The polarizing abortion issue threatens to tie up Congress, the Supreme Court and the states for the coming year. Meanwhile, Congress kicks the can down the road to December on settling its spending priorities.

Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Aneri Pattani, who delivered the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a covid-19 test that cost as much as a luxury car.

Extra credit links:

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “A ‘Historic Event’: First Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O.,” by Apoorva Mandavilli

Joanne Kenen: Vox.com’s “Why Merck’s Covid-19 Pill Molnupiravir Could Be So Important,” by Umair Irfan

Yasmeen Abutaleb: The Wall Street Journal’s “Why It’s So Hard to Find a Therapist Who Takes Insurance,” by Andrea Petersen

Sarah Karlin-Smith: The Washington Post’s “70 Years Ago, Henrietta Lacks’s Cells Were Taken Without Her Consent. Now, Her Family Wants Justice,” by Emily Davies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.