KFF Health News' 'What the Health?'

By KFF Health News

What's KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' about?

Join Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, along with top health policy reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico and other media outlets to discuss the latest news and explain what the health is going on here in Washington, D.C. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' episodes:

04.18.2024
Too Big To Fail? Now, It’s Too Big To Hack
Congress this week had the chance to formally air grievances over the cascading consequences of the Change Healthcare cyberattack, and lawmakers from both major parties agreed on one culprit: consolidation in health care. Plus, about a year after states began...
04.11.2024
Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access
A week after the Florida Supreme Court said the state could enforce an abortion ban passed in 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that state could enforce a near-total ban passed in 1864 — over a half-century before Arizona became...
04.04.2024
Florida Limits Abortion — For Now
The Florida Supreme Court handed down dual abortion rulings this week. One said voters will be allowed to decide in November whether to create a state right to abortion. The other ruling, though, allows a 15-week ban to take effect...
03.28.2024
The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill
The Supreme Court this week heard its first abortion case since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, about an appeals court ruling that would dramatically restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone. But while it seems likely that this...
03.21.2024
The ACA Turns 14
Saturday marks the 14th anniversary of the still somewhat embattled Affordable Care Act. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joins host Julie Rovner to discuss the accomplishments of the health law — and the challenges it still faces. Also this...
03.14.2024
Maybe It’s a Health Care Election After All
Health care wasn’t expected to be a major theme for this year’s elections. But as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secured their respective party nominations this week, the future of both Medicare and the Affordable Care Act...
03.07.2024
The State of the Union Is ... Busy
At last, Congress is getting half of its annual spending bills across the finish line, albeit five months after the start of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden delivers his annual State of the Union address, an over-the-counter birth...
02.29.2024
Alabama’s IVF Ruling Still Making Waves
Lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are scrambling to react to the ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization are legally children. Abortion opponents are divided among themselves, with some supporting full “personhood”...
02.22.2024
Alabama Court Rules Embryos Are Children. What Now?
In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court has determined that embryos created for in vitro fertilization procedures are legally people. The decision has touched off massive confusion about potential ramifications, and the University of Alabama-Birmingham has paused its IVF...
02.15.2024
Biden Wins Early Court Test for Medicare Drug Negotiations
A federal district court judge dismissed a lawsuit attempting to invalidate the Biden administration’s Medicare prescription-drug price negotiation program. But the suit turned on a technicality, and several more court challenges are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, health policy pops up in...
02.08.2024
To End School Shootings, Activists Consider a New Culprit: Parents
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent of a school shooter of charges related to the child’s crime, finding a mother in Michigan guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly opening a new legal avenue for gun control...
02.01.2024
The Struggle Over Who Gets the Last Word
As science skepticism pervades politics, the Supreme Court will soon consider two cases that seek to define the power of “experts.” Meanwhile, abortion opponents are laying out plans for how Donald Trump, if reelected as president, could effectively curtail abortion...
01.25.2024
Health Enters the Presidential Race
New Hampshire voters have spoken, and it seems increasingly clear that this November’s election will pit President Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump. Both appear to be making health a key part of their campaigns, with Trump vowing (again)...
01.18.2024
The Supreme Court vs. the Bureaucracy
The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in a case that could radically alter the way federal agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services — administer laws passed by Congress. A decision in the case is...
01.11.2024
All About the (Government) Funding
With days to go until a large chunk of the federal government runs out of money needed to keep it operating, Congress is still struggling to find a compromise spending plan. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed to hear — this...
01.04.2024
New Year, Same Abortion Debate
Some Supreme Court justices were wrong if they assumed overturning Roe v. Wade would settle the abortion issue before the high court. At least two cases are awaiting consideration, and more are in the legal pipeline. Meanwhile, Congress once again...
12.21.2023
2023 Is a Wrap
2023 was another busy year in health care. As the covid-19 pandemic waned, policymakers looked anew at long-standing obstacles to obtaining and paying for care in the nation’s health care system. Meanwhile, abortion has continued to be an issue in much of the nation,...
12.14.2023
Abortion and SCOTUS, Together Again
The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear its first major case on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade — one that could restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, even in states where abortion remains legal. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers in...
12.07.2023
Democrats See Opportunity in GOP Threats to Repeal Health Law
Sensing that Republicans are walking into a political minefield by threatening once again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration is looking to capitalize by rolling out a series of initiatives aimed at high drug prices and other...
12.01.2023
Trump Puts Obamacare Repeal Back on Agenda
Although Republicans have never united behind a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, 2024 GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said this week he wants to put the issue back on the national agenda. That delights Democrats, who have won at least two elections partly by...
11.16.2023
Congress Kicks the (Budget) Can Down the Road. Again.
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in six weeks, as Democrats came to the rescue of divided House Republicans over annual spending bills that were supposed to be finished by Oct. 1. But the brinksmanship...
11.09.2023
A Very Good Night for Abortion Rights Backers
Abortion rights backers won major victories in at least five states in the 2023 off-year elections Nov. 7, proving the staying power of abortion as a political issue in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade....
11.02.2023
For ACA Plans, It’s Time to Shop Around
It’s Obamacare open enrollment season, which means that, for people who rely on these plans for coverage, it’s time to shop around. With enhanced premium subsidies and cost-sharing assistance, consumers may find savings by switching plans. It is especially important...
10.26.2023
The New Speaker’s (Limited) Record on Health
The House finally has a new speaker: Mike Johnson (R-La). He’s a relative newcomer who’s been a lower-level member of the House GOP leadership. And while he’s an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, his record on other health...
10.19.2023
The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large — often too large to be navigated easily alone....
10.12.2023
Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress
A bitterly divided Congress managed to keep the federal government running for several more weeks, while House Republicans struggle — again — to choose a leader. Meanwhile, many people removed from state Medicaid rolls are not finding their way to Affordable Care Act insurance,...
10.05.2023
An Encore: 3 HHS Secretaries Reveal What the Job Is Really Like
In this special encore episode, KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” asks three people who have served as the nation’s top health official: What does a day in the life of the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services look...
09.27.2023
More Medicaid Messiness
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It’s just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the...
09.21.2023
Countdown to Shutdown
Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President...
09.14.2023
Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn’t much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue...
09.07.2023
Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile,...
08.31.2023
3 Health Policy Experts You Should Know
In this special episode, host Julie Rovner, KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, interviews three noted health policy experts. Amy Finkelstein is a health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of “We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American...
08.24.2023
A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump — and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for...
08.17.2023
Abortion Pill’s Legal Limbo Continues
A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market — rejecting a lower court’s decision to effectively cancel the drug’s FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug...
08.10.2023
On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas
Nearly a year to the day after Kansas voters surprised the nation by defeating an anti-abortion ballot question, Ohio voters defeated a similar, if cagier, effort to limit access in that state. This week, they rejected an effort to raise the threshold for approval...
08.03.2023
Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.
Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers won’t have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing...
07.27.2023
Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’
President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits betweenmental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne...
07.20.2023
Let’s Talk About the Weather
It’s been the summer of broken weather records around the world — for heat, rain, and wildfire smoke — advertising the risks of climate change in a big way. But, apparently, it’s not enough to break the logjam in Washington over how to address the growing climate crisis. Meanwhile,...
07.13.2023
The Long Road to Reining in Short-Term Plans
President Joe Biden made good on a campaign promise this week with a proposal to limit short-term health plans that boast low premiums but few benefits. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action programs could set back efforts to diversify the nation’s medical...
06.29.2023
A Year Without Roe
It’s been a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and, with it, the nationwide right to abortion. The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization set off widespread uncertainty in government and the courts about the legality or illegality of...
06.22.2023
Live from Aspen: Three HHS Secretaries on What the Job Is Really Like
What does a day in the life of the nation’s top health official really look like? And how much of their agenda is set by the White House? In this special episode of KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” —...
06.15.2023
Slow Your Disenroll
More than a million Americans have lost Medicaid coverage since pandemic protections ended. The Biden administration is asking states to slow disenrollment, but that does not mean states must listen. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court decision gives Medicaid beneficiaries the right...
06.08.2023
Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to...
06.01.2023
Our 300th Episode!
When KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” podcast launched in 2017, Republicans in Washington were engaged in an (ultimately unsuccessful) campaign to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. The next six years would see a pandemic, increasingly unaffordable care,...
05.25.2023
When an Anti-Vaccine Activist Runs for President
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s official entry into the presidential race poses a thorny challenge for journalists: how to cover a candidate who’s opposed to vaccines without amplifying misinformation. And South Carolina becomes the latest state in the South to ban...
05.18.2023
The Abortion Pill Goes Back to Court
A three-judge appeals court panel heard testimony this week about revoking the FDA’s 22-year-old approval of a key pill used in medication abortion and miscarriage management. The judges all have track records of siding with abortion foes. Meanwhile, as the standoff...
05.11.2023
The Crisis Is Ending, but Covid Confusion Lives On
The public health emergency declaration for covid-19 ends May 11, ushering in major changes in how Americans can access and pay for the vaccines, treatments, and tests particular to the culprit coronavirus. But not everyone will experience the same changes,...
05.04.2023
Health Programs at Risk as Debt Ceiling Cave-In Looms
A warning from the Treasury Department that the U.S. could default on its debt as soon as June 1 has galvanized lawmakers to intervene. But there is still no obvious way to reconcile Republican demands to slash federal spending with...
04.27.2023
Dancing Under the Debt Ceiling
House Republicans passed their plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, along with major cuts to health (and other domestic) programs. Unlikely to become law, it calls for new work requirements for adults on Medicaid. Meanwhile, state efforts targeting trans...
04.20.2023
Will They or Won’t They (Block the Abortion Pill)?
The Supreme Court is considering the future of the abortion pill mifepristone, after GenBioPro sued the FDA over limitations that effectively block generic production of the drug, a major part of the market. Congress is considering proposals that would impose...

What's KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' episodes:

Too Big To Fail? Now, It’s Too Big To Hack

Arizona Turns Back the Clock on Abortion Access

Florida Limits Abortion — For Now

The Supreme Court and the Abortion Pill

The ACA Turns 14

Maybe It’s a Health Care Election After All

The State of the Union Is ... Busy

Alabama’s IVF Ruling Still Making Waves

Alabama Court Rules Embryos Are Children. What Now?

Biden Wins Early Court Test for Medicare Drug Negotiations

To End School Shootings, Activists Consider a New Culprit: Parents

The Struggle Over Who Gets the Last Word

Health Enters the Presidential Race

The Supreme Court vs. the Bureaucracy

All About the (Government) Funding

New Year, Same Abortion Debate

2023 Is a Wrap

Abortion and SCOTUS, Together Again

Democrats See Opportunity in GOP Threats to Repeal Health Law

Trump Puts Obamacare Repeal Back on Agenda

Congress Kicks the (Budget) Can Down the Road. Again.

A Very Good Night for Abortion Rights Backers

For ACA Plans, It’s Time to Shop Around

The New Speaker’s (Limited) Record on Health

The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl

Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress

An Encore: 3 HHS Secretaries Reveal What the Job Is Really Like

More Medicaid Messiness

Countdown to Shutdown

Underinsured Is the New Uninsured

Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.

3 Health Policy Experts You Should Know

A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate

Abortion Pill’s Legal Limbo Continues

On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas

Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.

Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’

Let’s Talk About the Weather

The Long Road to Reining in Short-Term Plans

A Year Without Roe

Live from Aspen: Three HHS Secretaries on What the Job Is Really Like

Slow Your Disenroll

Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact

Our 300th Episode!

When an Anti-Vaccine Activist Runs for President

The Abortion Pill Goes Back to Court

The Crisis Is Ending, but Covid Confusion Lives On

Health Programs at Risk as Debt Ceiling Cave-In Looms

Dancing Under the Debt Ceiling

Will They or Won’t They (Block the Abortion Pill)?