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Health care â and how much it costs â is scary. But knowledge is power. Take a master class in winning insurance appeals. In the case of Matthew Lientz, taking on his insurance also meant going up against his employer.
Federal health officials appear poised to extend a recommendation for covid boosters to all adults, following moves by some governors and mayors to broaden the eligible booster pool as caseloads rise. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration finally has a nominee to head the agency: former FDA chief Robert Califf. And Medicare premiums for consumers will likely rise substantially in 2022, partly due to the approval of a controversial drug to treat Alzheimerâs disease. Tami Luhby of CNN, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dan Weissmann, host of the âAn Arm and a Legâ podcast.
Congress is making slow progress toward completing its ambitious social spending bill, although its Thanksgiving deadline looks optimistic. Meanwhile, a new survey finds the average cost of an employer-provided family plan has risen to more than $22,000. Thatâs about the cost of a new Toyota Corolla. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Rebecca Love, a nurse academic and entrepreneur, about the impending crisis in nursing.
Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Bidenâs social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHNâs Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.
Laurie Todd calls herself the âInsurance Warriorâ and is sharing her strategies for getting health insurance companies to bend to her will.
The Supreme Court justices, who accepted the case only 10 days before the arguments will be made, may skirt the issue of abortion and concentrate instead on the legality of the lawâs unusual tack to let private citizens enforce it.
President Joe Biden unveiled a compromise âBuild Back Betterâ framework shortly before taking off for key meetings in Europe, but itâs unclear whether the framework can win the votes of all Democrats in the House and Senate, and it leaves out some of the partyâs health priorities, notably significant provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, younger children may soon be eligible for covid vaccines. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Check out the latest bonus episodes from the award-winning "Where It Hurts" podcast.
Negotiations on the health parts of President Joe Bidenâs domestic agenda are getting serious but have yet to produce a deal every Democrat can support. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration remains without a nominated leader but manages to take the first steps toward approving over-the-counter hearing aids. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Tami Luhby of CNN and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too.
In this episode, we get our bearings on self-funded insurance plans, and how they affect the average â sometimes burned-out â American worker trying to get answers about insurance.
Like almost everything else associated with the covid-19 pandemic, partisans are taking sides over whether vaccines should be mandated. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling to find compromise in their effort to expand health insurance and other social programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews best-selling author Beth Macy about her book âDopesick,â and the new Hulu miniseries based on it.
The polarizing abortion issue threatens to tie up Congress, the Supreme Court and the states for the coming year. Meanwhile, Congress kicks the can down the road to December on settling its spending priorities. Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
Also this week, Rovner interviews KHNâs Aneri Pattani, who delivered the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ episode about a covid test that cost as much as a luxury car.
In Maryland, it's now illegal for a hospital to sue a patient who qualifies for charity care. But in many other states, that's still a thing.
Negotiations continue on Capitol Hill over President Joe Bidenâs health agenda â along with a long list of other items. With Republicans on the sidelines, liberal Democrats delayed a House vote on a Senate-passed infrastructure bill to extract moderatesâ support for a social-spending bill that includes expansions of benefits for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Biden administrationâs new rules to prevent âsurpriseâ medical bills pleases some health stakeholders and angers others. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Kimberly Leonard of Insider join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews Anna Flagg of the Marshall Project about how a century-old report on medical education contributed to racial inequities that persist today.
Congress is back in session with a short time to finish a long to-do list, including keeping the government operating and paying its bills. Hanging in the balance is President Joe Bidenâs entire domestic agenda, including major changes proposed for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the new Texas abortion law that bans the procedure early in pregnancy is prompting action in Washington. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about his new book on the covid-19 pandemic.
This episode highlights how New York enacted a charity care law, one of the precursors to the federal provision on charity care in the Affordable Care Act. Â
Democrats have hit a snag in their effort to compile a $3.5 trillion social-spending bill this fall â moderates are resisting support for Medicare drug price negotiation provisions that would pay for many of the measureâs health benefit improvements. Meanwhile, the new abortion restrictions in Texas have moved the divisive issue back to the political front burner. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviewâs KHNâs Phil Galewitz about the latest KHN-NPR âBill of the Monthâ installment, about two similar jaw surgeries with very different price tags.
The covid pandemic has spotlighted the often-unseen role of public health in Americansâ daily lives. And the picture has not all been pretty. What is public health and why is it so important â and controversial? Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, explains the basics. Then, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Lauren Weber of KHN join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss what could happen next.
In this episode, we hear how the political tango over guaranteeing that nonprofit hospitals provide charity care nearly tanked the Affordable Care Act â and how the battle over the ACA âbroke America.â
The FDAâs formal approval of the first vaccine to prevent covid-19 may or may not prompt doubters to go out and get shots, but it has clearly prompted employers to make vaccination a work requirement. Meanwhile, moderates and liberals in the U.S. House put aside their differences long enough to keep a giant social-spending bill on track, at least for now. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHNâs Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for âextra credit,â the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
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