What the Health? From KFF Health News

Former Vice President Joe Biden remains on the cusp of being declared the winner of the presidential election, and which party will control the Senate next year remains in question. The outcomes of both the presidential and Senate elections will have dramatic effects on the health agenda. Meanwhile, should President Donald Trump eke out a win, his administration is still pushing some sweeping heal...

Former President Barack Obama says President Donald Trump is “jealous of COVID’s media coverage.” Indeed, Trump has complained at his rallies, attended by mostly maskless supporters, about how the media covers the pandemic — at a time when cases are rising rapidly across the nation. Meanwhile, open enrollment is about to begin for the Affordable Care Act in a year when many people need coverage bu...

Glimmers of hope are beginning to appear in the fight against the coronavirus, such as a decreasing death rate. But there’s not-so-good news, too, including a push for “herd immunity,” which could result in millions more deaths. Meanwhile, the Trump administration doubles down on work requirements for Medicaid. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington P...

Barring something unexpected, Democrats in the Senate appear to lack the votes to block the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. So, instead they used the high-profile confirmation hearings to hammer on Republicans for again putting the Affordable Care Act in peril. Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Shefali Luthra of The 19th and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KH...

President Donald Trump is one of at least two dozen people tied to the White House who have tested positive for COVID-19. Negotiations on the next round of COVID relief are off again — maybe. And the FDA and CDC continue to fight for scientific credibility. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Erin Mershon of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss thes...

How will health issues affect voter choices? What will happen if President Donald Trump is reelected or the White House goes to Joe Biden? In this special election preview episode, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Laura Ungar about the latest K...

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is giving new life to the latest constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act. It also places anti-abortion activists on the cusp of a court majority large enough to ensure the rollback of the right to abortion and, possibly, some types of birth control. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar tries to centralize power...

President Donald Trump this week issued a prescription drug pricing order unlikely to lower drug prices, and he contradicted comments by his director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the need for mask-wearing and predictions for vaccine availability. Meanwhile, scandals erupted at the CDC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration. An...

Republicans have all but abandoned the Affordable Care Act as a campaign cudgel, judging from their national convention, at least. Meanwhile, career scientists at the federal government’s preeminent health agencies — the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health — are all coming under increasing political pressure as the pand...

We’re off this week, but the Affordable Care Act is in the news, as the GOP holds its virtual convention and the Supreme Court recently scheduled arguments in a case challenging the law. So we’re rebroadcasting our ACA 10th anniversary episode from March. For this special episode of “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews Kathleen Sebelius, who was President Barack Obama’s secretary of Hea...

In a highly produced, made-for-TV political convention, Democrats papered over their differences on a variety of issues, including health care, to show a unified front to defeat President Donald Trump in November. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to complicate efforts to get students back to school, and a federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate anti-discrimination protect...

The Democratic presidential ticket is complete, with Joe Biden’s selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Health has not been a major issue for Harris, whose career priority has been the criminal justice system. But expect Republicans to pounce on her on-again, off-again support for “Medicare for All.” Meanwhile, with Congress still in a stalemate over another round of COVID...

President Donald Trump keeps promising a comprehensive plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. And he keeps not delivering. Meanwhile, members of Congress and White House officials seem unable to agree on a new COVID-19 relief bill. And Missouri becomes the sixth state where voters approved a Medicaid expansion ballot measure. Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leo...

President Donald Trump’s sobering view of COVID-19 didn’t last long – this week, he was back to pushing hydroxychloroquine, a drug that has been shown not to work in treating the virus. Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill are still scrambling to agree among themselves and with the White House on the next coronavirus relief bill, as both a moratorium on evictions and extra unemployment payments...

President Donald Trump has, for now at least, become a realist on the extent of the COVID-19 crisis around the country, and he is urging Americans to socially distance and wear masks. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Republicans facing a July 31 deadline are scrambling to come together on their version of the next COVID relief bill. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and...

Case counts for COVID-19 are rising in nearly every state, yet a major campaign by the Trump administration this past week was an attempt to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, a trusted voice in public health. At the same time, hospitals have been instructed to send their COVID data not to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, but to the Department of Health and Human Services in Wa...

While COVID-19 cases continue to surge in more than half the country, the Trump administration has decided its top priority is for schools to open for in-person learning this fall. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands Trump a victory in a case to limit the reach of the birth control benefit under the Affordable Care Act. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Kimberly Leon...

In a decision that surprised both sides of the polarized abortion debate, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the deciding vote in the 5-4 ruling, saying the court should respect the precedent of a decision in 2016 striking down a nearly identical Texas...

While federal and state officials continue to wrangle over coronavirus testing, the population testing positive is skewing younger. Meanwhile, the Trump administration wins a round in court over its requirements for hospitals to publicly reveal their prices, and the fight over the fate of the Affordable Care Act heats up once again. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningh...

The Trump administration rolled back protections for transgender patients just days before the Supreme Court cemented LGBTQ rights under the Civil Rights Act. So, what now? Meanwhile, coronavirus politics reaches beyond health care settings. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Tami Luhby of CNN and Shefali Luthra of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the paneli...

Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the public seems more confused than ever. And health officials still are not all on the same page; this week the World Health Organization had to walk back an official’s statement about how commonly the virus is spread by people without symptoms. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Mary Ellen McIntire of...

The outrage over the death of an African American man, George Floyd, after he was restrained and knelt on by Minneapolis police officers has sparked national protests, including in places where the coronavirus is still spreading. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s attempt to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization could have ramifications for Americans. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Poli...

Democrats were not impressed with the Trump administration’s COVID-19 national testing strategy document submitted to Congress this week. They say the pandemic requires more direction from the federal government, while the administration wants to give nearly all the responsibility to the states. Meanwhile, in an effort to shore up his base of senior voters, President Donald Trump has unveiled a pl...

Just about every state is lifting some coronavirus-related restrictions, but it’s unclear how things are really going, considering data on the spread of the virus lags and may not be reliable. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to throw more responsibility for dealing with the pandemic to state and local governments. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Kimberly Leonard of Business I...

House Democrats have unveiled legislation that would effectively double what the federal government has already spent on relief for the COVID-19 pandemic, but Republicans are saying they want to wait before even talking about another bill. Meanwhile, a key Republican senator called the GOP court case challenging the Affordable Care Act “flimsy.” Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Joanne Kenen of Po...