KFF Health News' 'What the Health?'

The unprecedented early leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling Roe v. Wade has heated the national abortion debate to boiling. Meanwhile, the FDA, after years of consideration, moves to ban menthol flavors in cigarettes and cigars. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Shefali Luthra of the 19th, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a family whose medical debt drove them to seek care south of the border.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too:

Julie Rovner: Mother Jones’ “Meet Abortion Bans’ New Best Friend — Your Phone,” by Lil Kalish.

Joanne Kenen: Stat’s “A Clash Over Online Adderall Prescriptions Is Raising New Questions About Telehealth,” by Mohana Ravindranath.

Jessie Hellmann: Politico’s “Oregon, Kentucky Dust Off an Obama-Era Policy to Expand Health Insurance,” by Megan Messerly.

Shefali Luthra: The 19th’s “Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Argued Abortion Isn’t an Economic Issue. But Is That True?” by Chabeli Carrazana.

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom seem to want to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror.

Meanwhile, the fallout over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion continues even as the Senate fails — again — to muster the votes to write abortion rights into law.

Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Julie Rovner: KHN’s “Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry,” by Hannah Norman

Joanne Kenen: Politico Magazine’s “How One Clinic in Texas Explains the Threat to Contraception,” by Joanne Kenen and Alice Miranda Ollstein

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “’It’s a Tsunami’: Legal Challenges Threatening Public Health Policy,” by Krista Mahr

Sandhya Raman: CQ Roll Call’s “End of COVID-19 Emergency Endangers Substance Use Treatment,” by Jessie Hellmann

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19 pandemic but may no longer meet the income or other requirements. As many as 15 million people could lose health coverage as a result.

Meanwhile, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to stay solvent until 2031, its trustees reported, taking some pressure off of lawmakers to finally fix that program’s underlying financial weaknesses.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews Daniel Chang, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature about a child not yet old enough for kindergarten whose medical bill landed him in collections.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: New York Magazine’s “The Shared Anti-Trans and Anti-Abortion Playbook,” by Irin Carmon.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Los Angeles Times’ “Horrifying Stories of Women Chased Down by the LAPD Abortion Squad Before Roe vs. Wade,” by Brittny Mejia.

Rachel Roubein: KHN’s “‘Hard to Get Sober Young’: Inside One of the Country’s Few Recovery High Schools,” by Stephanie Daniel of KUNC.

Amy Goldstein: The Washington Post’s “After Decades Under a Virus’s Shadow, He Now Lives Free of HIV,” by Mark Johnson.

Visit our website to read the transcript.

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President-elect Donald Trump has made his choices to fill some top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. They include controversial figures who were vocal critics of the Biden administration’s handling of the covid pandemic and have proposed sweeping changes to the agencies they would lead. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard its first two health-related cases of the term, challenging a Tennessee law barring transgender medical care for minors and, separately, challenging the FDA’s handling of e-cigarettes.

Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University and Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post Well+Being “Bill of the Month” feature, about an emergency room bill for a visit that didn’t get past the waiting room.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The New Yorker’s “The Texas OB-GYN Exodus,” by Stephania Taladrid.

Shefali Luthra: The Washington Post’s “Post Reports” podcast’s “A Trans Teen Takes Her Case to the Supreme Court,” by Casey Parks, Emma Talkoff, Ariel Plotnick, and Bishop Sand.

Joanne Kenen: ProPublica’s “For Decades, Calls for Reform to Idaho’s Troubled Coroner System Have Gone Unanswered,” by Audrey Dutton.

Sarah Karlin-Smith: Stat’s “What YouTube Health Is Doing To Combat Misinformation and Promote Evidence-Based Content,” by Nicholas St. Fleur.

Click here to find a transcript of the episode.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.