\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 Senate has passed \u2014 and sent back to the House \u2014 a bill that would allow the Trump administration to claw back some $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. But first, senators removed from the bill a request to cut funding for the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, President George W. Bush\u2019s international AIDS\/HIV program. The House has until Friday to approve the bill, or else the funding remains in place.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone despite its approval by the Food and Drug Administration. If the ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court, it could allow states to limit access to other FDA-approved drugs.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call.<\/p>\n \tJoanne Kenen \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t \tShefali Luthra \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 Senate approved the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, a remarkable yielding of congressional spending power to the president. Before the vote, Senate GOP leaders removed President Donald Trump\u2019s request to cut PEPFAR, sparing the funding for that global health effort, which has support from both parties.<\/p>\n Next Congress will need to pass annual appropriations bills to keep the government funded, but that is expected to be a bigger challenge than the recent spending fights. Appropriations bills need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, meaning Republican leaders will have to make bipartisan compromises. House leaders are already delaying health spending bills until the fall, saying they need more time to work out deals \u2014 and those bills tend to attract culture-war issues that make it difficult to negotiate across the aisle.<\/p>\n The Trump administration is planning to destroy \u2014 rather than distribute \u2014 food, medical supplies, contraceptives, and other items intended for foreign aid. The plan follows the removal of workers and dismantling of aid infrastructure around the world, but the waste of needed goods the U.S. government has already purchased is expected to further erode global trust.<\/p>\n And soon after the passage of Trump\u2019s tax and spending law, at least one Republican is proposing to reverse the cuts the party approved to health programs \u2014 specifically Medicaid. It\u2019s hardly the first time lawmakers have tried to change course on their own policies, though time will tell whether it\u2019s enough to mitigate any political (or actual) damage from the law.<\/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 \u201cUnitedHealth\u2019s Campaign to Quiet Critics<\/a>,\u201d by David Enrich.<\/p>\n Joanne Kenen:<\/strong> The New Yorker\u2019s \u201cCan A.I. Find Cures for Untreatable Diseases \u2014 Using Drugs We Already Have?<\/a>\u201d by Dhruv Khullar.<\/p>\n Shefali Luthra:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cTrump Official Accused PEPFAR of Funding Abortions in Russia. It Wasn\u2019t True<\/a>,\u201d by Apoorva Mandavilli.<\/p>\n Sandhya Raman:<\/strong> The Nation\u2019s \u201c\u2018We\u2019re Creating Miscarriages With Medicine\u2019: Abortion Lessons from Sweden<\/a>,\u201d by Cecilia Nowell.<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n The Atlantic\u2019s \u201cThe Trump Administration Is About To Incinerate 500 Tons of Emergency Food<\/a>,\u201d by Hana Kiros.<\/p>\n KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cVested Interests. Influence Muscle. At RFK Jr.\u2019s HHS, It\u2019s Not Pharma. It\u2019s Wellness<\/a>,\u201d by Stephanie Armour.<\/p>\n The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cA Clinic Blames Its Closing on Trump\u2019s Medicaid Cuts. Patients Don\u2019t Buy It<\/a>,\u201d by Hannah Knowles.<\/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\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\tJohns Hopkins University and Politico<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@JoanneKenen\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@joannekenen.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Joanne’s bio.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tThe 19th<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@shefali.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Shefali’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tCQ Roll Call<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@SandhyaWrites\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t@SandhyaWrites.bsky.social\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRead Sandhya’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\tCredits\t<\/h3>\n
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