\tJulie Rovner
\n\tKFF Health News<\/p>\n
\t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\tJulie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News\u2019 weekly health policy news podcast, \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book \u201cHealth Care Politics and Policy A to Z,\u201d now in its third edition.\t\t<\/p>\n Confusion continues to reign at the Department of Health and Human Services, where policies seem to be changing at a breakneck pace even before a new secretary or other senior officials are confirmed by the Senate. Some federal grantees report payments are still paused, outside communications are still canceled, and many workers are being threatened with layoffs if they don\u2019t accept a buyout offer that some observers call legally dubious.<\/p>\n \u00a0Meanwhile, that new HHS secretary may soon arrive, given the Senate Finance Committee approved Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s nomination this week on a party-line vote \u2014 including an \u201caye\u201d vote from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor who had strongly condemned Kennedy\u2019s anti-vaccine activism.<\/p>\n \u00a0This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post.<\/p>\n \tAlice Miranda Ollstein \t\t\t \t\t\t \tLauren Weber \t\t\t \t\t\t Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n In Washington, the Trump administration\u2019s federal funding freeze, buyout offers to scores of federal workers, and disabling of federal agency websites have left more questions than answers. A tangle of legal issues and lack of communication have only served to sow confusion around the nation and globe for health providers, researchers, and foreign aid groups \u2014 to name a few.<\/p>\n As the Trump administration runs through many of the disruptive policy changes prescribed last year in the Heritage Foundation\u2019s presidential transition playbook, Project 2025, some people are asking: Where are the Democrats? Lawmakers have taken up mostly individual efforts to question and protest the administration\u2019s changes, but, thus far, Democrats are still pulling together a\u00a0unified approach\u00a0in Washington to counter the Trump administration\u2019s break-it-to-change-it approach.<\/p>\n Faced with threats to crucial federal funding, some in the health industry are falling in line with President Donald Trump\u2019s executive orders even as they\u2019re challenged in the courts. Notably, some hospitals have stopped providing treatment to transgender minors in Democratic-run states such as New York.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a doctor in New York is facing a criminal indictment over providing the abortion pill to a Louisiana patient. The doctor is protected by a state shield law, and the indictment escalates the interstate fight over abortion access. And a Trump order barring federal funding from being used to pay for or \u201cpromote\u201d abortions is not only rolling back Joe Biden-era efforts to protect abortion rights, but also going further than any modern president to restrict abortion \u2014 after Trump repeatedly said on the campaign trail that abortion policy would be left to the states.<\/p>\n Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News\u2019 Julie Appleby, who reported the latest \u201cBill of the Month<\/a>\u201d feature about a young woman, a grandfathered health plan, and a $14,000 IUD. If you have an outrageous or baffling medical bill you\u2019d like to share with us, you can do that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:\u00a0<\/p>\n Julie Rovner:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cHow R.F.K. Jr. and \u2018Medical Freedom\u2019 Rose to Power<\/a>,\u201d on \u201cThe Daily\u201d podcast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lauren Weber:<\/strong> CNN\u2019s \u201cHuman Brain Samples Contain an Entire Spoon\u2019s Worth of Nanoplastics, Study Says<\/a>,\u201d by Sandee LaMotte.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cDid RFK Jr. or Michelle Obama Say It About Food? Take Our Quiz<\/a>,\u201d by Lauren Weber.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cTrump\u2019s Already Gone Back on His Promise To Leave Abortion to States<\/a>,\u201d by Julie Rovner.<\/p>\n STAT\u2019s \u201cRemoval of DEI Content From a Microbiology Group\u2019s Website Shows Reach of Trump Executive Orders<\/a>,\u201d by Usha Lee McFarling.<\/p>\n \tFrancis Ying \tEmmarie Huetteman To hear all our podcasts,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n And subscribe to KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d on\u00a0Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0Pocket Casts<\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@jrovner\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Julie’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\tPanelists\t<\/h3>\n
\n\tPolitico<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@AliceOllstein\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Alice’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tThe Washington Post<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@LaurenWeberHP\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Lauren’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\tCredits\t<\/h3>\n
\n\tAudio producer<\/p>\n
\n\tEditor <\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n