What the Health? From KFF Health News

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. 

Most of the federal cuts to the Medicaid program don’t take effect until 2027, but many states are already cutting their own budgets in anticipation of getting fewer health dollars from Washington. Meanwhile, Congress is back from break, but forward progress on legislative priorities remains slow. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law 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 Elizabeth Mitchell of the Purchaser Business Group on Health.  

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

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

Julie Rovner: Mississippi Today’s “Mississippi is getting hotter. Experts say it’s hurting moms and babies,” by Sophia Paffenroth and Joanne Kenen.  

Anna Edney: Bloomberg News’ “Almost $1 Billion Later, the US Still Can’t Make a Medical Glove,” by Anna Edney.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “Fraud investigations are crumbling this state’s Medicaid system,” by Amanda Chu and Robert King.  

Sandhya Raman: Bloomberg Law’s “Unverified GLP-1-Related Claims Flood Food, Supplement Markets,” by Nyah Phengsitthy and Skye Witley.  

About halfway through 2026 — and just a few months before the critical midterm elections — Democrats appear to be doubling down on healthcare as a campaign issue as costs rise and insurance coverage declines.

Meanwhile, Congress is taking aim at nonprofit hospitals. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” story, about a woman who changed Medicare Advantage plans and found herself at a disadvantage.

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: Axios’ “Chinese Fentanyl Makers Find New U.S. Market in Peptides,” by Tina Reed.  

Shefali Luthra: Stat’s “Online GLP-1 Prescriptions Are Often Fast, Easy — And Low on Clinical Oversight,” by Katie Palmer.  

Rachel Roubein: The New York Times’ “Efforts To Help Smokers Quit Stall Under Trump,” by Chistina Jewett.  

Victoria Knight: Stat’s “Booze Schmooze: The Alcohol Industry, Frazzled by Headwinds, Wields Its Power Behind the Scenes,” by Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher.  

The Supreme Court handed down its last decisions of its 2025-26 term this week, including in an immigration case that could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of workers in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story 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: Modern Healthcare’s “Carbon Health Settles ‘Corporate Practice of Medicine’ Case,” by Michael McAuliff.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Stateline’s “Federal Health Agency Cancels Most of its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants,” by Kelcie Moseley-Morris.  

Lizzy Lawrence: The Wall Street Journal’s “The Baby Formula Probe Produced a Pile of Evidence. Then the DOJ Dropped the Case,” by Dave Michaels, Sadie Gurman, and Liz Essley Whyte.  

Amanda Seitz: ProPublica’s “‘Digital Colonialism’: U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns,” by Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester.  

With the fiscal year mostly over, hundreds of millions of dollars in health-related grants approved by Congress still have not reached their designated recipients, with the Trump administration again delaying distribution. Meanwhile, on the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that allowed states to ban abortion, the number of abortions in the U.S. is actually rising. 

Maya Goldman of Axios, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News 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 Washington Post’s “Tennessee To Restrict Medical Aid for Critically Ill Undocumented Children,” by Silvia Foster-Frau.  

Maya Goldman: Stat’s “Trump Administration Targets Disability Integration Mandate in DOJ Memo,” by O. Rose Broderick.  

Rachana Pradhan: KFF Health News’ “Arrests of Immigrant Parents Create Mental Health Crisis for Children,” by Claudia Boyd-Barrett.  

Joanne Kenen: The Washington Post’s “Why Trump’s Algae Problem Is Much Bigger Than the Reflecting Pool,” by Sarah Kaplan.  

Senate Democrats hope to highlight rising healthcare prices by forcing a vote on the Trump administration’s changes to the Affordable Care Act before the midterm elections. Meanwhile, Alabama is the latest state to try to cut off residents’ access to medication abortion via telehealth. 

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute and Liz Fowler of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to discuss the idea of ending the employer health insurance tax exclusion.  

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: KFF Health News’ “Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards,” by Darius Tahir.  

Sheryl Gay Stolberg: KFF Health News’ “Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads,’” by Brett Kelman and Rachana Pradhan.  

Anna Edney: Politico Magazine’s “Inside Trump’s Reversal on HIV,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Messerly.  

Lauren Weber: The Atlantic’s “AI Is Taking Over Hospitals,” by Benjamin Mazer.  

As predicted, the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans is causing many people to lose coverage for failing to make premium payments. 

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded angrily to a New York Times article suggesting he’s not actively engaged in the work of his sprawling department. 

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF’s Tricia Neuman, who is retiring this month as a senior vice president and the executive director of the Program on Medicare Policy. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

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

Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “Anguished Parents. Doctors in Tears. Utah’s Long Measles Outbreak Takes a Toll,” by Amy Maxmen. 

Sandhya Raman: CIDRAP’s “Two Sisters, One Virus: A Family Devastated by HPV,” by Liz Szabo. 

Lizzy Lawrence: The Chicago Tribune’s “One Plastic Surgeon. Eight Women Dead,” by Christy Gutowski and Gregory Royal Pratt. 

Lauren Weber: ProPublica’s “The Milkman,” by Annie Waldman. 

Adult Medicaid enrollees with serious health conditions may not be automatically exempt from new work rules, according to a new regulation from the Trump administration — the opposite of what state officials were informally told would be the case. 

Meanwhile, the administration is also proposing to give political appointees even more power over who gets health and science grant funding. 

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Liz Essley Whyte of The Wall Street Journal, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News reporter Lauren Sausser, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month,” about a patient with a temporary memory problem and a less forgettable $59,000 hospital bill. 

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: KFF Health News and The Associated Press’ “Festering Infections to Untreated Cancer: ICE Detainees Describe Medical Neglect Across US,” by Rae Ellen Bichell, Claire Galofaro, Maia Rosenfeld, Renuka Rayasam, Aaron Kessler, and Byron Tau. 

Liz Essley Whyte: The Wall Street Journal’s “The Autism-Therapy Business Is Booming — And So Is the Billing Abuse,” by Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “The Return of Blaming and Shaming in Public Health,” by Simar Bajaj. 

Margot Sanger-Katz: ProPublica’s “‘No One Is Watching’: How Trump Reversed Biden’s Crackdown on Gun Trafficking,” by Alec MacGillis and Ken B. Morales. 

When Republicans passed their big budget bill in 2025, they thought the effects of cuts to health programs wouldn’t show up until after the 2026 midterms. They were wrong. 

Meanwhile, the party is trumpeting its efforts to lower drug prices. 

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Maya Goldman of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, Céline Gounder, to discuss the Ebola outbreak. 

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: ProPublica’s “She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas’ Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor’s Office Didn’t Help,” by Kavitha Surana.  

Lauren Weber: The New York Times’ “Short Naps, Long Hours: How Autism Clinics Squeeze Medicaid Dollars Out of Preschoolers,” by Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz.  

Shefali Luthra: The New York Times’ “Nine Months of Medical Attention. Then Almost Nothing,” by Sejal Hathi.  

Maya Goldman: The Texas Tribune’s “Texas Children’s Hospital Must Create Country’s First ‘Detransition Clinic’ Under Legal Settlement With State,” by Terri Langford and Colleen DeGuzman.