\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 The House GOP\u2019s budget proposal, which narrowly passed on Tuesday, likely would result in major cuts to Medicaid, the health program primarily for those with low incomes or who are disabled, to help pay for tax cuts. That sets up a battle with the Senate, which passed a separate, more modest budget proposal that includes neither tax cuts nor cuts to health programs \u2014 at least not initially.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, federal courts continue to weigh in on whether the Trump administration has the authority to cancel congressionally appropriated funding for federal programs and to summarily dismiss federal workers.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Victoria Knight of Axios.<\/p>\n \tVictoria Knight \t\t\t \t\t\t \tShefali Luthra \t\t\t \t\t\t \tAlice Miranda Ollstein \t\t\t \t\t\t Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n This week the House approved its budget blueprint calling, in part, for its Energy and Commerce Committee members to cut at least $880 billion from the government programs they oversee, which include Medicaid. But the plan also needs Senate approval. The Senate is advancing its own, competing blueprint, and some GOP senators have voiced concerns about the consequences of Medicaid cuts.<\/p>\n In Supreme Court news, a new order from Chief Justice John Roberts allows the Trump administration to continue to freeze foreign aid, at least temporarily. And in an unexpected move, the Trump administration will take the same side as the Biden administration in a case before the court regarding the Affordable Care Act. The case addresses whether the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force may tell insurance companies what medical services must be covered. But the Trump administration is arguing that the head of the Department of Health and Human Services \u2014 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u2014 has authority over the panel and can influence determinations about coverage.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump issued an executive order boosting his first-term efforts to press health providers and insurers to reveal actual prices to patients. Also, in the states, major research universities are bracing for federal funding cuts. And an outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has led to the nation\u2019s first measles death in years \u2014 as Kennedy plays down the outbreak and, separately, says he will examine the childhood vaccination schedule.<\/p>\n Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:<\/p>\n Julie Rovner:<\/strong> WBUR\u2019s \u201cCanceled Meetings and Confusion: NIH Grant Funding in Limbo Despite Court Injunction<\/a>,\u201d by Anna Rubenstein.<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> The Transmitter\u2019s \u201cExclusive: NIH Appears To Archive Policy Requiring Female Animals in Studies<\/a>,\u201d by Claudia L\u00f3pez Lloreda.<\/p>\n Victoria Knight:<\/strong> KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cWith RFK Jr. in Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In<\/a>,\u201d by Arthur Allen.<\/p>\n Shefali Luthra:<\/strong> NBC News\u2019 \u201cThey Were Told To Get Extra Breast Cancer Screenings. Then They Got Stuck With the Bill<\/a>,\u201d by Gretchen Morgenson.<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n One First\u2019s \u201cChief Justice Roberts\u2019 Administrative Stay in the Foreign Aid Funding Cases<\/a>,\u201d by Steve Vladeck.<\/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
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\n\t\t\t\tRead Julie’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\tPanelists\t<\/h3>\n
\n\tAxios<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@victoriaregisk\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Victoria’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tThe 19th<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@shefalil\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Shefali’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\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\t\tCredits\t<\/h3>\n
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