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 knowledgeable on well being coverage points, Julie is the creator of the critically praised reference e book “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
In his ongoing effort to reshape well being coverage, Secretary of Well being and Human Companies Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to overtake two extra authorities entities: the U.S. Preventive Companies Activity Drive and the Nationwide Vaccine Harm Compensation Program. Ousting the present members of the duty power would give Kennedy a measure of management in figuring out the sorts of preventive care which can be lined without charge to sufferers in the USA. And whereas it’s unclear what the secretary would do to the vaccine harm program, Kennedy has made no secret of his perception that vaccines can do extra hurt than good.
In the meantime, final week marked the thirty fifth anniversary of the People with Disabilities Act, and President Donald Trump signed an government order that might allow native and state governments to forcibly hospitalize some people who find themselves homeless and fighting psychological well being issues.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Anna Edney of Bloomberg Information, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Well being and Politico Journal, and Shefali Luthra of The nineteenth.
Panelists
Anna Edney
Bloomberg Information
Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins College and Politico
Shefali Luthra
The nineteenth
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- Lower than two months after Kennedy eliminated all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, he’s reportedly contemplating an analogous purge of members of the duty power that recommends the preventive providers insurers should cowl — a listing whose providers, a few of them controversial amongst Trump officers, embrace medication that forestall HIV and sure most cancers screenings. He’s additionally contemplating modifications to the federal program that compensates individuals who expertise antagonistic results from immunizations.
- This week Vinay Prasad, the Meals and Drug Administration’s prime vaccine official, resigned simply months into his tenure. Prasad had come underneath assault, notably by right-wing character Laura Loomer, and had been blasted for some company choices about new medication for uncommon illnesses — regardless of his work limiting the usage of covid pictures.
- Trump’s newly introduced commerce take care of the European Union features a 15% tariff on brand-name prescription drugs, which would come with, for instance, the diabetes drug Ozempic, usually used for weight reduction. However it will be tough to decrease costs on brand-name medication by way of tariffs; it’s unlikely that drugmakers, dealing with greater import prices, would relocate manufacturing to the USA.
- Additionally, Trump’s huge tax and spending legislation, hastened by way of Congress weeks in the past, renders some lawfully current immigrants ineligible for Inexpensive Care Act subsidies. However a brand new KFF Well being Information column factors out that the change would really increase premiums for everybody else, taking extra wholesome individuals out of the insurance coverage pool.
Additionally this week, Rovner interviews George Washington College well being coverage professor Sara Rosenbaum, one of many nation’s main Medicaid consultants, to mark Medicaid’s sixtieth anniversary this week.
Plus, for “further credit score,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you must learn, too:
Julie Rovner: KFF Well being Information’ “Beauty Surgical procedures Led to Disfiguring Accidents, Sufferers Allege,” by Fred Schulte.
Anna Edney: The Washington Publish’s “Morton Mintz, Publish Reporter With a Muckraker Spirit, Dies at 103,” by Stefanie Dazio.
Joanne Kenen: ScienceAlert’s “New Sort of Dental Floss Might Exchange Vaccine Needles, Research Finds,” by David Nield.
Shefali Luthra: The New Yorker’s “Mexico’s Molar Metropolis Might Rework My Smile. Did I Need It To?” by Burkhard Bilger.
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 take heed to podcasts.
KFF Well being Information is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points and is among the core working applications at KFF—an impartial supply of well being coverage analysis, polling, and journalism. Be taught extra about KFF.
USE OUR CONTENT
This story will be republished without cost (particulars).
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 web site. If attainable, please embrace the unique creator(s) and KFF Well being Information” within the byline. Please protect the hyperlinks within the story.
It’s necessary to notice, not every thing on kffhealthnews.org is accessible 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]
