The Host
Julie Rovner KFF Well being Information
@julierovner.bsky.social
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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 knowledgeable on well being coverage points, Julie is the writer of the critically praised reference ebook “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
Thousands and thousands of individuals in Republican-dominated states are amongst these seeing their Reasonably priced 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 — at the very least for now.
In the meantime, Democrats could not have achieved their shutdown purpose of renewing the subsidies, however they’ve returned well being care — one in all 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 Faculty of Public Well being and Politico Journal, and Shefali Luthra of The nineteenth.
Panelists
Paige Winfield Cunningham
The Washington Publish
Learn Paige’s tales.
Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins College and Politico
@joannekenen.bsky.social
Learn Joanne’s bio.
Shefali Luthra The nineteenth
Learn Shefali’s tales.
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 methods to handle the difficulty, with the improved premium ACA subsidies nonetheless set to run out and prime Republicans musing about as an alternative 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 going through blowback over a significant report on transgender well being that was written by critics of such care — and with out peer assessment.
- And a few Republicans are looking for to tie ACA subsidies to abortion restrictions, offering solely the most recent instance of how the difficulty often turns into tangled in authorities spending battles. Democrats are unlikely to comply with such adjustments, particularly if Republicans push to direct subsidies into well being financial savings accounts — that means, theoretically, that any abortion limitations there can be concentrating 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 “further credit score” the panelists counsel 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 Plenty of Docs. Good Luck Seeing One,” by Christopher Weaver, Anna Wilde Mathews, and Tom McGinty.
Joanne From: ProPublica’s “What the U.S. Authorities Is Dismissing That Might Seed a Hen Flu Pandemic,” by Nat Lash.
Shefali Luthra: ProPublica’s “‘Ticking Time Bomb’: A Pregnant Mom Stored Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texasby Kavith Surana and Lizzie Presser.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
- The Washington Publish’s “Battle Over Abortion Might 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 Position After Complaints About Administration Fashion,” by Liz Essley Whyte.
Credit
Francis Ying Audio producer Emmarie Huetteman Editor
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