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Health care continues to be a high problem for Democratic and Democratic-leaning major voters, according to recent polls. But the presidential candidates are so busy choosing on the particulars of their opponents’ plans, it’s unclear whether or not voters have gotten educated or extra confused.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is pushing forward along with his well being agenda. The newest effort is a collection of laws aimed toward making precise costs for hospital and different well being care companies extra out there to the general public.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner from Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Caitlin Owens of Axios, and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News.
Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:
Democratic lawmakers’ stark opposition to the GOP’s plans to repeal or substitute the Affordable Care Act early in Trump’s time period helped propel the Democrats to manage of the House. Yet because the social gathering’s presidential contenders debate, they’re specializing in intraparty divisions, fairly than highlighting their variations with Republicans. Among the Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is mostly most carefully related to a well being care agenda. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has highlighted a big selection of insurance policies she want to implement if elected president. But her bold plan to go inside 100 days a brand new program that would present about 130 million Americans with free or practically free well being care demonstrates that well being can also be a high precedence for her. Will the Trump administration’s new laws mandating that hospitals present extra value data assist decrease costs? That’s not clear. The same effort in Denmark with concrete suppliers ended up elevating prices. Yet in California, after the state retirement system set a benchmark for what it could pay for some companies, sure high-cost hospitals lowered their costs. Hospitals and insurers have vowed to problem in court docket the administration’s value data regulation. Many of the opposite guidelines put forth on well being care haven’t fared effectively within the court docket system, and the authorized foundation for this rule might face robust questioning. Among these guidelines dealing with court docket challenges is the administration’s effort to let states implement work necessities for some adults who gained Medicaid protection beneath the ACA. Despite judges stopping a number of of these states from shifting ahead, Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, final week remained optimistic in regards to the coverage and open to approving extra requests.
Plus, for additional credit score, the panelists advocate their favourite well being coverage tales of the week they suppose you must learn too:
Julie Rovner: Politico’s “The Health Care System Isn’t Ready to Replace Aging Caregivers,” by Dan Goldberg
Margot Sanger-Katz: ProPublica and STAT News’ “Inside Purdue Pharma’s Media Playbook: How It Planted the Opioid ‘Anti-Story,’” by David Armstrong
Caitlin Owens: The Washington Post’s “The Most Remote Emergency Room: Life and Death in Rural America,” by Eli Saslow
Julie Appleby: The Washington Post’s “Majority of Anti-Vaccine Ads on Facebook Were Funded by Two Groups,” by Lena H. Sun
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