\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 The Supreme Court this week ruled in favor of Tennessee\u2019s law banning most gender-affirming care for minors \u2014 a law similar to those in two dozen other states.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Senate is still hoping to complete work on its version of President Donald Trump\u2019s huge budget reconciliation bill before the July Fourth break. But deeper cuts to the Medicaid program than those included in the House-passed bill could prove difficult to swallow for moderate senators.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Victoria Knight of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call.<\/p>\n \tVictoria Knight \t\t\t \t\t\t \tAlice Miranda Ollstein \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \tSandhya Raman \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on gender-affirming care for transgender minors was relatively limited in its scope. The majority did not address the broader question about whether transgender individuals are protected under federal anti-discrimination laws and, as with the court\u2019s decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, left states the power to determine what care trans youths may receive.<\/p>\n The Senate GOP unveiled its version of the budget reconciliation bill this week. Defying expectations that senators would soften the bill\u2019s impact on health care, the proposal would make deeper cuts to Medicaid, largely at the expense of hospitals and other providers. Republican senators say those cuts would allow them more flexibility to renew and extend many of Trump\u2019s tax cuts.<\/p>\n The Medicare trustees are out this week with a new forecast for the program that covers primarily those over age 65, predicting insolvency by 2033 \u2014 even sooner than expected. There was bipartisan support for including a crackdown on a provider practice known as upcoding in the reconciliation bill, a move that could have saved a bundle in government spending. But no substantive cuts to Medicare spending ultimately made it into the legislation.<\/p>\n With the third anniversary of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em> approaching, the movement to end abortion has largely coalesced around one goal: stopping people from accessing the abortion pill mifepristone.<\/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 \u201cThe Bureaucrat and the Billionaire: Inside DOGE\u2019s Chaotic Takeover of Social Security<\/a>,\u201d by Alexandra Berzon, Nicholas Nehamas, and Tara Siegel Bernard.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Victoria Knight:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cThey Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling<\/a>,\u201d by Kashmir Hill.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> Wired\u2019s \u201cWhat Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets Do to the Human Body<\/a>,\u201d by Emily Mullin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sandhya Raman:<\/strong> North Carolina Health News\u2019 \u201cAmbulance Companies Collect Millions by Seizing Wages, State Tax Refunds<\/a>,\u201d by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n KFF\u2019s \u201cKFF Health Tracking Poll: Views of the One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a>,\u201d by Ashley Kirzinger, Lunna Lopes, Marley Presiado, Julian Montalvo III, and Mollyann Brodie.<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 \u201cTrump Administration Gives Personal Data of Immigrant Medicaid Enrollees to Deportation Officials<\/a>,\u201d by Kimberly Kindy and Amanda Seitz.<\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s \u201cVA Hospitals Remove Politics and Marital Status From Guidelines Protecting Patients From Discrimination<\/a>,\u201d by Aaron Glantz.<\/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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