The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner @julierovner.bsky.social Read Julie’s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A…
In a recent Meet the Press appearance, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) joined a growing number of Republicans who are speaking out against Obamacare. One of his lines of attack: that the Affordable Care Act fueled health care consolidation. “What Democrats did 15 years ago was they radically changed all health care in America. They moved…
LISTEN: “People get better care when we know who they are.” That belief is at the heart of why scientists and LGBTQ+ health advocates oppose a new rule that makes it harder to collect data on trans patients with cancer. KFF Health News correspondent Rachana Pradhan appeared on WAMU’s Health Hub on Dec. 10 about…
In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.” Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable help from her husband, Dennis, who…
Republicans are pushing for increased use of high deductible health plans (HDHP). HDHPs have increased over time, from 29% of all employer health plans in 2021 to 33% of all employer health plans in 2025. One country that has successfully used HDHP is Singapore. A 2020 Commonweath Fund Report summarizes 3 components of the Singapore’s…
Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. Now the 52-year-old is struggling with his health problems while facing large premium bills he says he shouldn’t owe. The third time, he sought help from an insurance agent, who got Jones on the phone…
John Weiser, a doctor and researcher, has treated people with HIV since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. He joined the CDC’s HIV prevention team in 2011 to help lead its Medical Monitoring Project, the only in-depth survey of HIV across the United States. The project has shaped the country’s response to…
Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit. Hunt died five days later. Her death certificate said the foot injury…
David Garza sometimes feels as if he doesn’t have health insurance now that he pays so much to treat his Type 2 diabetes. His monthly premium payment of $435 for family coverage is roughly the same as the insurance at his previous job. But the policy at his current job carries an annual deductible of…
Sarah Monroe once had a relatively comfortable middle-class life. She and her family lived in a neatly landscaped neighborhood near Cleveland. They had a six-figure income and health insurance. Then, four years ago, when Monroe was pregnant with twin girls, something started to feel off. “I kept having to come into the emergency room for…