What the Health? From KFF Health News

The “Make America Healthy Again” movement held a big shindig in Washington, D.C., this week. But rather than moms arguing to get pesticides and processing chemicals out of their kids’ food, the room was full of Trump administration officials and industry representatives looking to promote health-related products. Meanwhile, as the fiscal year ends, the administration for the second year in a row is refusing to spend money Congress appropriated — and basically daring the other two branches of government to stop it. 

Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Aaron Carroll, president and CEO of AcademyHealth, to discuss the Trump administration’s dismantling of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “U. of Michigan Halts New Grading Plan After Backlash From Critics,” by Madaleine Rubin.  

Shefali Luthra: The Atlantic’s “The Babies Left Behind in America,” by Caitlin Dickerson.  

Rachana Pradhan: KFF Health News’ “US Poised To Boot Legal Immigrants From Medicaid, Including Refugees and Sex-Trafficking Victims,” by Phil Galewitz, Andrew Jones, and Claudia Boyd-Barrett.  

Rachel Roubein: Stat’s “Once Described as Obesity Medicines for ‘Patients,’ GLP-1s Are Increasingly Lifestyle Drugs for ‘Customers,’” by Elaine Chen.

Healthcare in general, and health costs in particular, are a top issue for voters in 2026. But it remains unclear exactly how voters want lawmakers to fix the problem. As a result, candidates in both parties are offering a wide variety of possible solutions. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration doubled down on its fraud-fighting efforts, announcing that it is cutting off more than 750,000 enrollees in Affordable Care Act insurance plans who it alleges are defrauding the program. 

Tami Luhby of CNN, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “The Drugs and Devices Have Been on the Market for Years. But FDA-Ordered Studies Still Aren’t Done,” by David Hilzenrath. 

Tami Luhby: The Wall Street Journal’s “RFK Jr.’s Enhanced Security Was Funded With Money From Minority Health Office,” by Liz Essley Whyte. 

Joanne Kenen: Slate’s “The Mystery of ‘Medbeds’,” by Molly Olmstead. 

Sarah Jane Tribble: Stat’s “GOP Aims To Change Medicare Adviser’s Math So It’s More Favorable to Health Insurers,” by John Wilkerson.  

Reports from a top artificial intelligence company that it found and stopped attempted uses of its product to manufacture a potential bioweapon caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington this week, although it is still unclear whether or when they will act to regulate the fast-moving industry. 

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump wants to send $500 checks to about a million enrollees in Affordable Care Act plans. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner talks with Sabrina Corlette of the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms about some potential fixes to the nation’s health system.

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: KJZZ Phoenix’s “Data Shows DES Failed To Complete Most SNAP Eligibility Interviews, Resulting in Massive Cuts,” by Camryn Sanchez.  

Tami Luhby: The Washington Post’s “What ‘Ferritin Face’ Means — And How To Tell If You May Be Iron-Deficient,” by Erica Sloan.  

Anna Edney: Bloomberg News’ “Patients Who Fight Health Insurance Denials Often Win,” by John Tozzi, Tanaz Meghjani, and Ike Swetlitz.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: KFF Health News’ “Indigenous Groups Are Exempt From Medicaid Work Rules, but Native Hawaiians Aren’t,” by Ashley Mizuo.  

Amid a campaign already focusing on affordability, anxious voters are unlikely to be assuaged by headlines about healthcare costs rising even more next year. 

And a lawsuit that could cut off access nationwide to the abortion pill mifepristone gets a hearing at a federal appeals court. 

Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month,” about when a preventive service isn’t preventive enough to qualify for zero-cost coverage. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: NBC News’ “A Secretive Computer Algorithm Is Taking Caregiving Money Away From Disabled People,” by Mike Hixenbaugh.  

Sandhya Raman: Bloomberg Government’s “Medicaid Cuts Leave Schools Pondering How To Serve Disabled Kids,” by Erin Durkin and Claire Hebert.  

Joanne Kenen: ProPublica’s “Children in a Faith-Healing Sect Keep Dying. The State Lets It Happen,” by Audrey Dutton.  

Amanda Seitz: KFF Health News’ “A NY Hospital Tried To Close Its Birthing Center. This City United To Fight Back,” by Noam N. Levey and Hannah Norman, and Stat’s “Hospitals Pursue Deals To Ensure Survival as Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Loom,” by Daniel Payne.  

As summer comes to a close, some of the season’s major health policy stories continue to simmer, including declining insurance coverage, increasing measles cases, and cuts to federal health programs. 

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews Dean Rosen about his work for former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a Kansas Republican and the first woman to lead a major Senate committee, who died last week at 94. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: The Washington Post’s “Why We Should Stop Eating Lettuce, Cyclospora or Not,” by Tamar Haspel.  

Margot Sanger-Katz: Stat’s “Comments on OMB Research Rule Mysteriously Removed From Federal Website,” by Anil Oza.  

Rachel Roubein: The New York Times’ “Americans Encounter Risks at Psychedelic Clinics Abroad,” by Noah Daly and Andrew Jacobs.  

Shefali Luthra: The Washington Post and KFF Health News’ “Why Some Couples Are Combining a European Vacation With Their IVF Treatments,” by LJ Dawson. 

President Donald Trump is nominating Heidi Overton, a physician who is currently a White House policy adviser, to lead the FDA, which has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since May. Overton has a controversial history and may face some obstacles to winning confirmation, though Republicans have been reluctant to push back too strongly against most of the president’s picks. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has already reshaped the generic drug market and now has his eye on the rest of the healthcare system.  

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: Mother Jones’ “The Orwellian Company Behind ICE’s New Electric Shock Gloves,” by Sophie Hurwitz.  

Shefali Luthra: The 19th’s “Tik Tok’s Fake GLP-1 Market Preys on Women Trying To Lose Weight,” by Barbara Rodriguez.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Texas Observer’s “Texas Maternal Mortality Committee’s Next Report Will Skip Post-‘Roe’ Deaths. Lawmakers Suspect Political Influence,” by Mary Tuma.  

Joanne Kenen: Politico’s “AI Slop Is Swamping a House Office That Drafts US Laws,” by Owen Dahlkamp.  

President Donald Trump is trying to unilaterally change the number and schedule of childhood vaccines in the U.S., though it remains unclear how much of an impact his orders will have. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month,” about a medical tourist who searched for a better price for surgery abroad before finding it out-of-state. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: Health Affairs’ “Remembering Bob Blendon, an Essential Professor, Teacher, and Mentor,” by Mollyann Brodie.  

Anna Edney: CBS News’ “Farm Linked to Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Hadn’t Been Inspected in 7 Years as FDA Lags on Foreign Inspection Targets,” by Julia Ingram.  

Sandhya Raman: NOTUS’ “An Antidote to the Anti-Vaccine Movement Lives in Rural West Virginia,” by Margaret Manto.  

Maya Goldman: The New York Times’ “To Improve Student Mental Health, University of Michigan Eases Grading,” by Mark Arsenault.  

Michigan voters this week chose former Detroit public health director Abdul El-Sayed as the Democratic nominee for the state’s open Senate seat. El-Sayed has made “Medicare for All” a major part of his campaign and further elevated the issue. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. 

Also this week, as part of the “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who has a new bill that would provide universal health coverage for children.  

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “Spotlight on Fauci Said To Boost Book Sales for Kennedy and His Publisher,” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: NOTUS’ “Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed People’s Medical Histories,” by Margaret Manto.  

Joanne Kenen: The New York Times Magazine’s “The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids,” by Helen Ouyang.  

Amanda Seitz: The Wall Street Journal’s “A Florida Surrogate, a Father in China, and the Babies Caught Between,” by Katherine Long.  

The revelation in court documents that the Trump administration used politics alone to decide which grants to fund and which to cancel has provoked surprisingly little outcry from Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, Republicans renewed their campaign against Anthony Fauci’s handling of covid. 

Liz Essley Whyte of The Wall Street Journal, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: The Arkansas Times’ “Postpartum Women Go Without Care as Arkansas Holds Out as Lone State To Deny Them Medicaid,” by Byron Tate.  

Rachel Cohrs Zhang: KFF Health News’ “Trump Administration Demands Hospitals Share Emergency Room Records,” by Amanda Seitz, Maia Rosenfeld, and Darius Tahir.  

Liz Essley Whyte: Stat’s “E-Bikes, E-Scooters Are a Burgeoning Pediatric Public Health Emergency,” by J. Todd R. Lawrence and Madison A. Kesler.  

Shefali Luthra: The Washington Post’s “The Problem With RFK Jr.’s Crusade Against Antidepressants,” by Aaron E. Carroll.  

A new report finds that participation in the federal food stamp program is down far more than was predicted when the Republican-led Congress approved cuts in 2025. That portends a similar fate for Medicaid, as states ready comparable changes. 

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, as part of the “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.  

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:  

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your Feed,” by Arijeta Lajka, Isabelle Niu, Mark Boyer, James Surdam and Dan T. Peters. 

Joanne Kenen: Stat’s “A Most-Wanted Fugitive Appears To Have Been Secretly Working as a Biotech Executive,” by Adam Feuerstein. 

Margot Sanger-Katz: NPR’s “Amid Nurse Shortage, a University Rolls Out the Welcome Mat for Men,” by Andrea Hsu. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Roll Call’s “Trump Administration Puts Kibosh on HIV Prevention Funding,” by Ariel Cohen.