The host
Julie Rovner KFF Well being Information @jrovner
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 professional on well being coverage points, Julie is the creator of the critically praised reference guide “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.
The brand new, GOP-led, 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump have large legislative plans for the 12 months — which principally do not embody well being coverage. However well being is prone to play an essential supporting function in efforts to resume tax cuts, revise immigration insurance policies, and alter commerce — if solely to assist pay for some Republican initiatives.
In the meantime, the outgoing Biden administration is racing to complete its well being coverage to-do listing, together with finalizing a coverage that bars credit score bureaus from together with medical debt on people’ credit score reviews.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Publish.
Panelists
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
- The 119th Congress is now in session. Well being care would not make the listing of priorities as lawmakers lay the desk for the incoming Trump administration — although Republicans have floated Medicaid work necessities to chop federal spending.
- Plenty of well being laws hit the cutting-room ground in December, together with a bipartisan proposal concentrating on pharmacy profit managers — which might have saved the federal authorities and sufferers billions of {dollars}. And talking of bipartisan efforts, a congressional report from the Senate Price range Committee provides to proof that non-public fairness involvement in care is related to worse outcomes for sufferers — notably, lawmakers’ constituents.
- Because the nation bids a closing farewell to former President Jimmy Carter, his international well being work, particularly, is being celebrated — particularly his efforts to eradicate such devastating illnesses as Guinea worm illness and river blindness.
- In the meantime, the Biden administration finalized the rule barring medical debt from showing on credit score reviews. The surgeon normal cautions that alcohol ought to include warning labels noting most cancers danger. And the brand new Senate Republican chief is elevating abortion-related laws to require lifesaving look after all infants born alive — but these protections exist already.
Plus, for “further credit score,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week that they suppose you must learn, too:
Julie Rovner: The Wall Road Journal’s “UnitedHealth’s Military of Docs Helped It Accumulate Billions Extra From Medicare,” by Christopher Weaver, Anna Wilde Mathews, and Tom McGinty.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Occasions’ “Ozempic, Lego Bricks and Listening to Aids: What Trump’s Greenland Plan May Hit,” by Ana Swanson and Jenny Gross.
Shefali Luthra: Vox.com’s “Gigantic SUVs Are a Public Well being Risk. Why Do not We Deal with Them Like One?” by David Zipper.
Lauren Weber: The Washington Publish’s “Legal guidelines Prohibit U.S. Delivery of Vape Merchandise. Many Firms Do It Anyway,” by David Ovalle and Rachel Roubein.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
The Senate Price range Committee’s “Earnings Over Sufferers: The Dangerous Results of Personal Fairness on the U.S. Well being Care System.”
Credit
- Taylor Cook dinner Audio producer
- Lonnie Ro Audio producer
- Emmarie Huetteman Editor
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