Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Return of the Public Option


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The “public option” is back — both in Washington, D.C., and the states. President Joe Biden as a candidate supported the idea of a government-run or heavily regulated insurance plan that would compete with private insurance. But until now it has been more of a concept than a plan. Two top health leaders in Congress say they will try to put a plan together, while public options in various forms work their way through legislatures in Colorado and Nevada.

Meanwhile, bioethicists are debating whether the U.S. should be vaccinating low-risk adolescents against covid-19 while high-risk adults in other countries remain vulnerable.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachana Pradhan of KHN.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “Covid Killed His Father. Then Came $1 Million in Medical Bills,” by Sarah Kliff

Alice Miranda Ollstein: HuffPost’s “Can America Close the COVID Vaccine Race Gap?” by Jonathan Cohn

Margot Sanger-Katz: KHN’s “Corporations Encourage Employee Vaccination but Stop Short of Mandates,” by Anna Almendrala

Rachana Pradhan: The Wall Street Journal’s “Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin,” by Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel and Drew Hinshaw


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