What the Health?

The fallout continues from that Texas court decision that ruled Congress’ 2017 elimination of the tax penalty for failing to have insurance rendered the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. Meanwhile, enrollment for 2019 at healthcare.gov was down, but far less than many predicted. KHN’s Julie Rovner, along with panelists Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner, discuss this, plus the best, most overhyped and nerdiest stories of 2018. Also, Rovner interviews GOP strategist and pollster Frank Luntz.

A federal district judge in Texas ruled Friday that Congress’ 2017 elimination of the tax penalty for failing to have insurance rendered the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. What happens now? KHN’s Julie Rovner, along with panelists Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, discuss the bombshell decision and its potential fallout.

Sign-ups for insurance under the Affordable Care Act are still well behind last year’s mark with just a week until the end of open enrollment in most states. The Supreme Court declines a case that could have allowed states to defund Planned Parenthood. And the Trump administration gets hundreds of thousands of comments about its proposed changes to immigration rules that could penalize people who use government-funded health care and other social service programs. Alice Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and, for “extra credit,” provide their favorite health policy stories of the week.

Diabetics dying because they can’t afford insulin. Organ transplant patients undergoing “wallet biopsies” to get on waiting lists. Are out-of-pocket costs going to dominate the health discussion in the next election? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this as well as new Trump administration rules giving states the ability to make major changes to the Affordable Care Act. Also, lame-duck lawmakers in Wisconsin and Michigan try to cement health changes before Democrats take over.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Ollstein of Politico and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News discuss the impact of House Democratic leadership elections and their impact on health policy; as well as efforts by the Trump administration to address high drug prices and ensure the safety of medical devices. Plus, Julie Rovner interviews KHN’s Jay Hancock about the latest “Bill of the Month.”

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News discuss the latest on open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act and Medicare; new moves by the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco and nicotine products; and whether House Democrats will pursue a “Medicare-for-all” bill in the next Congress. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy books for your holiday reading and gifting pleasure.

In this episode of KHN’s “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Ollstein of Politico discuss how the Democrats’ takeover of the House and other results from the Nov. 6 elections might affect health care, and what Congress may have in store for the lame-duck session. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss the Trump administration’s new birth control coverage rules and the potential impact of the midterm election results on health policy. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss the start of open enrollment for individual health insurance plans for 2019 and preview what next week’s midterm elections might mean for health policy. Plus, Barbara Feder Ostrov of KHN and California Healthline talks to Julie about the latest NPR-KHN “Bill of the Month” feature.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Ollstein of Politico discuss a flurry of proposals from the Trump administration on what Medicare pays for drugs and the Affordable Care Act. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss how protections for people with preexisting conditions have become a top issue in the elections, Trump administration efforts to make prescription drug prices more transparent and the start of Medicare’s annual open-enrollment period. Plus, Julie interviews California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss the Trump administration’s announcement that average premium prices are falling on the Obamacare marketplaces, the effort by Senate Democrats to reverse rules on short-term health insurance and the focus on protections for people with preexisting conditions in the run-up to midterm elections.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner discuss final action on bills in Congress to address the opioid epidemic and fund federal health agencies. They also look at new efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on teen nicotine use.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Ollstein of Politico talk about how health issues will play in midterm elections, the Trump administration’s move that could penalize legal immigrants who use government aid programs and other topics. Due to technical difficulties, the original discussion taped Sept. 27 at the 2018 Texas Tribune Festival could not be broadcast, so the panelists reconvened from Austin and Washington on Sept. 28.

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico talk about a spate of health-related legislative action on Capitol Hill, including Senate passage of a bill to address the opioid epidemic. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week.