The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Health News
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Health?” A famous skilled on well being coverage points, Julie is the creator of the critically praised reference guide “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third version.
Fired lower than a month after being confirmed as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez appeared at a dramatic Senate listening to this week alongside one other ousted CDC official and immediately contradicted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s earlier testimony about why she was fired.
Monarez advised the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that Kennedy ordered her to conform to approve adjustments to the childhood vaccine schedule quickly to be beneficial by a CDC advisory panel, no matter scientific proof, and to fireside senior profession scientists who the secretary felt didn’t share his vaccine views.
Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are at a standoff over authorities funding, with lower than two weeks to go earlier than a possible shutdown. Democrats — whose votes are required to move a invoice within the Senate — say they gained’t vote to maintain the federal government open except Republicans agree to increase expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage that in any other case expire on the finish of the 12 months. Republicans are thus far resisting these calls, though some are involved that the ensuing premium spikes would have an effect on their very own voters.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.
Panelists
Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins University and Politico
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico
Margot Sanger-Katz
The New York Times
Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — who, as chairman of the HELP Committee, referred to as the listening to and is a gastroenterologist — discovered himself pushing again on a few of his GOP colleagues, significantly on the significance of vaccinating newborns towards hepatitis B. Cassidy, who’s up for reelection subsequent 12 months and faces a major problem, is in a fragile place concerning the oversight of the Trump administration’s well being insurance policies.
The listening to showcased broad, across-the-aisle settlement that belief within the CDC has eroded — together with a stark divide over the trigger and who’s at fault. Democrats level at Kennedy and the Trump administration, whereas Republicans blame the company’s dealing with of the covid-19 pandemic. Historically, Americans have tended to belief public well being officers; now, states are beginning to create a patchwork of insurance policies.
Congress is struggling to agree on even a stopgap measure to maintain the federal authorities funded, rising the possibilities of a authorities shutdown on Oct. 1. Democrats are pushing to increase enhanced federal ACA subsidies as a part of a deal, however that problem could possibly be kicked down the street, injecting uncertainty into this 12 months’s open enrollment course of, which begins Nov. 1.
And extra particulars are rising in regards to the $50 billion rural well being fund inserted on the eleventh hour into Trump’s main home coverage regulation. As the federal authorities begins soliciting purposes for funding from states, it’s turning into clear that there are strings hooked up — and that the funding isn’t fully designated for rural hospitals in spite of everything.
Also this week, Rovner interviews Troyen Brennan, former chief medical officer at Aetna and CVS, on his new guide about major care, “Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality of Primary Care in the United States.”
Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn (or wrote) this week that they assume you need to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: The New York Times Magazine’s “Trump Is Shutting Down the War on Cancer,” by Jonathan Mahler.
Margot Sanger-Katz: ProfessionalPublica’s “Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push,” by Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “I Have Dental Insurance. Why Do I Pay So Much for Care?” by Erica Sweeney.
Joanne Kenen: Politico Magazine’s “Why Voters Will Feel the Impact of GOP Health Cuts Before the Midterms,” by Joanne Kenen.
Also talked about on this week’s podcast:
NBC News’ “Data Investigation: Childhood Vaccination Rates Are Backsliding Across the U.S.,” by Erika Edwards, Jason Kane, Stephanie Gosk, Mustafa Fattah, and Joe Murphy.
The Washington Post’s “Why 1 in 6 U.S. Parents Are Rejecting Vaccine Recommendations,” by Lauren Weber, Scott Clement, Emily Guskin, and Lena H. Sun.
Politico’s “The Rural Health ‘Hunger Games’ Are Underway,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein.
Credits
Francis Ying
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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