\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 With only a single vote to spare, the House passed a controversial budget bill that includes billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy, along with billions of dollars of cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the food stamp program \u2014 most of which will affect those at the lower end of the income scale. But the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a report from his commission to \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d that described threats to the health of the American public \u2014 but notably included nothing on threats from tobacco, gun violence, or a lack of health insurance.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.<\/p>\n \tAnna Edney \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \tSarah Karlin-Smith \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 passed their \u201cbig, beautiful\u201d bill 215-214 this week, with one Republican critic voting present. But the Senate may have its own \u201cbig, beautiful\u201d rewrite. Some conservative senators who worry about federal debt are concerned that the bill is not fully paid for and would add to the budget deficit. Others, including some red-state Republicans, say the bill\u2019s cuts to Medicaid and food assistance go too far and would hurt low-income Americans. The bill\u2019s cuts would represent the biggest reductions to Medicaid in the program\u2019s 60-year history.<\/p>\n Many of the bill\u2019s Medicaid cuts would come from adding work requirements. Most people receiving Medicaid already work, but such requirements in Arkansas and Georgia showed that people often lose coverage under these rules because they have trouble documenting their work hours, including because of technological problems. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the bill would reduce the number of people with Medicaid by at least 8.6 million over a decade. The requirements also could add a burden for employers. The bill\u2019s work requirements are relatively broad and would affect people who are 19 to 64 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n People whose Medicaid coverage is canceled also would no longer qualify for ACA subsidies for marketplace plans. Medicare also would be affected, because the bill would be expected to trigger an across-the-board sequestration cut.<\/p>\n The bill also would impact abortion by effectively banning it in ACA marketplace plans, which would disrupt a compromise struck in the 2010 law. And the bill would block funding for Planned Parenthood in Medicaid, although that federal money is used for other care such as cancer screenings, not abortions. In the past, the Senate parliamentarian has said that kind of provision is not allowed under budget rules, but some Republicans want to take the unusual step of overruling the parliamentarian.<\/p>\n This week, FDA leaders released covid-19 vaccine recommendations in a medical journal. They plan to limit future access to the vaccines to people 65 and older and others who are at high risk of serious illness if infected, and they want to require manufacturers to do further clinical trials to show whether the vaccines benefit healthy younger people. There are questions about whether this is legal, which products would be affected, when this would take effect, and whether it\u2019s ethical to require these studies.\u00a0<\/p>\n HHS released a report on chronic disease starting in childhood. The report doesn\u2019t include many new findings but is noteworthy in part because of what it doesn\u2019t discuss \u2014 gun violence, the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States; tobacco; the lack of health insurance coverage; and socioeconomic factors that affect access to healthy food.<\/p>\n Also this week, Rovner interviews University of California-Davis School of Law professor and abortion historian Mary Ziegler about her new book on the past and future of the \u201cpersonhood\u201d movement aimed at granting legal rights to fetuses and embryos.<\/p>\n\n Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too:<\/p>\n Julie Rovner: <\/strong>The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cWhite House Officials Wanted To Put Federal Workers \u2018in Trauma.\u2019 It\u2019s Working<\/a>,\u201d by William Wan and Hannah Natanson.<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> NPR\u2019s \u201cDiseases Are Spreading. The CDC Isn\u2019t Warning the Public Like It Was Months Ago<\/a>,\u201d by Chiara Eisner.<\/p>\n Anna Edney:<\/strong> Bloomberg News\u2019 \u201cThe Potential Cancer, Health Risks Lurking in One Popular OTC Drug<\/a>,\u201d by Anna Edney.<\/p>\n Sarah Karlin-Smith:<\/strong> The Farmingdale Observer\u2019s \u201cScientists Have Been Studying Remote Work for Four Years and Have Reached a Very Clear Conclusion: \u2018Working From Home Makes Us Happier,\u2019<\/a>\u201d by Bob Rubila.<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n The New York Times\u2019 \u201cAs Congress Debates Cutting Medicaid, a Major Study Shows It Saves Lives<\/a>,\u201d by Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz.<\/p>\n NBC News\u2019 \u201cGeorgia Mother Says She Is Being Forced To Keep Brain-Dead Pregnant Daughter Alive Under Abortion Ban Law<\/a>,\u201d by Minyvonne Burke.<\/p>\n The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cTrump and GOP\u2019s Tax Bill Would Force Cuts to Medicare, CBO Says<\/a>,\u201d by Jacob Bogage and Abha Bhattarai.<\/p>\n The New England Journal of Medicine\u2019s \u201cAn Evidence-Based Approach to Covid-19 Vaccination<\/a>,\u201d by Vinay Prasad and Martin A. Makary.<\/p>\n \tFrancis Ying \tRebecca Adams 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\t@julierovner.bsky.social\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\tBloomberg News<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@annaedney\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@annaedney.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Anna’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tPink Sheet<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@SarahKarlin\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Sarah’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\t@alicemiranda.bsky.social\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
\n\tAudio producer<\/p>\n
\n\tEditor <\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n