The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Health News
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Health?” A famous skilled on well being coverage points, Julie is the creator of the critically praised reference ebook “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third version.
The partisan struggle in Congress over find out how to increase the nation’s debt ceiling to forestall a default has accelerated, because the U.S. Treasury predicted the borrowing restrict might be reached as quickly as June 1. On the desk, doubtlessly, are giant cuts to federal spending applications, together with main well being applications.
Meanwhile, legislators in two conservative states, South Carolina and Nebraska, narrowly declined to move very strict abortion bans, as some Republicans are apparently getting chilly toes concerning the impression on look after pregnant girls of their states.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
Panelists
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico
Rachel Cohrs
Stat News
Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico
Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:
- The United States is approaching its debt restrict — a lot prior to anticipated. And it’s unclear how, or if, lawmakers can resolve their variations over the finances earlier than the nation defaults on its money owed. Details of the rapidly constructed House Republican proposal are coming to gentle, together with apparently inadvertent potential cuts to veterans’ advantages and an absence of exemptions defending those that are disabled from shedding Medicaid and diet advantages below proposed work necessities.
- A seemingly routine markup of a key Senate drug pricing bundle devolved this week because it turned clear the committee’s management group, below Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), had not accomplished its due diligence to make sure members have been knowledgeable and on board with the laws. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee plans to revisit the bundle subsequent week, hoping to ship it to the total Senate for a vote.
- In extra abortion information, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have agreed on a brand new, 12-week ban, which might additional lower already bare-bones entry to the process within the South. And federal investigations into two hospitals that refused emergency care to a pregnant girl in misery are elevating the prospect of yet one more abortion-related showdown over states’ rights earlier than the Supreme Court.
- The variety of deaths from covid-19 continues to dwindle. The public well being emergency expires subsequent week, and masks mandates are being dropped by well being care services. There proceed to be points tallying circumstances and guiding prevention efforts. What’s clear is the coronavirus is just not now and should by no means be gone, however issues are getting higher from a public well being standpoint.
- The surgeon normal has issued suggestions to fight the rising public well being disaster of loneliness. Structural issues that contribute, like the dearth of paid go away and few communal gathering areas, could also be ripe for presidency intervention. But whereas well being specialists body loneliness as a societal-level downside, the federal authorities’s recommendation largely targets particular person behaviors.
Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week they assume it is best to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: The Washington Post’s “Dog-Walking Injuries May Be More Common Than You Think,” by Lindsey Bever.
Joanne Kenen: The Atlantic’s “There Is No Stopping the Allergy Apocalypse,” by Yasmin Tayag.
Rachel Cohrs: ProfessionalPublica’s “This Pharmacist Said Prisoners Wouldn’t Feel Pain During Lethal Injection. Then Some Shook and Gasped for Air,” by Lauren Gill and Daniel Moritz-Rabson.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Wall Street Journal’s “Patients Lose Access to Free Medicines Amid Spat Between Drugmakers, Health Plans,” by Peter Loftus and Joseph Walker.
Also talked about on this week’s episode:
Credits
Francis Ying
Audio producer
Emmarie Huetteman
Editor
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