Mandi Spishak-Thomas

Thrilled to see my work on Medicaid estate recovery highlighted so comprehensively in this excellent piece by Allaire Conte at Realtor [dot] com.

If that was a swing I'm the King of England.

I love Zohran but nyc isn’t doing shit for all the people with long covid and all the people who are about to get long covid. 🧵

"To defeat fascism, we need to build power at the local level. That means holding those in power accountable. However unpopular in some quarters of the Left(s), it means continuing to fight to defund policing," writes @prisonculture.bsky.social. prisonculture.substack.com/p/antifascis...

It's World Homeless Day, and I'll just say: Homelessness isn't some great unsolvable mystery. People are homeless because they don't have homes. This suffering persists not for lack of solutions, but because enormous wealth and power are invested in maintaining the very structures that produce it.

Founding a worker-owned local news outfit in 2022, we didn't know if we'd last a month. But as @hellgatenyc.com enters our fifth year, we are surviving, and even thriving. Here's our 2026 annual report, detailing our achievements and challenges of the past year. hellgatenyc.com/hell-gate-20...

abolish the death penalty

Over 900 wheelchairs, intended for wounded children in Gaza, have been held in Jordan since 2025 due to Israel blocking the shipment:

NYC DSA folks: Please co-sponsor our proposal to "Build Community Safety through Prevention, Not Policing" on the convention web page: convention.socialists.nyc/proposals

@pamherd.bsky.social on @npr.org this weekend on how new Medicaid work requirements will affect people with disabilities ⬇️

Presenting my work on Medicaid estate recovery at the @advancingstates.bsky.social #HCBSconference this morning alongside colleagues at the Aging & Disability Health Policy Lab and @justiceinaging.org, come see us to learn more!

Everyone needs to watch this before negotiations start so we can be on these streets fighting the salary cap #LGM

As chair of the @bkcb6.bsky.social Business Affairs and Licenses committee, we have been pushing for year-round outdoor dining for years. When it went away, so did mass support for our favorite bars and restaurants. I’m thrilled and cannot wait to be having a cozy dinner outside in December!

from the brilliant @derecka.bsky.social "The very movements producing [radical] rhetoric, from abolition to Free Palestine, also produced the possibilities of [DSA's] election [win]s. Downplaying those movements puts organizers who continue this work at risk, especially right now."

I spoke to the mutual aid groups and mask blocs combatting the spread of COVID and viral illness by freely distributing masks and tests and lending out air purifiers — who nationally have now distributed thousands of masks for wildfire smoke, too, amid an anti-public health admin @us.theguardian.com

Every single Republican and gender critical person, including JK Rowling, supports this happening to you. They brag about building a future in which this type of humilating incident is common.

This week's #WednesdayWisdom comes from CSHP & @rutgersifh.bsky.social Assistant Research Professor @aspishakthomas.com. She recently spoke with Realtor.com about her #research into the practice of #Medicaid estate recovery: go.rutgers.edu/ng9fo9re

Back on here to thank @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social "It’s as if we launched a war against nature, and that has turned place after place into something that resembles a war zone. The climate movement is a peace movement, a movement to end this war and its casualties." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Marvin's family has now created a GofundMe to help with funeral expenses and to support Natasha and the kids in the difficult days ahead. If you're able to contribute or share the fundraiser, I'd be deeply grateful.

I'm heartbroken to share that Marvin (known to readers of There Is No Place for Us as Maurice) died earlier today in a workplace accident. He was 43. Natasha (Natalia in the book) asked me to share this news because she is too devastated to do so herself. We are all in shock.

Ah yes, the free market is going so well for our health "care" industry...patients just need to "discover more affordable care". Economists being economists again at the NYT 🙄

People who do seasonal work — like farmworkers — are at elevated risk of coverage loss from Medicaid work requirements. It's much harder to automate compliance determinations for seasonal work. While there are policy accommodations, documentation burdens will be worse for seasonal workers.

Bosses have desired ways to cut labor costs since time immemorial. Artificial-intelligence hype provides a powerful new excuse to replace stable employment with gig work.

Today we’re sharing an additional #FindingsFriday insight from a research study led by CSHP Assistant Research Professor @aspishakthomas.com. She examined the impact of Medicaid #estaterecovery on homeownership decisions, home equity, and #Medicaid enrollment: go.rutgers.edu/pzhz4f05

Call NJ reps and demand our neighbors be released. Sen Cory Booker: 202-224-3224 NJ office: 973-639-8700 Sen Andy Kim: 202-224-4744 NJ office: 609-259-2450 Rep McIver: 973-645-3213 Rep Menendez: 201-239-8892 Rep Mejia: 973-526-5668 Rep Pou: 973-523-5152 Rep Watson Coleman: 609-883-0026

The trans sports ban are almost completely an invention of the media, conservative and mainstream. it has been years of lies, of shoddy fact checking on just completely false conservative claims, years of phony concern trolling.

I hope you sick fucks are happy, because I just ran into soon-to-be former Congressman Dan Goldman and he is crying like a little girl.

From buses to cabs to street closures, here’s everything you need to know about making your way through Manhattan during the games.

Take for example, the claim that work requirements will reduce poverty. The HHS report ignores the facts that *up to 7 million people are expected to lose Medicaid over the next couple of years & *Medicaid is very effective at reducing poverty But somehow, magically, this will reduce poverty? C'mon

New at Can We Still Govern: The Trump admin released a report saying that Medicaid work requirements will increase work and reduce poverty. There is a technical term for this: malarkey. Actual experts @chloeneast.bsky.social & @adrianna.bsky.social break it down. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...

People who experience menopause at work often find out that there is no law guaranteeing their right to accommodations so they can keep working. Now that's starting to change. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Today’s #FindingsFriday insight comes from a #NEW journal article authored by CSHP Assistant Research Professor @aspishakthomas.com. She explores the impacts of Medicaid #EstateRecovery on home ownership, home equity, and #Medicaid enrollment: go.rutgers.edu/pzhz4f05

A state review found the Health Department launched new initiatives and improved data collection. But Black women still face disproportionately high pregnancy-related death rates. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/06/03/m...

Today’s #FindingsFriday insight comes from a #NEW article co-authored by CSHP faculty @aspishakthomas.com and @ericaeliason.bsky.social. It explores utilization of postpartum #contraception and opportunities to remove barriers to accessing contraceptives after #childbirth: go.rutgers.edu/zwr9k0nt