The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Well being Information
Learn Julie’s tales.
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 writer of the critically praised reference guide “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
A lot of the hubbub in well being care this yr has been targeted on Medicaid, which faces dramatically lowered federal funding as the results of the large price range invoice signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month. However now the eye is popping to the Reasonably priced Care Act, which is going through some massive modifications that might value many customers their well being protection as quickly as 2026.
In the meantime, modifications to immigration coverage underneath Trump may have an outsize impression on the nation’s well being care system, each by exacerbating shortages of well being staff and by eliminating insurance coverage protection that helps hold some hospitals and clinics afloat.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Julie Appleby of KFF Well being Information, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Name, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
Panelists
Julie Appleby
KFF Well being Information
Learn Julie’s tales.
Jessie Hellmann
CQ Roll Name
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- Many People can anticipate their medical insurance premiums to rise subsequent yr, however these charge hikes may very well be even larger for the tens of millions who depend on ACA well being plans. To afford such plans, most customers depend on enhanced federal authorities subsidies, that are set to run out — and GOP lawmakers appear loath to increase them, despite the fact that a lot of their constituents may lose their insurance coverage because of this.
- Congress included a $50 billion fund for rural well being care in Trump’s new regulation, aiming to cushion the blow of Medicaid cuts. However the fund is predicted to fall quick, particularly as many individuals lose their medical insurance and clinics, hospitals, and well being techniques are left to cowl their payments.
- Abortion opponents proceed to assert the abortion tablet mifepristone is unsafe, extra lately by citing a problematic evaluation — and a few lawmakers are utilizing it to stress federal officers to take one other have a look at the drug’s approval. In the meantime, many Deliberate Parenthood clinics are bracing for an finish to federal funding, stripping cash not solely from busy clinics the place abortion is authorized but additionally from clinics that present solely contraception, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and different non-abortion care in states the place the process is banned.
- And as extra states implement legal guidelines enabling medical doctors to decide out of remedies that violate their morals, a pregnant lady in Tennessee says her physician refused to supply prenatal care, as a result of she is single.
Additionally this week, Rovner interviews Jonathan Oberlander, a Medicare historian and College of North Carolina well being coverage professor, to mark Medicare’s sixtieth anniversary later this month.
Plus, for “additional credit score” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you need to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: KFF Well being Information’ “Republicans Name Medicaid Rife with Fraudsters. This Man Sees No Selection however To Break the Guidelines,” by Katheryn Houghton.
Julie Appleby: NPR’s “Many Magnificence Merchandise Have Poisonous Substances. Newly Proposed Payments May Change That,” by Rachel Treisman.
Jessie Hellmann: Roll Name’s “Kennedy’s Psychological Well being Drug Skepticism Lands at FDA Panel,” by Ariel Cohen.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Related Press’ “RFK Jr. Promoted a Meals Firm He Says Will Make People Wholesome. Their Meals Are Ultraprocessed,” by Amanda Seitz and Jonel Aleccia.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
Credit
Francis Ying
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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.
We encourage organizations to republish our content material, freed from cost. Right here’s what we ask:
You have to credit score us as the unique writer, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org website. If potential, please embrace the unique writer(s) and KFF Well being Information” within the byline. Please protect the hyperlinks within the story.
It’s essential to notice, not every part on kffhealthnews.org is obtainable for republishing. If a narrative is labeled “All Rights Reserved,” we can not grant permission to republish that merchandise.
Have questions? Tell us at [email protected]
