Levi Kalish

@kalish

writing at the speed of trust huffpost.com/author/levi-kalish send tips to levi.kalish@huffpost.com or more securely at: levikalish@proton.me Signal @levikalish.01

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Levi Kalish@kalish· 28d

Until recently, there was a former Do No Harm employee in the White House. Scott Centorino, the group's VP of policy and programs, worked as a special assistant to the WH on domestic policy, according to financial disclosures.

Do No Harm, a lobbying group founded in 2022, pushes anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and initiates lawsuits against DEI practices in medical schools. Hsiao, the acting director of Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch in the DOJ, specifically cited Do No Harms’ database of children’s hospitals that offer gender-affirming care in her statement within a lawsuit. By aggregating diagnostic codes and insurance data, Do No Harm claims to already know the number of patients that received hormone therapy or puberty blockers, and how much providers have billed insurance companies at more than a dozen hospitals across the country.

So far, at least 13 hospitals that have received either grand jury or civil subpoenas from the DOJ also appear on Do No Harm’s list of providers, according to an analysis from HuffPost.

The group has strong ties to both the Trump administration and right-wing money networks. Until a few months ago, Scott Centorino, Do No Harm’s former vice president of policy and programs, was an employee in the Trump administration, working as a special assistant to the White House on domestic policy, according to financial disclosures. Last year the group received $75,000 from The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing policy organization that drafted Project 2025. Do No Harm has also been supported by influential conservative donor Leonard Leo, who has helped Trump shape the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Over the last two years, the group’s budget has ballooned from $2 million to $10 million.

Levi Kalish@kalish· Apr 17

apropos of nothing other than nostalgia for a different time, i found this pic from 2016 when i was reporting from myanmar and soulja boy came for his world tour. i attended the press conference with dozens of monks and teen girls at a newly built mall. he sang "kiss me through the phone." i miss it

Levi Kalish@kalish· Apr 10

Meanwhile Trump's proposed 2027 budget would eliminate HHS' more than decade old Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program dedicated to literally preventing teen pregnancy and educating young folks about sex and sexual health www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

Levi Kalish@kalish· Aug 18

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/r96z8...

EHB Program Carrier Letter
All FEHB and PSHB Carriers
FEHB
☒
PSHB
☒
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Healthcare and Insurance
Letter Number
202
5
-
01b
Date:
August 15
,
202
5
Fee
-
for
-
service [
9
]
Experience
-
rated HMO [
9
]
Community
-
rated HMO
[
10
]
Subject:
Chemical and Surgical
Sex
-
Trait
Modification
Services
for Plan Year 2026 Proposals
This Carrier Letter
serves as
a second Addendum
1
to
Ca
rrier
Letter 2025
-
01
,
and
supplemental guidance
to
Carrier Letter
2025
-
0
5
. Th
e
guidance outlined
below supersedes any previous Carrier Letter with conflicting information.
For Plan Year 2026,
chemical and surgical
modification
of
an
individual'
s sex
traits
through medical interventions
(
to
include
“
gender transition
”
services)
will no longer be covered under the FEHB or PSHB Programs.
This
exclusion
expands upon
Carrier Letter 2025
-
01a
and
applies
regardless of age
.
As an exception, counseling services for possible or diagnosed gender
dysphoria must still be covered. Covered counseling services must be
provided by a licensed
mental health
provider
and
may
include
those
who
provide
faith-based counseling

FEHB Program Carrier Letter 2025
-
01b
2
Carriers
must
establish an exceptions process
for coverage
of excluded
services
for
enrollees
who are mid
-
treatment within a surgical and/or
hormonal regimen
for diagnosed gender dysphoria
. The exception process
should
be applied
on a case
-
by
-
case basis
.
Carriers must provide
details
of
the
ir
exception
s
process
in their brochures.
Enrollees
determined eligible for
the exception must be notified through the Carrier’s usual notification
process.
The exclusion on hormone treatments only pertains to
chemical and
surgical
modification
of an
individual'
s sex
traits
(including
as part of "
gender
transition
"
services
)
. Carriers should not exclude coverage for entire classes
of pharmaceuticals, e.g., GnRH agonists may be prescribed during IVF, for
reduction of endometriosis or fibroids, and for cancer treatment or prostate
cancer/tumor growth prevention.
Provider directories must not list or otherwise recognize providers
for the
purposes
of
providing
chemical and surgical
modification
of an
individual'
s
sex
traits
.
Your Health Insurance Specialist will work with you to make appropriate
adjustments to your FEHB or PSHB brochure and answer any questions you
may have.
Sincerely,
D. Shane Stevens
Associate Director
Healthcare and Insurance

Levi Kalish@kalish· Jul 22

zero cell service and sleeping on a mountain really did wonders for my addled brain

Levi Kalish@kalish· Jun 14

Levi Kalish@kalish· Mar 4

Just in: A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction of Trump's executive orders threatening federal funding for institutions that provide gender-affirming care for young people under the age of 19. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Levi Kalish@kalish· Dec 3

TN's brief to SCOTUS mentions "media reports" about trans care at Vanderbilt. It's unclear what the "reports" are but in 2022 Matt Walsh sent tweets mischaracterizing care there — and I spent last yr investigating Walsh and the Daily Wire's impact in TN politics. www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-w...