\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 Just days after his firing of the brand-new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a defiant Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, defended that action and others before a sometimes skeptical Senate Finance Committee. Criticism of Kennedy\u2019s increasingly anti-vaccine actions came not just from Democrats on the panel but from some Republicans who are also medical doctors.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, members of Congress have only a few weeks left to complete work on spending bills or risk a government shutdown, and time is also running out to head off the large increases in premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans likely to occur with additional Biden-era government subsidies set to expire.<\/p>\n This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.<\/p>\n \tJessie Hellmann \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 The FDA approved this year\u2019s covid booster for people older than 65 and for younger people with serious illnesses. Previously, it had been recommended more broadly. All eyes will now turn to the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is scheduled to meet Sept. 18. Usually this panel would endorse these recommendations and perhaps offer more guidance on the booster\u2019s use for specific populations. But it is not clear whether it will do so \u2014 or whether it might even impose more limitations.<\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and the subsequent resignation of multiple senior scientists is raising questions about the agency\u2019s future. Many staffers who were already on the fence about staying now are increasingly likely to leave. Many of these career scientists associate Kennedy\u2019s history of harsh criticisms of public health workers with the recent CDC shooting in Atlanta. But since the shooting, Kennedy seems to have doubled down on his position.<\/p>\n At the hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, even those Republicans who were critical of Kennedy were careful not to criticize President Donald Trump. There\u2019s some speculation that this duality is meant to drive a wedge between Kennedy and the White House, and to communicate that the HHS secretary could be politically damaging.<\/p>\n With vaccine policy in flux, red and blue states alike seem to be doing their own thing. Some, like California, Oregon, and Washington \u2014 which formed what they\u2019re calling the West Coast Health Alliance \u2014 appear to be taking steps to protect access to vaccines. Red states could move in the other direction. For instance, this week, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced an effort to undo all statewide vaccine mandates, including those that require certain vaccines for children to attend school. If more states follow suit, it could lead to a geographic patchwork in which vaccine availability and requirements vary widely.<\/p>\n This month is lawmakers\u2019 last chance to reup the federal ACA tax subsidies. If Congress doesn\u2019t act to extend them, an estimated 24 million people \u2014 many of whom live in GOP-controlled states like Georgia and Florida \u2014 will see significant increases in their health insurance premium costs. There\u2019s some talk that Congress could opt for a short-term or limited extension that would postpone the pocketbook impact until after the midterm elections. But insurers are already factoring in the uncertainty as they set rates for the upcoming plan year.<\/p>\n The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a Medicare pilot program beginning next year that will use artificial intelligence to grant prior authorization decisions for certain procedures. There is irony here. United Healthcare and other private plans have already gotten into a lot of trouble for doing this, with AI systems often denying needed care.<\/p>\n Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News\u2019s Tony Leys, who discusses his \u201cBill of the Month\u201d report about a woman\u2019s unfortunate interaction with a bat \u2014 and her even more unfortunate interaction with the bill for her rabies prevention treatment.<\/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> ProPublica\u2019s \u201cGutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies<\/a>,\u201d by Brandon Roberts, Annie Waldman, and Pratheek Rebala.<\/p>\n Jessie Hellmann:<\/strong> KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cWhen Hospitals and Insurers Fight, Patients Get Caught in the Middle<\/a>,\u201d by Bram Sable-Smith.<\/p>\n Sarah Karlin-Smith:<\/strong> NPR\u2019s \u201cLeniency on Lice in Schools Meets Reality<\/a>,\u201d by Blake Farmer.<\/p>\n Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> Vox\u2019s \u201cExclusive: RFK Jr. and the White House Buried a Major Study on Alcohol and Cancer. Here\u2019s What It Shows<\/a>,\u201d by Dylan Scott.<\/p>\n Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n The Washington Post\u2019s \u201cFlorida Moves To End All School Vaccine Mandates, First in Nation To Do So<\/a>,\u201d by David Ovalle and Lori Rozsa.<\/p>\n The 19th\u2019s \u201cTexas Passes Bill Banning Abortion Pills From Being Mailed to the State<\/a>,\u201d by Shefali Luthra.<\/p>\n The New York Times\u2019 \u201cMedicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures<\/a>,\u201d by Reed Abelson and Teddy Rosenbluth.<\/p>\n \tFrancis Ying \tStephanie Stapleton 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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