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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, handed by congressional Republicans in 2025, was alleged to backload cuts to well being packages in order that they wouldn’t take impact till after the 2026 midterm elections. That’s not how issues are figuring out, with quite a few analyses displaying insurance coverage protection is already beginning to drop.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration claims that the protection reductions show its anti-fraud efforts are working. But these efforts are more likely to have an effect on much more individuals than simply those that commit fraud towards federal well being packages.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Maya Goldman of Axios, Shefali Luthra of The nineteenth, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post.
Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:
Amid a latest decline within the variety of Americans with medical health insurance, one affected group specifically stands out: kids. Many children are falling off the Medicaid rolls, largely due to the chilling results of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and broader confusion about eligibility necessities.
Meanwhile, the excessive price of medical health insurance is urgent individuals to hunt alternate options, lots of which provide few or no protections towards massive medical payments. On the marketing campaign path, high-profile Democrats are sounding the alarm a couple of problematic well being ecosystem, even framing points similar to reproductive well being when it comes to affordability.
The Trump administration is elevating eyebrows with its response to the rising Ebola disaster as it really works to maintain American residents uncovered to the illness in another country fully. Countering earlier authorities approaches, which prioritized not solely public security but additionally providing the perfect care obtainable to Americans, this strategy additionally stands in stark distinction with President Donald Trump’s dismissal of masks, isolation, and different measures throughout the covid pandemic.
And Trump declared himself wholesome this week after present process his third bodily examination in 13 months at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Trump’s resistance to answering particular questions, regardless of seen points similar to bruising and swelling, raises the purpose {that a} president’s well being is usually a public matter — particularly for a president who’s about to show 80.
Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public well being, Céline Gounder, to debate the Ebola outbreak in central Africa.
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Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume it is best to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: ProPublica’s “She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas’ Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor’s Office Didn’t Help,” by Kavitha Surana.
Lauren Weber: The New York Times’ “Short Naps, Long Hours: How Autism Clinics Squeeze Medicaid Dollars Out of Preschoolers,” by Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz.
Shefali Luthra: The New York Times’ “Nine Months of Medical Attention. Then Almost Nothing,” by Sejal Hathi.
Maya Goldman: The Texas Tribune’s “Texas Children’s Hospital Must Create Country’s First ‘Detransition Clinic’ Under Legal Settlement With State,” by Terri Langford and Colleen DeGuzman.
Also talked about on this week’s podcast:
Axios’ “Why Kids’ Medicaid Enrollment Keeps Falling,” by Maya Goldman.
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families’ “Drop in Child Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Even Before HR 1 Policies Take Full Effect Is Troubling Sign,” by Joan Alker.
KFF Health News’ “Cheaper, Alternative Health Plans Are Having a Moment, but Critics Urge Caution,” by Sarah Kwon.
NPR’s “As Voters Prioritize Cost of Living, Focus on Abortion Evolves in Midterm Elections,” by Elena Moore.
The Washington Post’s “Doctor Evacuated From Congo Feels ‘Helpless’ Watching Colleagues Die of Ebola,” by Lauren Weber.
KFF Health News’ “Trump Bought Stock in Drugmaker as His Government Boosted Its Obesity Drugs,” by Darius Tahir.
The Atlantic’s “A Different Kind of Fading President,” by Jonathan Lemire.
What I Can & Can’t Say on TV’s “The Harder You Push, the Harder They Push Back,” by Céline Gounder.
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