The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Well being Information
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Well being Information’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Well being?” A famous skilled on well being coverage points, Julie is the creator of the critically praised reference ebook “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
Hundreds of thousands of individuals in Republican-dominated states are amongst these seeing their Inexpensive Care Act plan premiums spike for 2026 as enhanced, pandemic-era subsidies expire. But Republicans within the White Home and on Capitol Hill are firming up their opposition to extending these further funds — not less than for now.
In the meantime, Democrats might not have achieved their shutdown aim of renewing the subsidies, however they’ve returned well being care — one among their prime points with voters — to the nationwide agenda.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Publish, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Well being and Politico Journal, and Shefali Luthra of The nineteenth.
Panelists
Paige Winfield Cunningham
The Washington Publish
Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins College and Politico
Shefali Luthra
The nineteenth
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- Democrats’ give attention to insurance coverage prices has pushed well being care again into the nationwide highlight. However removed from a bipartisan compromise, lawmakers stay break up over learn how to handle the problem, with the improved premium ACA subsidies nonetheless set to run out and prime Republicans musing about as a substitute placing that cash into well being financial savings accounts.
- A brand new change to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention web site suggests a hyperlink between vaccines and autism, amplifying the unsubstantiated declare championed by Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In the meantime, the Trump administration is dealing with blowback over a significant report on transgender well being that was written by critics of such care — and with out peer evaluation.
- And a few Republicans are in search of to tie ACA subsidies to abortion restrictions, offering solely the newest instance of how the problem frequently turns into tangled in authorities spending battles. Democrats are unlikely to comply with such modifications, particularly if Republicans push to direct subsidies into well being financial savings accounts — that means, theoretically, that any abortion limitations there could be focusing on residents’ non-public funds.
Additionally this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy, a GOP well being coverage adviser and co-founder and chair of the Basis for Analysis on Equal Alternative.
Plus, for “additional credit score” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they suppose you must learn, too:
Julie Rovner: CNBC’s “Cheaper Medicines, Free Seashore Journeys: U.S. Well being Plans Faucet Prescriptions That Feds Say Are Unlawful,” by Scott Zamost, Paige Tortorelli, and Melissa Lee.
Paige Winfield Cunningham: The Wall Avenue Journal’s “Medicaid Insurers Promise A number of Docs. Good Luck Seeing One,” by Christopher Weaver, Anna Wilde Mathews, and Tom McGinty.
Joanne Kenen: ProPublica’s “What the U.S. Authorities Is Dismissing That May Seed a Chook Flu Pandemic,” by Nat Lash.
Shefali Luthra: ProPublica’s “‘Ticking Time Bomb’: A Pregnant Mom Saved Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas,” by Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
- The Washington Publish’s “Battle Over Abortion May Doom Congress’s Well being Care Plans,” by Riley Beggin and Theodoric Meyer.
- The Wall Avenue Journal’s “RFK Jr. Mentioned Curbing FDA Head’s Function After Complaints About Administration Fashion,” by Liz Essley Whyte.
Credit
Francis Ying
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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