Selena Simmons-Duffin
@selenasd.com
Health policy correspondent for NPR in DC. // Signal: selena.02
Email: selenasd@npr.org
Email: selenasd@npr.org
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
It is really hard to get people on record about this. Because it is scary for parents like us and for our kids to be public right now. NPR has been so scrupulous about putting the human beings affected out in front and representing them fairly, as they represent themselves. Hard, important work.
February 6, 2026 at 1:04 AM
It is really hard to get people on record about this. Because it is scary for parents like us and for our kids to be public right now. NPR has been so scrupulous about putting the human beings affected out in front and representing them fairly, as they represent themselves. Hard, important work.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
So grateful for @NPR’s continuing responsible, in depth, contextually-rich reporting on trans kids. Makes me really proud to be partnered with them.
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
Plastic surgeons say transgender youth should wait until age 19 for surgery
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says transgender youth should wait until age 19 to have any surgeries. Surgery is already rarely performed for transgender young people.
www.npr.org
February 6, 2026 at 12:59 AM
So grateful for @NPR’s continuing responsible, in depth, contextually-rich reporting on trans kids. Makes me really proud to be partnered with them.
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
This is adorable
Most Heated Rivalry coverage has been focused on what young people, particularly younger straight women, think. I cover aging and decided to ask older gay men about their thoughts.
I found: A founder of what may have been the first gay hockey blog, a wedding cake shaped like a Zamboni and more.
I found: A founder of what may have been the first gay hockey blog, a wedding cake shaped like a Zamboni and more.
Older gay men built their own hockey fandom. Then came 'Heated Rivalry.'
The hit show is an unexpected invitation for some older gay hockey fans to reflect on love, acceptance and coming out.
19thnews.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:19 PM
This is adorable
I can't stop thinking about the devastation at the Washington Post. As a reader and a D.C. resident and a fellow journalist, it is shattering.
February 4, 2026 at 9:54 PM
I can't stop thinking about the devastation at the Washington Post. As a reader and a D.C. resident and a fellow journalist, it is shattering.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Our founders, though deeply flawed, understood that democracy requires an informed citizenry and a government accountable to it people. That’s why the press is the only profession protected by the Constitution. It’s also why autocrats and oligarchs seek to control and destroy it.
February 4, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Our founders, though deeply flawed, understood that democracy requires an informed citizenry and a government accountable to it people. That’s why the press is the only profession protected by the Constitution. It’s also why autocrats and oligarchs seek to control and destroy it.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
We’re working on it! But growing the newsroom our city deserves takes time, and way more resources than we currently have. BUT every member helps get us closer to building a newsroom Bezos can’t destroy: 51st.news/signup
February 4, 2026 at 2:57 PM
We’re working on it! But growing the newsroom our city deserves takes time, and way more resources than we currently have. BUT every member helps get us closer to building a newsroom Bezos can’t destroy: 51st.news/signup
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Have a thought for my colleague @joannakakissis.bsky.social and others who are reporting from Ukraine, living by candles and without heat for weeks now
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
Greetings from Kyiv, where candles are the last option during wartime blackouts
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
www.npr.org
February 4, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Have a thought for my colleague @joannakakissis.bsky.social and others who are reporting from Ukraine, living by candles and without heat for weeks now
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/g...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
The US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government every year from 1994 to 2023.
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
February 3, 2026 at 5:27 PM
The US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government every year from 1994 to 2023.
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets.
https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
February 2, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Join us Thursday for a rally to #SaveThePost!! The rally will run from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at 1301 K St. NW!!
Bring friends! Bring gloves! Bring a love of journalism!
Bring friends! Bring gloves! Bring a love of journalism!
February 2, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Join us Thursday for a rally to #SaveThePost!! The rally will run from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at 1301 K St. NW!!
Bring friends! Bring gloves! Bring a love of journalism!
Bring friends! Bring gloves! Bring a love of journalism!
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
US citizens accounted for 95% of federal welfare fraud losses from 2013 to 2024. Noncitizens commit benefits fraud, but they are not a major part of the problem. Learn more from Cato’s David Bier
https://ow.ly/MsKQ50Y6uK1
https://ow.ly/MsKQ50Y6uK1
February 2, 2026 at 4:01 PM
US citizens accounted for 95% of federal welfare fraud losses from 2013 to 2024. Noncitizens commit benefits fraud, but they are not a major part of the problem. Learn more from Cato’s David Bier
https://ow.ly/MsKQ50Y6uK1
https://ow.ly/MsKQ50Y6uK1
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Do you want exclusive Winter Olympics coverage from NPR? Sign up for “Rachel Goes to the Games,” a behind-the-scenes newsletter at what it’s like to be at — and cover — these Games, from the POV of an NPR reporter experiencing it all for the first time.
NPR: Rachel Goes to the Games
We're headed to the Winter Olympics, and we want to bring you along. Get an NPR reporter's personal peek behind the curtain delivered straight to your inbox daily through the closing ceremony.
n.pr
January 30, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Do you want exclusive Winter Olympics coverage from NPR? Sign up for “Rachel Goes to the Games,” a behind-the-scenes newsletter at what it’s like to be at — and cover — these Games, from the POV of an NPR reporter experiencing it all for the first time.
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Citing fear of ICE, pregnant immigrants in Minnesota are
-skipping prenatal care
-requesting home births, even when not medically advised
-going w/o adequate food
Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early
-skipping prenatal care
-requesting home births, even when not medically advised
-going w/o adequate food
Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early
Fear of ICE is keeping pregnant immigrants in Minnesota from critical care
Health care providers in Minnesota said pregnant patients are having more complications linked to stress. But fear of immigration agents is keeping them from prenatal care.
19thnews.org
January 30, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Citing fear of ICE, pregnant immigrants in Minnesota are
-skipping prenatal care
-requesting home births, even when not medically advised
-going w/o adequate food
Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early
-skipping prenatal care
-requesting home births, even when not medically advised
-going w/o adequate food
Many are experiencing complications providers say can be stress-onset: diabetes, high blood pressure, and even water breaking early
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
"The survey, conducted Jan. 5-8… found that 79% of likely 2026 voters support keeping Florida’s current vaccine requirements for schoolchildren, compared with 17% who oppose them. Support was broad... including 71% of Republicans, 84% of voters with no party affiliation, and 78% of Hispanic voters."
New poll: Florida voters draw the line on school vaccine mandates
Voters overwhelmingly support keeping school vaccine requirements to protect children statewide.
floridapolitics.com
January 23, 2026 at 12:17 AM
"The survey, conducted Jan. 5-8… found that 79% of likely 2026 voters support keeping Florida’s current vaccine requirements for schoolchildren, compared with 17% who oppose them. Support was broad... including 71% of Republicans, 84% of voters with no party affiliation, and 78% of Hispanic voters."
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
January 22, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Story by me: "For me to be able to see my doctor to tend to my autoimmune disease, I had to marry my best friend — it's like some weird twisted plot of Will and Grace."
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
Marrying for health insurance? The ACA cost crisis forces some drastic choices
While Congress debates bringing back Affordable Care Act subsidies, many Americans have already made life-altering decisions to afford health care.
www.npr.org
January 12, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Story by me: "For me to be able to see my doctor to tend to my autoimmune disease, I had to marry my best friend — it's like some weird twisted plot of Will and Grace."
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
www.npr.org/2026/01/12/n...
Not quite! A new filing shows hhs won’t enforce until April at the earliest.
Gender-affirming care for trans youth is legal in all 3 states. But HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month announced that medical practitioners who provide gender-affirming care to minors are out of compliance w federal health care standards. Now, the agency is enforcing that declaration.
Three hospitals are under investigation for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth
In Washington state, Colorado, and Minnesota, children’s hospitals are facing federal scrutiny over care that’s legal under state law.
19thnews.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Not quite! A new filing shows hhs won’t enforce until April at the earliest.
I don’t think you’ve tagged the correct author there…
Immigrants play a key role in the supply of homebuilding and remodeling labor and the recent slowdown in immigration could worsen chronic labor shortages and constrain the ability to build and remodel housing, writes @rickriordan.bsky.social.
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/homebui...
www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/homebui...
Homebuilding and Remodeling Depend on Immigrant Labor in Major Metros
www.jchs.harvard.edu
January 5, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I don’t think you’ve tagged the correct author there…
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Read the full email Sharyn Alfonsi sent her team about CBS pulling their segment on the Trump admin’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants
December 22, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Read the full email Sharyn Alfonsi sent her team about CBS pulling their segment on the Trump admin’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
Selena Simmons-Duffin at NPR broke the news about the trans kids’ health care ban, and now she’s following up. Note that she actually talks to doctors and trans kids, not just politicians.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Trump's push to end transgender care for young people opposed by pediatricians
Doctors and children's hospitals say nothing in the evidence has changed to justify the Trump administration's efforts to ban gender-affirming care for teens and tweens.
www.npr.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Selena Simmons-Duffin at NPR broke the news about the trans kids’ health care ban, and now she’s following up. Note that she actually talks to doctors and trans kids, not just politicians.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
NPR talked to and quoted a transgender teen whose treatment is threatened. Did your news organization?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz announce moves to ban gender-affirming care for young people
The Trump administration Thursday proposed two rules targeting hospitals that treat transgender children and youth using Medicare and Medicaid as the lever. The move would affect trans youth who have ...
www.npr.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:01 AM
NPR talked to and quoted a transgender teen whose treatment is threatened. Did your news organization?
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Selena Simmons-Duffin
If you’re concerned about the new HHS rulings on trans care, my daughter @selenasd.com breaks it down on the PBS Newshour
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Trump administration moves to restrict gender affirming care for minors nationwide
The Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a series of actions meant to effectively ban transition-related medical treatments nationwide for those under 18. Stephanie Sy discussed more with ...
www.pbs.org
December 19, 2025 at 1:12 AM
If you’re concerned about the new HHS rulings on trans care, my daughter @selenasd.com breaks it down on the PBS Newshour
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Scoop by me: "During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine's photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name.”
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait
Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered.
www.npr.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Scoop by me: "During the federal shutdown, the current leadership of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health changed Admiral Levine's photo to remove her current legal name and use a prior name.”
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...