\tJulie Rovner
\n\tKFF Health News<\/p>\n
\t\t\t \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 After all-night markups, two key House committees approved GOP budget legislation that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from federal health programs over the next decade, mostly from the Medicaid program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The legislation is far from a done deal, though, with at least one Republican senator voicing opposition to Medicaid cuts.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office. In sometimes surprisingly combative exchanges with lawmakers in the House and Senate, Kennedy denied cutting programs despite evidence to the contrary and said at one point that he doesn\u2019t think Americans \u201cshould be taking medical advice from me.\u201d<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.<\/p>\n \tJulie Appleby \t\t\t \t\t\t \tJoanne Kenen \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \tAlice Miranda Ollstein \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n House Republicans this week released \u2014 then quickly ushered through committee \u2014 major legislation that would make deep cuts to federal spending while funding President Donald Trump\u2019s domestic priorities, including renewing tax cuts and boosting border security. A preliminary estimate by the Congressional Budget Office found the bill would cut at least $715 billion from federal health spending over 10 years \u2014 with most of that money coming from the Medicaid program.<\/p>\n Overall, the House GOP\u2019s proposal would make it harder to enroll, and stay enrolled, in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage. Among other changes, the bill would impose a requirement that nondisabled adults (with some exceptions) work, volunteer, or study at least 80 hours per month to be eligible for coverage. But Democrats and patient advocates point to evidence that, rather than encouraging employment, such a mandate results in more people losing or dropping coverage under burdensome paperwork requirements.<\/p>\n Republicans also declined to extend the enhanced tax credits introduced during the covid-19 pandemic that help many people afford ACA marketplace coverage. Those tax credits expire at the end of the year, and premiums are expected to balloon, which could prompt many people not to renew their coverage.<\/p>\n And Kennedy\u2019s appearances on Capitol Hill this week provided Congress the first opportunity to question the health secretary since he assumed his post. He was grilled by Democrats about vaccines, congressionally appropriated funds, agency firings, and much more.<\/p>\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 \u201cElizabeth Holmes\u2019s Partner Has a New Blood-Testing Start-Up<\/a>,\u201d by Rob Copeland.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> ProPublica\u2019s \u201cHe Became the Face of Georgia\u2019s Medicaid Work Requirement. Now He\u2019s Fed Up With It.<\/a>\u201d by Margaret Coker, The Current.<\/p>\n Julie Appleby:<\/strong> Scientific American\u2019s \u201cHow Trump\u2019s National Weather Service Cuts Could Cost Lives<\/a>,\u201d by Andrea Thompson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Joanne Kenen:<\/strong> The Atlantic\u2019s \u201cNow Is Not the Time To Eat Bagged Lettuce<\/a>,\u201d by Nicholas Florko.<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n Politico\u2019s \u201c\u2018Rolling Thunder\u2019: Inside Conservatives\u2019 Strategy To Curb Abortion Pill Access<\/a>,\u201d by Alice Miranda Ollstein.<\/p>\n The New York Times\u2019 \u201cJosh Hawley: Don\u2019t Cut Medicaid<\/a>,\u201d by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).<\/p>\n NPR\u2019s \u201cFDA Moves To Ban Fluoride Supplements for Kids, Removing a Key Tool for Dentists<\/a>,\u201d by Pien Huang.<\/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
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