The Host
Julie Rovner
KHN
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KHN’s 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.
With Medicare and Social Safety apparently off the desk for federal finances cuts, the main target has turned to Medicaid, the federal-state well being program for these with low incomes. President Joe Biden has made it clear he needs to guard this system, together with the Reasonably priced Care Act, however Republicans will seemingly suggest cuts to each once they current a proposed finances within the subsequent a number of weeks.
In the meantime, confusion over abortion restrictions continues, notably on the FDA. One lawsuit in Texas requires a federal decide to quickly halt distribution of the abortion tablet mifepristone. A separate go well with, although, asks a distinct federal decide to quickly make the drug simpler to get, by eradicating a number of the FDA’s security restrictions.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Well being Information, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of STAT Information, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Submit.
Panelists
Rachel Cohrs
Stat Information
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico
Lauren Weber
The Washington Submit
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- States are working to assessment Medicaid eligibility for hundreds of thousands of individuals as pandemic-era protection guidelines lapse on the finish of March, amid fears that many Individuals kicked off Medicaid who’re eligible free of charge or near-free protection underneath the ACA gained’t know their choices and can go uninsured.
- Biden promised this week to cease Republicans from “gutting” Medicaid and the ACA. However not all Republicans are on board with cuts to Medicaid. Between the get together’s slender majority within the Home and the truth that Medicaid pays for nursing properties for a lot of seniors, reducing this system is a politically dicey transfer.
- A nationwide group that pushed the usage of ivermectin to deal with covid-19 is now hyping the drug as a therapy for flu and RSV — regardless of an absence of medical proof to assist their claims that it’s efficient towards any of these diseases. Nonetheless, there’s a motion of individuals, a lot of them docs, who imagine ivermectin works.
- In reproductive well being information, a federal decide just lately dominated {that a} Texas regulation can’t be used to prosecute teams that assist girls journey out of state to acquire abortions. And the abortion challenge has highlighted the function of attorneys normal across the nation — politicizing a previously nonpartisan state publish. –And Eli Lilly introduced plans to chop the worth of some insulin merchandise and cap out-of-pocket prices, although their causes will not be utterly altruistic: An skilled identified {that a} change to Medicaid rebates subsequent 12 months means drugmakers quickly must pay the federal government each time a affected person fills a prescription for insulin, that means Eli Lilly’s plan may save the corporate cash.
Plus, for “additional credit score,” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they suppose it’s best to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: The New York Instances’ “A Drug Firm Exploited a Security Requirement to Make Cash,” by Rebecca Robbins.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Instances’ “Alone and Exploited, Migrant Youngsters Work Brutal Jobs Throughout the U.S.,” by Hannah Dreier.
Rachel Cohrs: STAT Information’ “Nonprofit Hospitals Are Failing Individuals. Their Boards Might Be a Cause Why,” by Sanjay Kishore and Suhas Gondi.
Lauren Weber: KHN and CBS Information’ “This Dental Machine Was Offered to Repair Sufferers’ Jaws. Lawsuits Declare It Wrecked Their Tooth,” by Brett Kelman and Anna Werner.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
Credit
Francis Ying
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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KHN (Kaiser Well being Information) is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points. Along with Coverage Evaluation and Polling, KHN is without doubt one of the three main working applications at KFF (Kaiser Household Basis). KFF is an endowed nonprofit group offering info on well being points to the nation.
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