Administration Considers Using Social Media To Try To Sniff Out Fraud When Assessing Disability Claims

“You don’t want anything on there that shows you out playing Frisbee," said one disability claims lawyer recently. Advocates say any policy that would use social media to determine a person's disability status would be problematic because photos posted there do not always provide reliable evidence of a person’s current condition. People are more likely to post pictures of themselves when they are happy and healthy than when they are in a wheelchair or a hospital bed. In other news from the administration: transgender troops, military doctors and HIV spending.

The New York Times: On Disability And On Facebook? Uncle Sam Wants To Watch What You Post

If you’re on federal disability payments and on social media, be careful what you post. Uncle Sam wants to watch. The Trump administration has been quietly working on a proposal to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to help identify people who claim Social Security disability benefits without actually being disabled. If, for example, a person claimed benefits because of a back injury but was shown playing golf in a photograph posted on Facebook, that could be used as evidence that the injury was not disabling. (Pear, 3/10)

The New York Times: Transgender Troops Caught Between A Welcoming Military And A Hostile Government

Transgender troops like Senior Airman Sterling Crutcher are seen as “an unreasonable burden” by the Trump administration. It says their presence hurts morale and the military’s ability to fight, and that they have no place in uniform. That’s news to Airman Crutcher. He just got back from a deployment with his B-52 bomber squadron, and when he did, fellow airmen in his squadron, whom he counts among his best friends, threw a shower for him and his wife, Aimee, to celebrate their first child, born in February. (Philipps, 3/9)

Kaiser Health News: Military Doctors In Crosshairs Of A Budget Battle

The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad. The move inside the military coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to privatize care for veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs last month proposed rules that would allow veterans to use private hospitals and clinics if government primary care facilities are not nearby or if they have to wait too long for an appointment. (Rau, 3/11)

Politico Pro: Trump To Call For $291M In Spending On HIV Initiative

The Trump administration will seek $291 million for its domestic HIV initiative next year, according to two individuals with knowledge of the forthcoming budget request. The administration's fiscal 2020 funding plan to be unveiled Monday follows President Donald Trump's State of the Union pledge to effectively end HIV transmission in the United States within a decade. More than 1 million Americans have HIV, according to the CDC, and about 40,000 are newly infected every year. (Diamond, 3/10)

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