What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

Join Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for 窪蹋勛圖厙 News, along with top health policy reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico and other media outlets to discuss the latest news and explain what the health is going on here in Washington.

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If you have a question for the podcast, you can send it to whatthehealth@kff.org.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Congress Kicks the (Budget) Can Down the Road. Again.

    Episode 323

    Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in six weeks, as Democrats came to the rescue of divided House Republicans over annual spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1. But the brinksmanship is likely to repeat itself early in 2024, when the next temporary spending patches expire. Meanwhile, a pair of investigations unveiled this week demonstrate how difficult it still is for seniors to get needed long-term and rehabilitation care. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    A Very Good Night for Abortion Rights Backers

    Episode 322

    Abortion rights backers won major victories in at least five states in the 2023 off-year elections Nov. 7, proving the staying power of abortion as a political issue in the wake of the Supreme Courts 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health finally has a new director, after Democrats temporarily blocked President Joe Bidens nominee over a mostly unrelated fight about prescription drug prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest Bill of the Month feature.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    For ACA Plans, Its Time to Shop Around

    Episode 321

    Its Obamacare open enrollment season, which means that, for people who rely on these plans for coverage, its time to shop around. With enhanced premium subsidies and cost-sharing assistance, consumers may find savings by switching plans. It is especially important for people who lost their coverage because of the Medicaid unwinding to investigate their options. Many qualify for assistance. Meanwhile, the countdown to Election Day is on, and Ohios State Issue 1 is grabbing headlines. The closely watched ballot initiative has become a testing ground for abortion-related messaging, which has been rife with misinformation. This weeks panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of 窪蹋勛圖厙 News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachana Pradhan of 窪蹋勛圖厙 News.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    The New Speakers (Limited) Record on Health

    Episode 320

    The House finally has a new speaker: Mike Johnson (R-La). Hes a relative newcomer whos been a lower-level member of the House GOP leadership. And while hes an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on other health issues is scant. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health appears on track to be getting a new director, and Georgias Medicaid work requirement experiment is off to a very slow start. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl

    Episode 319

    Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohios November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress

    Episode 318

    A bitterly divided Congress managed to keep the federal government running for several more weeks, while House Republicans struggle again to choose a leader. Meanwhile, many people removed from state Medicaid rolls are not finding their way to Affordable Care Act insurance, and a major investigation by The Washington Post attributes the decline in U.S. life expectancy to more than covid-19 and opioids. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews physician-author-playwright Samuel Shem about Our Hospital, his new novel about the health workforce in the age of covid.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    An Encore: 3 HHS Secretaries Reveal What the Job Is Really Like

    Episode 317

    In this special encore episode, 窪蹋勛圖厙 News What the Health? asks three people who have served as the nations top health official: What does a day in the life of the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services look like? And how much of their agenda is set by the White House? Taped in June before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, part of the Aspen Ideas Festival, in Aspen, Colorado, host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner leads a rare conversation with the current and two former HHS secretaries. Secretary Xavier Becerra and former secretaries Kathleen Sebelius and Alex Azar talk candidly about what it takes to run a department with more than 80,000 employees and a budget larger than those of many countries.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    More Medicaid Messiness

    Episode 316

    At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. Its just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the programs pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest 窪蹋勛圖厙 News-NPR Bill of the Month feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patients family for more than a year.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Countdown to Shutdown

    Episode 315

    Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to roil the GOP presidential primary field, this time with comments about abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Tami Luhby of CNN join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Underinsured Is the New Uninsured

    Episode 314

    The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isnt much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.

    Episode 313

    Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate

    Episode 311

    The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for not giving them enough notice or a way to contest their being dropped from the program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Victoria Knight of Axios join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Abortion Pills Legal Limbo Continues

    Episode 310

    A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market rejecting a lower courts decision to effectively cancel the drugs FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug easier to obtain. Nothing changes immediately, however, as the Supreme Court blocked the lower courts ruling in the spring. It will be up to the high court to determine whether the pill remains available in the U.S. and under which conditions. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas

    Episode 309

    Nearly a year to the day after Kansas voters surprised the nation by defeating an anti-abortion ballot question, Ohio voters defeated a similar, if cagier, effort to limit access in that state. This week, they rejected an effort to raise the threshold for approval of future ballot measures from a simple majority, which would have made it harder to protect abortion access with yet another ballot question come November. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance has dropped to an all-time low, though few noticed. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Emmarie Huetteman of 窪蹋勛圖厙 News join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, about how the Medicaid unwinding is going, as millions have their eligibility for coverage rechecked.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.

    Episode 308

    Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers wont have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing the Affordable Care Act is no longer the top promise, some candidates have lively ideas about what to do with federal health programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Phil Galewitz, who reported the latest 窪蹋勛圖厙 News-NPR Bill of the Month, about how a bill that should never have been sent created headaches for one patient.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Another Try for Mental Health Parity

    Episode 307

    President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News C矇line Gounder about her podcast Epidemic. The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    Lets Talk About the Weather

    Episode 306

    Its been the summer of broken weather records around the world for heat, rain, and wildfire smoke advertising the risks of climate change in a big way. But, apparently, its not enough to break the logjam in Washington over how to address the growing climate crisis. Meanwhile, in Texas, women who were unable to get care for pregnancy complications took their stories to court, and Congress gears up to maybe do something about prescription drug prices. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join Julie Rovner, 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Meena Seshamani, the top administrator for the federal Medicare program.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    The Long Road to Reining In Short-Term Plans

    Episode 305

    President Biden made good on a campaign promise this week with a proposal that would limit short-term health insurance plans that boast low premiums but also few benefits. Meanwhile, the Supreme Courts decision to outlaw affirmative action programs could set back efforts to diversify the nations medical workforce. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 窪蹋勛圖厙 News Bram Sable-Smith, who reported the latest 窪蹋勛圖厙 News-NPR Bill of the Month about how a hospital couldnt track down a patient, but a debt collector could.

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  • What the Health? From 窪蹋勛圖厙 News

    A Year Without Roe

    Episode 304

    Its been a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and, with it, the nationwide right to abortion. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization set off widespread uncertainty in government and the courts about the legality or illegality of the procedure. But the decision has had other consequences too, including affecting where health professionals choose to locate. In this special episode of 窪蹋勛圖厙 News What the Health? Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 窪蹋勛圖厙 News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFFs Alina Salganicoff about the organizations research and other work on womens health policy over the past year.

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