What the Health? From KFF Health News

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another tough week. In addition to Kennedy having surgery on a torn rotator cuff, the nomination of his ally to become surgeon general is teetering in the Senate, the controversial head of the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine center is resigning next month, and a new survey shows Americans trust government health officials less than they do former Biden official Anthony Fauci. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration's fraud crackdown is reaching private Medicare insurance plans. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, 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 these stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews Andy Schneider of Georgetown University about the Trump administration's crackdown on Medicaid fraud in Democratic-led states.  

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 Marshall Project's "The Harrowing Journey Home for Families Leaving Immigration Detention," by Shannon Heffernan, Jesse Bogan, and Anna Flagg.  

Anna Edney: The Wall Street Journal's "The Boom in Autism Therapy Is Medicaid's Fastest-Growing Jackpot," by Christopher Weaver, Tom McGinty, and Anna Wilde Mathews.  

Shefali Luthra: The New York Times' "States Move To Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment," by Apoorva Mandavilli.  

Joanne Kenen: The Idaho Capital Sun's "988 Ended His Call. Now an Idaho Teen Is Pushing for a Fix to State's Parental Consent Law," by Laura Guido.  

This month is 40 years since host Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, began reporting on health policy in Washington. To mark the anniversary, Rovner is joined by two longtime sources to discuss what has — and has not — changed since 1986.

This week’s special guests are Chip Kahn, a former GOP House and Senate staffer and former head of the Federation of American Hospitals and the Health Insurance Association of America, and Chris Jennings, a former Democratic Senate staffer and a health policy adviser to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

Health care got barely a mention in President Donald Trump’s record-long State of the Union address this week. Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has presented few concrete plans to address what Americans say is the biggest problem with health care: its skyrocketing costs. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to become U.S. surgeon general, Casey Means, got her long-delayed nomination hearing in the Senate, where she faced some skeptical questions from Democrats and Republicans alike. 

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

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: KFF Health News’ “When It Comes to Health Insurance, Federal Dollars Support More Than ACA Plans,” by Julie Appleby.  

Sheryl Gay Stolberg: ProPublica’s “South Carolina Hospitals Aren’t Required To Disclose Measles-Related Admissions. That Leaves Doctors in the Dark,” by Jennifer Berry Hawes.  

Lauren Weber: The Washington Post’s “Inside RFK Jr.’s Push Against the Flu Vaccine That He Links to His Voice Condition,” by Lauren Weber, Lena H. Sun, and Caitlin Gilbert.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Stat’s “Pharma Lobbyists Focus on a Surprising New Target: The FDA,” by Daniel Payne and Lizzy Lawrence.  

The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the Food and Drug Administration will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs.

Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey 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:  

Mary Agnes Carey: Politico’s “Why Congress Failed To Reach an Obamacare Deal,” by Robert King and Simon J. Levien. 

Lauren Weber: NiemanLab’s “The Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig on Her ‘Hypothetical,’ Heavily Reported Measles Essay,” by Laura Hazard Owen. 

Tami Luhby: The City’s “NewYork-Presbyterian Nurses Reject Contract by Overwhelming Margin,” by Claudia Irizarry Aponte and Ben Fractenberg. 

Shefali Luthra: NPR’s “Minneapolis Doctors Warn of Lasting Medical Effects, Even After ICE Agents Leave,” by Jasmine Garsd. 

It’s been a busy week at the Food and Drug Administration, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine, a decision that’s reverberating through the drug industry. 

Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Jackie Fortiér of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner. 

Visit our website for a transcript of the 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 “The Children of Dilley,” by Mica Rosenberg.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “Why Washington’s All-In on Smart Rings,” by Amanda Chu.  

Lizzy Lawrence: KFF Health News’ “US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells,’” by Rachana Pradhan.  

Jackie Fortiér: Stat’s “The New Childhood Vaccine Guidelines Have a Paid Leave Problem,” by Ariana Hendrix.  

Congress has passed — and President Donald Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed.

In 2025, billions of dollars were stalled, disrupting patient care and scientific research, until federal judges ordered funding resumed. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam about a new reporting project, “Priced Out.”

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: Politico’s “DeSantis’ Canadian Drug Import Plan in Florida Goes From Campaign Trail to Tough Realities,” by Arek Sarkissian.  

Sandhya Raman: The Washington Post’s “Free HIV Drugs Save Lives. Why One State Is Restricting Access for Thousands,” by David Ovalle.  

Anna Edney: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Associated Press’s “Forever Stained: Inside America’s Carpet Capital: An Empire and its Toxic Legacy,” by Dylan Jackson, Jason Dearan, and Justin Price.  

Joanne Kenen: Inside Climate News’ “‘Toxic Colonialism’ on the Bay of Bengal,” by Johnny Sturgeon. 

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills on their way to passage have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. 

Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those 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: Science’s “U.S. Government Has Lost More Than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s Since Trump Took Office,” by Monica Hersher and Jeffrey Mervis.  

Maya Goldman: NBC News’ “Many Obamacare Enrollees Have Switched to Cheaper Bronze Plans. Here’s Why That Could Be Risky,” by Berkeley Lovelace Jr.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “After Donations, Trump Administration Revoked Rule Requiring More Nursing Home Staff,” by Kenneth P. Vogel and Christina Jewett.  

Rachel Roubein: Stat’s “HHS Appoints 21 New Members to Federal Autism Advisory Committee,” by O. Rose Broderick.  

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is considerably bleaker for the health care outline released by President Donald Trump last week. 

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life.” 

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: CIDRAP’s “Minnesota Residents Delay Medical Care for Fear of Encountering ICE,” by Liz Szabo.  

Sheryl Gay Stolberg: Rolling Stone’s “HHS Gave a $1.6 Million Grant to a Controversial Vaccine Study. These Emails Show How That Happened,” by Katherine Eban.  

Paige Winfield Cunningham: Politico’s “RFK Jr. Is Bringing the GOP and the Trial Bar Together,” by Amanda Chu. 

Sandhya Raman: Popular Information’s “ICE Has Stopped Paying for Detainee Medical Treatment,” by Judd Legum.  

With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned its attention to culture war issues, including abortion and gender-affirming care. 

Meanwhile, “confusion” remains the watchword at the Department of Health and Human Services as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who created the “Bill of the Month” series and wrote the latest installment, about a very hot pepper and a very late ER 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: The New York Times’ “E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution,” by Maxine Joselow.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: ProPublica’s “After Sowing Distrust in Fluoridated Water, Kennedy and Skeptics Turn to Obstructing Other Fluoride Sources,” by Anna Clark.  

Joanne Kenen: The New Yorker’s “What ‘The Pitt’ Taught Me About Being a Doctor,” by Dhruv Khullar.  

Anna Edney: MedPage Today’s “Worried About Liability After CDC Vaccine Changes? You Shouldn’t Be,” by Joedy McCreary.  

Congress returned from its holiday break facing a familiar question: whether to extend the expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that expired at the end of 2025.  

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a promise to Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the chairman of Senate health committee, by overhauling the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule to reduce the number of diseases for which vaccines will be recommended.  

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

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: KFF Health News’ “Advertisements Promising Patients a ‘Dream Body’ With Minimal Risk Get Little Scrutiny,” by Fred Schulte.  

Alice Miranda Ollstein: SFGate’s “A Calif. Teen Trusted ChatGPT for Drug Advice. He Died From an Overdose,” by Lester Black and Stephen Council.  

Sarah Karlin-Smith: ProPublica’s “The End of Aid: Trump Destroyed USAID. What Happens Now?” by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy.  

Lauren Weber: The Washington Post’s “How RFK Jr. Upended the Public Health System,” by Rachel Roubein, Lena H. Sun, and Lauren Weber.