What the Health? From KFF Health News

Health care was a major topic at the Democratic presidential candidate debates in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the focus on plan minutiae may have left viewers more confused than edified. Alice Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Caitlin Owens of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the points made by the candidates, plus a series of Trump administrat...

Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee unveiled their long-awaited proposal to try to rein in prescription drug costs, even as bipartisan leaders of the other Senate committee that oversees health announced it would not bring its drug price bill to the Senate floor until fall. Meanwhile, Congress passed and sent to President Donald Trump legislation to replenish the fund that pa...

Presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled a health plan intended to provide a more moderate alternative to his competitors’ “Medicare for All” plans. It would build on the Affordable Care Act but would go much further. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus Planned Parenthood’s...

Is the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional? That was the question before a federal appeals court in New Orleans this week. Two of the three judges on the panel seemed inclined to agree with a lower court that the elimination of the tax penalty for failure to maintain coverage could mean the entire health law should fall. Also this week, President Donald Trump wants to improve care for peop...

Need to know more about “Medicare for All?” It’s a top issue in the Democratic presidential primary campaign. This holiday week, we are rerunning our explainer on the subject. But first, KHN’s “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner talks to KHN’s Shefali Luthra about how health played out in the first Democratic candidate debates last week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

Democratic presidential candidates disagreed on how to fix health care in their first debate Wednesday, although they all called for boosting insurance coverage and lowering prices. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is keeping health care in the news, too, with a new plan to make medical prices more available to the public. Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Ca...

How big an issue will health really be in the 2020 election? Will the Republicans find their political footing on the issue? In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times report from the Aspen Ideas: Health festival in Aspen, Colo. Joining them are Chris Jennings, who advised Democratic Presiden...

Lawmakers and patients want to eliminate “surprise” out-of-network medical bills. Hospitals, doctors and insurers say they want to eliminate them, too, but their opposition to one another’s proposals could complicate legislative efforts. Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss...

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail federally funded research using fetal tissue, the backlash from former Vice President Joe Biden’s support for the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment and how health policy intersects with both trade and imm...

For our 100th episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Sandhya Ramen of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to take a deep dive into the abortion debate, discussing everything from the latest news to the history of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence as well as how states are trying to further expand or restrict abortion rights and access. Also, Rovner...

Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest Democratic efforts to push “Medicare for All” in the U.S. House. They also review new initiatives to raise the federal minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 and new lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s actions on reproductive...

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the new abortion bans passed in Alabama and Georgia; bipartisan congressional efforts to end “surprise” out-of-network medical bills; and a new public option health insurance plan soon to be available in Washington state. Also, for extra credit, the panel...

Joanne Kenen of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about the Trump administration’s effort to allow health care practitioners and organizations to refuse to provide care or refer patients for services that violate their conscience or religion. Also this week, the administration orders TV ads for...

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Erin Mershon of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest in news about the Trump administration’s effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a historic hearing on “Medicare-for-all” and the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling that the state constitution protects a woman’s right to abortion. Als...

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about women’s reproductive health policy and the latest skirmish in the debate over “Medicare-for-all”: how hospitals should be paid. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they t...

Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to answer listener questions about the fate of the Affordable Care Act, “Medicare-for-all” and how to talk about health care costs. Also, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite “extra credit” stories of the week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest version of a “Medicare-for-all” bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a presidential hopeful, and Democratic and Republican reactions to it. They also discuss the latest on congressional efforts to rein in drug prices and another state e...

Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest “will they or won’t they?” when it comes to Republicans and comprehensive health reform. Also, a wrap-up of the latest abortion fights in the states and on Capitol Hill. And, another court setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the Af...

It’s been a wild week for health policy, mostly because of developments surrounding two different legal cases. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to sort it out with a discussion of a setback for Medicaid work requirements and the Trump administration’s decision to back a lawsuit claiming the en...

Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the efforts to curb “surprise” medical bills to patients who inadvertently get out-of-network care; a look at where the 2020 presidential candidates stand on health; and the Trump administration’s efforts to end HIV in the U.S. Also, Rovner interviews Food and Drug Administratio...

Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Ollstein of Politico and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the suggested cuts to health programs in President Donald Trump’s budget proposal, the latest on lawsuits challenging work requirements for Medicaid enrollees and the FDA’s crackdown on e-cigarettes. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favor...

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the resignation of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the latest on federal and state efforts to shore up the Affordable Care Act; and how public health officials plan to persuade parents who are reluctant to vaccinate their ki...

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the new “Medicare-for-all” bill introduced by House Democrats, the grilling of pharmaceutical company CEOs by a Senate committee and new Trump administration rules that take aim at Planned Parenthood. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s...

Alice Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest national health spending estimates, another FDA crackdown on dietary supplements and lawsuits between insurers and the federal government that could result in a windfall for consumers. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite h...

The “Medicare–for-all” debate is already in full swing, but what does that phrase even mean? Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner for a beginner’s guide to the next big health policy debate. For “extra credit,” the panelists provide their favorite health policy stories of the week, and as a special Vale...