authorization of services in 2019. And some private insurance companies even had denial rates greater than 25% twice the overall denial rate. So essentially, people who are living on low incomes and have relied on Medicaid to have access to basic health care aren't even getting the care that they need because of these private insurance companies. And it feels pretty evil. Yeah, I mean, the health care system for anyone who has done even basic navigation of it is daunting enough as is. But for all these people who are reliant on this system to take care of them, this is especially alarming.

So what prompted this review in the first place by the inspector general? According to the report, their office conducted this review after receiving a high volume of allegations that some of these insurers, quote, inappropriately delayed or denied care for thousands of people enrolled in Medicaid, including patients who needed treatment for cancer and cardiac conditions, elderly patients, and patients with disabilities who needed in-home care and medical devices. Essentially, these are the people who needed care the most. It's so disheartening because private insurers receive a lump sum payment per patient rather than for each treatment they receive or each visit they make to the

doctor's office. And the key phrase throughout this report is prior authorization, which insurers use to limit what they deem to be unnecessary or unproven treatments. Meanwhile, doctors and their patients are not even able to use treatments or any methods of care in a timely fashion or at all because they're being denied. It's wild, especially when insurance companies can will this prior authorization power without being checked. And that's one of the reasons the inspector general's office believes that Medicaid recipients aren't receiving the care that they need. It's as though the people who are poor are doomed even when the aid and care they're supposed to receive comes with barriers upon barriers. And according to the New York Times, about three quarters of people enrolled in Medicaid receive health services through private companies. So odds are their lives are being cut short,

their quality of care is subpar, and millions of vulnerable people are being impacted. Yeah, it's really a staggering impact here. That many people is nothing to turn away from. Right. Do we know which insurance companies here are the worst offenders? I feel like probably some names we might recognize, right? Yeah, this report include a little bit of tea, y'all. So some of the insurers that were included in the report and had high rates of denying authorization to patients included Molina Healthcare, Anthem, CareSource, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, and Centen Corporation.

And I know y'all recognize some of those names. Yeah. Oh, my God. Those are big ones in there. Big brands, big companies. And even with high rates of denials, the report noted that most state Medicaid agencies do not routinely review the denials or even collect and monitor the data. And that's part of the reason why the OIG thinks these insurers deny people care at such high rates, because no one's actually watching them. No one's actually monitoring their day-to-day behavior, these denials, and why they keep coming.

On top of that, there's no one for Medicaid beneficiaries to even call or contact in order to actually get the care they need when they're facing these denials. States don't have any reporting systems to connect patients to external reviewers. And the appeals process isn't useful at all when the appeal goes back to the same private insurance company that denies patients in the first place. So it's basically an endless hellscape loop for Medicaid patients. And that includes the Medicaid beneficiaries who are being kicked off the program since the COVID pandemic emergency order sunset back in May. Right. Okay. So it couldn't be coming at a worse time, but what recommendations did the OIG include in the report to try and make this better? Like, are there any steps they can be taking in the immediate future?

Yeah, they did include some recommendations, and it gives me a little bit of hope, and it's pretty basic. So step one is for states to review a sample of the prior authorization denials on a regular basis and actually pay attention to what the frequency and justifications are. Step two is to collect data and let the insurers know that they're being watched and to use the information as a shared resource. Step three is to implement, quote, automatic external medical reviews of upheld denials in order to get a second opinion quickly for patients. And then finally, they recommend that states develop guidance for how to hold these insurers accountable because the reality is that these insurers are hurting people who are already struggling and it has got to stop. Of course, we'll keep following this story and

maybe even get a response from private insurance companies, but that's the latest for now. We'll be back after some headlines. Headlines. Stanford University President Mark Tessier-Levine announced that he will resign after an investigation into his past research as a neuroscientist. A panel of experts concluded that five research papers in which he was a principal author included manipulated research data or quote engaged in deficient scientific practices resulting in significant flaws in those papers. Tessier-Levine says he plans to retract three of the five papers in question

and correct the other two. And retracting scientific papers is a big deal. Only about four out of every 10,000 papers published are retracted. So really not happening very often. This is very embarrassing, especially for a person with such an esteemed, high up position.

Not good. Formerly esteemed. The panel stopped short of accusing him of fraud, saying that there wasn't enough evidence that Tessier Levine himself knew about the manipulation of the data at the time, but they did fault him for not correcting it sooner. It's also worth mentioning that the Stanford Daily, which is the university's newspaper, first broke this story last November.

So shout out to the student journalists who are keeping everybody on their toes. This is like really impressive, incredible work that they have done here. And it's really made a difference. How many students get to say we took down a president? Seriously. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Progozhin has apparently made his first public appearance since leading and calling off an armed rebellion in Russia last month. In a video posted on channels affiliated with the mercenary group, Progozhin appears to

welcome some of his fighters at a training camp in Belarus. That could confirm reports that Wagner fighters are now being trained as military instructors in that country. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prokofiev reportedly struck a deal after the coup attempt that allowed Prokofiev and his fighters to avoid charges by going into exile. However, it appears that Prokofiev is still feeling salty

with Russia's top military brass. In the video, he can be heard saying this about the current state of the war in Ukraine. Quote, what is happening at the front now is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate. But he also hinted that Wagner troops could return to the conflict in the future. It's like he's dangling this over Putin's head every single day. So there we go.

If you are listening to us from Phoenix, Arizona, we are so sorry about what you're going through. And we hope you are safe hydrated and enjoying some sweet sweet air conditioning that is because yesterday the city logged its 20th consecutive day of temperatures over 110 degrees the previous record of 19 days set back in 1974 was smashed on tuesday and forecasters warn that the streak could keep going into next week. My little brain simply cannot even wrap my head around what it must be like to be in 110 degree heat for this many days on end, let alone for like a minute and a half.

There has not been much relief with the sun going down either. Going into Wednesday morning, the nighttime low was a blistering 97 degrees. This is the middle of the night. In darkness? Yeah, it's not natural. It is not right. Phoenix is also looking at one of its longest recorded stretches without measurable rain. The area typically gets some respite around this time of year with some monsoonal moisture, but so far that isn't happening. And while Phoenix and other parts of the Southwest are used to extreme heat, this wave has become especially dangerous for unhoused people.

Healthcare workers in Phoenix have reported treating people who have suffered second-degree burns after passing out or falling asleep on hot sidewalks. This is just, it's a crisis. It really is. It's a public emergency, and we need to start treating it like it is because, wow. Big time. And another example of how the climate crisis is affecting vulnerable populations the sclu has asked a federal judge to transfer juvenile prisoners being held at a former death row facility at a louisiana state prison lawyers for the civil rights organization say the 15 children held at

the maximum security prison known as Angola are often locked in solitary confinement cells with no windows or air conditioning for nearly 24 hours a day amid the brutal summer heat. Their complaints cited weather data for the area showing that the heat index regularly went past 100 degrees, even climbing as high as 130 degrees. This is giving cruel and unusual punishment. These are children we're talking about. What in the world? Young people held at Angola have also reported not having access to clean drinking water or mental health care. Advocates have been fighting to end youth incarceration at Angola for several months due to the facility's notorious reputation for violence and poor living conditions. At least 70 children have been moved through Angola by the state since July of last year,

most of whom are, you guessed it, black. Louisiana Governor John Edwards promised that the state would transfer all children prisoners at Angola to different facilities by the spring, but that deadline has since been pushed back to November. Oh my goodness, please get these kids out of there immediately. Yeah, seriously, the difference between spring and November is huge. Push back to November. Oh my goodness. Please get these kids out of there immediately. Yeah, seriously. The difference between spring and November is huge. In Louisiana, no less.

Regardless, solitary confinement is one thing, which we know the effects of that. But you're contending with heat, which is deadly and known to be. Like this is, get on this, somebody please. Right. And finally, this last story is a little shady. Many people in LA are calling this one Tree Gate

because it is turning into a whodunit involving a row of ficus trees outside of the Universal Studios lot. That is where striking Hollywood writers and actors have gathered to picket and to get some much-needed relief from the relentless heat. But on Monday, they were surprised to find that the trees had been heavily trimmed back

over the weekend. That led to speculation that the studio did it to deter them from actually gathering there. In a statement, NBCUniversal admitted to the pruning, saying that it was for safety reasons, quote-unquote, and that the inconvenience to strikers was, quote, unintentional. Hmm. However, LA City officials are now investigating because the trees in question are city property and no tree trimming permits were pulled for that stretch

in the last three years. Hmm. The plot thickens a bit. Meanwhile, both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild have filed unlawful labor practice charges against NBCUniversal, alleging that the studio has created unsafe conditions at that picketing location. No matter how you cut this, this does not look very good. This is not voting well for NBC Universal. They messed with the wrong people and now the city is getting involved. I, this is not, not going to end well for you i'm so sorry and those are the headlines

one more thing before we go crook is x-ray vision is following the two hollywood strikes so check them out for the latest headlines on how it's impacting the entertainment industry host jason and rosie will bring you the very latest plus writer shea serrano stops by in the latest episode to recap the mission impossible franchise my husband loves you shea Serrano stops by in the latest episode to recap the Mission Impossible franchise. My husband loves you, Shea Serrano. I hope you're listening to us. I love Shea. She's amazing.

If you haven't watched Primos, go check it out. You can hear this and other great conversations every Wednesday and Friday wherever you get your podcasts. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, enjoy the shade of an intact ficus tree

if you can, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just stellar student journalism like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter.

Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And stay cool out there, y'all. Like, just go to the movie theater. Stay for like five hours and watch great movies.

Just stay in the lobby. Just loiter. It's fine. Just go anywhere with air conditioning. If you don't have it, that's what you got to do. Be safe. What a Day is a production of Cricket Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance.

Our show's producer is Itzy Quintanilla. Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers. Our intern is Ryan Cochran and our senior producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.