The Host
As a part of a media blitz aimed toward ladies voters, Vice President Kamala Harris this week rolled out a plan for Medicare to offer in-home long-term care providers. It’s standard, notably for households struggling to take care of each younger youngsters and older kinfolk, however its monumental expense has prevented related plans from being applied for many years.
In the meantime, President Joe Biden known as out former President Donald Trump by identify for having “led the onslaught of lies” concerning the federal efforts to assist folks affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton. Even some Republican officers say the misinformation about hurricane aid efforts is threatening public well being.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Shefali Luthra of The nineteenth, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Name, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins faculties of public well being and nursing and Politico.
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan to increase Medicare to cowl extra long-term care is standard however not new, and previously has proved prohibitively costly.
- Former President Donald Trump has deserted help for a drug worth coverage he pursued throughout his first time period. The thought, which might decrease drug costs within the U.S. to their ranges in different industrialized international locations, is vehemently opposed by the drug business, elevating the query of whether or not Trump is softening his arduous line on the difficulty.
- Abortion continues to be the largest well being coverage subject of 2024, as Republican candidates — in what appears to be a replay of 2022 — attempt to distance themselves from their help of abortion bans and different limits. Voters proceed to favor reproductive rights, which creates a model downside for the GOP. Trump’s going forwards and backwards on his abortion positions is an exception to the tack different candidates have taken.
- The Supreme Court docket returned from its summer time break and instantly declined to listen to two abortion-related circumstances. One case pits Texas’ near-total abortion ban towards a federal legislation that requires emergency abortions to be carried out in sure circumstances. The opposite challenges a ruling earlier this yr from the Alabama Supreme Court docket discovering that embryos frozen for in vitro fertilization have the identical authorized rights as born people.
- The 2024 KFF annual employer well being advantages survey, launched this week, confirmed a roughly 7% enhance in premiums, with common household premiums now topping $25,000 per yr. And that’s with most employers not overlaying two standard however costly medical interventions: GLP-1 medicine for weight reduction and IVF.
Additionally this week, excerpts from a KFF lunch with “Shark Tank” panelist and generic drug discounter Mark Cuban, who has been consulting with the Harris marketing campaign about well being care points.
Plus, for “further credit score,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week they suppose it is best to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: KFF Well being Information’ “A Boy’s Bicycling Loss of life Haunts a Black Neighborhood. 35 Years Later, There’s Nonetheless No Sidewalk,” by Renuka Rayasam and Fred Clasen-Kelly.
Shefali Luthra: The nineteenth’s “Arizona’s Poll Measure Might Shift the Narrative on Latinas and Abortion,” by Mel Leonor Barclay.
Jessie Hellmann: The Meeting’s “Helene Left Some NC Elder-Care Properties With out Energy,” by Carli Brosseau.
Joanne Kenen: The New York Instances’ “Her Face Was Unrecognizable After an Explosion. A Placenta Restored It,” by Kate Morgan.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
To listen to all our podcasts, click on right here.
And subscribe to KFF Well being Information’ “What the Well being?” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or wherever you hearken to podcasts.