The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Well being Information
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Well being Information’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Well being?” A famous skilled on well being coverage points, Julie is the writer of the critically praised reference e-book “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
The capturing dying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York Metropolis prompted a stunning wave of sympathy for the perpetrator, fairly than the sufferer, from Individuals who say they’ve been wronged by their well being insurers. It stays to be seen whether or not backlash from the killing will lead to a extra critical dialog about what ails the well being care system.
In the meantime, in a few of his first prolonged interviews because the election, President-elect Donald Trump continued to be noncommittal about his plans for well being care usually and the Inexpensive Care Act particularly.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Name.
Panelists
Rachel Cohrs Zhang
Stat Information
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico
Sandhya Raman
CQ Roll Name
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief government has amplified simmering anger and mistrust over the nation’s well being care system. Many individuals are upset about the price of care, limitations of protection, gaps in entry — and far more. Whereas Democratic policymakers have pushed lately to insure as many Individuals as doable, insurance coverage protection is simply a part of the equation in resolving the system’s ills.
- There’s not a lot time left for this Congress. Nonetheless on the agenda is passing funding for some well being priorities. Extending telehealth entry, as an example, is a small however key difficulty for which lawmakers might want to discover cash to offset the price of an costly program. And cultural points proceed to play a job, with the Home passing a protection spending package deal this week that may minimize protection for gender-affirming take care of minor dependents of these within the armed forces.
- And Trump’s current interviews with NBC Information’ “Meet the Press” and Time journal provided little readability on his well being care plans. He referred to creating adjustments to the ACA and never making adjustments to abortion capsule availability — however it’s clear that such points will not be amongst his prime considerations and that insurance policies will rely largely on the personnel inside the well being businesses.
Additionally this week, Rovner interviews Francis Collins, who was the director of the Nationwide Institutes of Well being and a science adviser to President Joe Biden.
Plus, for “additional credit score,” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you must learn, too:
Julie Rovner: KFF’s “Medicare Spending was 27% More for People Who Disenrolled From Medicare Advantage Than for Similar People in Traditional Medicare,” by Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Alex Cottrill, Nolan Sroczynski, and Tricia Neuman.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: CNN’s “Most Women in the US Aren’t Accessing Family Planning Services, Even as Abortion Restrictions Grow,” by Deidre McPhillips.
Sandhya Raman: Stat’s “Spending Less, Living Longer: What the U.S. Can Learn From Portugal’s Innovative Health System,” by Usha Lee McFarling.
Rachel Cohrs Zhang: ProPublica’s “‘Eat What You Kill,’” by J. David McSwane.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
Credit
Taylor Prepare dinner
Audio producer
Lonnie Ro
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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KFF Health News is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points and is without doubt one of the core working packages at KFF—an unbiased supply of well being coverage analysis, polling, and journalism. Be taught extra about KFF.
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