Shows / What the Health? From KFF Health News
What the Health? From KFF Health News
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.
Episodes
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Confusing Fate of the Abortion Pill
The legality and availability of the abortion pill mifepristone is in question after a federal judge in Texas canceled the FDA’s approval of the first drug…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe ‘Unwinding’ of Medicaid
As of April 1, states were allowed to begin reevaluating Medicaid eligibility for millions of Americans who qualified for the program during the covid-19…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Judicial Body Blow to the ACA
A federal judge in Texas has dealt a big setback to the Affordable Care Act. The same judge who tried in 2018 to declare the entire ACA unconstitutional has…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Policy, and Politics, of Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage, the private plan alternative to original Medicare, is embroiled in a controversy over whether insurers are overpaid and what it would mean…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsJudging the Abortion Pill
Any day now a conservative federal judge in Texas could upend the national abortion debate by requiring the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, a drug…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsBiden Budget Touches All the Bases
Very little in the proposed budget released by the Biden administration is likely to become law, particularly with Republicans in charge of the U.S. House…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsMarch Medicaid Madness
President Joe Biden and Republicans in Congress spent last month sparring over whether to shield Medicare and Social Security from budget cuts — leading some…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsSenators Have Mental Health Crises, Too
When U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of depression this month, he…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Kids Are Not OK
A new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that teenagers, particularly girls, are reporting all-time high rates of violence and…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Health-Heavy State of the Union
President Joe Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address leaned heavily on health care issues. Biden took a victory lap for recent accomplishments like capping…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsAu Revoir, Public Health Emergency
The Biden administration this week announced it would let the covid-19 public health emergency lapse on May 11, even as the Republican-led House was voting to…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsPart II: The State of the Abortion Debate 50 Years After ‘Roe’
In Part II of this special two-part episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Varney of KHN join KHN chief…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsPart I: The State of the Abortion Debate 50 Years After ‘Roe’
In Part I of this special, two-part episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Varney of KHN join KHN chief…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsAs US Bumps Against Debt Ceiling, Medicare Becomes a Bargaining Chip
The debt ceiling crisis facing Washington puts Medicare and other popular entitlement programs squarely on the negotiating table this year as newly empowered…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsGOP House Opens With Abortion Agenda
Leaders of the new Republican-led U.S. House kicked off their legislative agenda with two bills supported by anti-abortion groups. While neither is likely to…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsYear-End Bill Holds Big Health Changes
The year-end spending bill passed by Congress in late December contains a wide array of health-related provisions, including a structure for states to begin to…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Covid Coordinator Speaks
In this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, talks with host Julie Rovner, KHN’s chief…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsHealth Spending? Only Congress Knows
Top negotiators in Congress have agreed to a framework for government spending into next year, but there are details to iron out before a vote — such as the…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsCongress Races the Clock
Sen. Raphael Warnock’s re-election in Georgia will give Democrats a clear-cut Senate majority for the first time in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, the current…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsMedicaid Machinations
The lame-duck Congress has returned to Washington with a long health care to-do list and only a little time. Meanwhile, some of the states that have not yet…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsChanging of the Guard
Democrats retained control of the U.S. Senate in the midterm elections, while Republicans won a majority in the House, giving them the ability to block items…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Midterm Shake-Up
Election night went better than expected for Democrats. Although they could still lose control of one or both houses of Congress, the predicted “red wave” for…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsACA Open Enrollment Without the Drama
The Affordable Care Act’s 10th annual open-enrollment period began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2023, in most states. But for the first time, the health…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsVoters Will Get Their Say on Multiple Health Issues
Abortion isn’t the only health issue voters will be asked to decide in state ballot questions next month. Proposals about medical debt, Medicaid expansion, and…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsBiden Hits the Road to Sell Democrats’ Record
With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, President Joe Biden has taken to the road to convince voters that he and congressional Democrats have delivered…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsFinally Fixing the “Family Glitch”
The Biden administration has decided to try to fix the so-called “family glitch” in the Affordable Care Act without an act of Congress. The provision has…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsLooking Ahead to the Lame-Duck Session
Congress won’t be back in Washington until after Election Day, but lawmakers have left themselves a long list of items to finish up in November and December…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsOn Government Spending, Congress Decides Not to Decide
Congress has once again decided not to decide how to fund the federal government in time for the start of the fiscal year, racing toward a midnight Sept. 30…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsBiden Declares the Pandemic ‘Over’
President Joe Biden, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” declared the covid-19 pandemic “over,” stoking confusion for members of his administration trying…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsGraham’s Bill Recenters Abortion Debate
Republicans would like to shift the political focus away from abortion to economic issues for the midterm elections, but a bill from Sen. Lindsey Graham…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsJudge Takes Aim at the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Care Benefits
A federal judge in Texas — the same one who tried to strike down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional in 2018 — has ruled against some of the ACA’s…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Future of Public Health, 2022 Edition
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a National Public Health System calls for a major overhaul of the way the U.S. organizes, funds, and…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsWrapping Up Summer’s Health News
President Joe Biden has signed the Inflation Reduction Act and Congress is gone until after Labor Day. But the administration and lawmakers left lots of health…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Big Week for Biden
Congress is leaving for its annual summer break having accomplished far more than many expected, including, barring unforeseen snags, a bill to address the…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsKansas Makes a Statement
In the first official test vote since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, voters in Kansas’ primary said in no uncertain terms they want to keep a right…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsManchin Makes a Deal
In a rare surprise for official Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced a deal to expand the planned health…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsDrug Price Bill Is a Go in the Senate
Two things happened in Washington this week that were inevitable: President Joe Biden tested positive for covid-19, and the Senate agreed to move forward on a…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsLife After ‘Roe’ Is ... Confusing
A rapidly changing landscape for abortion has left patients, providers, employers, and lawmakers alike wondering what is and is not legal and what to do next…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Chat With the Surgeon General on Health Worker Burnout
Health workers are not OK, and that poses a threat to anyone who may need health services. That’s the central finding of the latest report from the office of…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsSupreme Court Overturns Roe
It was expected, but the reality was still jarring: The Supreme Court has formally overturned Roe v. Wade, erasing the nearly 50-year-old guarantee of abortion…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe FDA Goes After Nicotine
The FDA is using its power to regulate tobacco products — ordering the vaping device Juul off the market and announcing its intention to lower the amount of…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsClosing In on Covid Vaccines for 'The Littles'
The wait is nearly over for parents of kids under 5 as a key advisory committee to the FDA recommends authorizing a covid-19 vaccine for the youngest children…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsTaking a Shot at Gun Control
The U.S. House passed a package of bills seeking to keep some guns out of the hands of children and teenagers, but its fate in the Senate remains a big…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsWashington’s Slow Churn
Stemming gun violence is back on the legislative agenda following three mass shootings in less than a month, but it’s hard to predict success when so many…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA(nother) Very Sad Week
Two mass shootings in two weeks — one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 fourth graders and two teachers — have reignited the…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsWaking Up to Baby Formula Shortage
The nationwide shortage of baby formula, which has been simmering for months, finally burst into public consciousness as more parents become less able to find…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe Invisible Pandemic
Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsLeaked Abortion Opinion Rocks Washington’s World
The unprecedented early leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling Roe v. Wade has heated the national…
What the Health? From KFF Health News[Rebroadcast] Roe v. Wade on the Rocks
Revisit our discussion of the Supreme Court arguments in the Mississippi abortion case, a draft opinion for which was leaked May 2, 2022. This episode…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsMore Covid Complications for Congress
Congress is back in session, but covid-19 diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Conversation With Peter Lee on What’s Next for the ACA
Amid covid-19, the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade, and a war in Europe, the Affordable Care Act has been flying under the radar in 2022. But this will be a…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsNews You Might Have Missed
Congress is in recess, so the slower-than-average news week gives us a chance to catch up on underreported topics, like Medicare’s coverage decision for the…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsFinally, a Fix for the ‘Family Glitch’
President Joe Biden welcomed former President Barack Obama back to the White House this week to announce a new policy for the Affordable Care Act that would…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsFunding for the Next Pandemic
In his proposed budget, President Joe Biden called for a boost in health spending that includes billions of dollars to prepare for a future pandemic. But that…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsThe ACA Turns 12
Although its fate was in doubt more than a few times, the Affordable Care Act turned 12 this week. Year 13 could be pivotal in determining how many Americans…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsWe May Be Done With Covid, But Covid’s Not Done With Us
The White House makes a move as a new wave of covid threatens. President Joe Biden brings in Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsCongress Shelves Covid Funding for Now
The Biden administration’s request for billions more in funding to fight covid-19 hit a snag on Capitol Hill this week, as Democrats objected to Republican…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsA Health-Heavy State of the Union
President Joe Biden spent a large portion of his first State of the Union address talking about foreign affairs, but he also spent time on an array of health…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsContemplating a Post-‘Roe’ World
In anticipation of the Supreme Court rolling back abortion rights this year, both Democrats and Republicans are arguing among themselves over how best to…
What the Health? From KFF Health NewsIt’s Health Costs, Stupid (2022 Edition)
As the pandemic wanes, for now, the ever-rising cost of health care is again taking center stage. Meanwhile, a year into the Biden administration, the FDA…